Ordinarily, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord forty days after Easter Sunday, and this usually falls on the Thursday of the sixth week of our Easter celebration. This gives us ten days before the feast of Pentecost which comes up fifty days after Easter. However, most Dioceses in the United States now celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on the seventh Sunday of Easter in order to emphasize the solemnity of the day, and so, today is the day when we celebrate the return of the resurrected Jesus to heaven after spending forty days preparing His Apostles for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that would empower them to witness to the Gospel all over the world.

You must have observed that the First Readings during Eastertide have consistently been taken from the Acts of the Apostles. This is deliberate. Acts of the Apostles is said to have been originally written as part of the Gospel of St. Luke. It tells the story of the post-Resurrection Church: How the Apostles reacted to the Resurrection of Jesus, how they waited for and received the Holy Spirit, how the disciples remained connected and completely reliant upon the promptings of the Holy Spirit, how they encountered and responded to persecution from various individuals and groups, how sacred orders and ministries evolved; essentially, how the early Church began, lived and grew. One of the defining moments in the Acts of the Apostles is the encounter of the Gentiles with the Gospel and the resultant implications of this encounter.

Cast your mind in retrospect to the event of the Transfiguration of our Lord where the three Apostles caught a privileged glimpse of the Glorified Jesus as he conversed with Moses and Elijah, the lawgiver and the greatest of the prophets. On that particular occasion, the presence of Moses confirmed the discernment of the Apostolic trio, that Christ is the Divine Lawgiver. Jesus exercised this peculiar prerogative at the Last Supper after He revolutionized leadership by washing the feet of His disciples, and after Judas Iscariot had sneaked out to arrange His betrayal. Jesus viewed His impending passion as Divine glorification and chose this solemn moment to legislate “a new commandment.” “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another.”

Traditionally, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is celebrated as “Good Shepherd Sunday” since the Gospel is taken every year from John 10, the “Good Shepherd Discourse.” This Sunday is also customarily observed as a day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, since priests and religious are, in a special way, visible manifestations of Christ in His role as the Good Shepherd. The readings trace this line of thought.

According to Matthew’s Gospel (Matt4:18-22), when Jesus called His first Apostles, He asked them to “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. This invitation required them to jettison their prior occupation of fishing in order to embrace, wholeheartedly, the noble vocation of Apostleship. They tried to do this until they were confronted with the trying period of uncertainty between the Lord’s resurrection and His glorious ascension. Simon Peter, the designated Apostolic primus, suggested going back to their old occupation and a good number of the eleven followed him. Like Peter and the other Apostles, our moments of decisive encounter with Jesus required us to give up any lifestyle or culture that does not please God and injure our conscience, in order to follow Jesus. Moments of crisis, transition, spiritual dryness and skepticism often make our hitherto foregone lifestyle attractive. At such moments, we should pay attention to the voice of the resurrected Jesus who gently calls us back to right relationship with God and our neighbor.

Welcome to the Second Sunday of Easter. Since the year 2000, the Second Sunday of Easter has been designated Divine Mercy Sunday. On this day, Holy Mother Church invites us to contemplate the mercy of God who showed us the greatest mercy by giving us His Son as a living sacrifice who, by His death on the cross, canceled out our sins once and for all.

On Good Friday the Jews accused Jesus, Pontius Pilate condemned Him to death, the soldiers scourged and mocked Him, He carried His cross, a symbol of suffering and shame, to Cavalry where He was crucified. He was deserted by His disciples and friends: one betrayed Him, another denied Him, and the others ran away as soon as He was arrested. Only His mother Mary, John the beloved disciple and a few devout women stood sad and sorrowful under His Cross. The Divine Redeemer battled with sin and death from the Cross, mocked by the same people He chose to save. At the ninth hour of the day, He exclaimed, “It is accomplished.” The debt humanity owed for disobedience had been paid by the obedience of the Divine Son of God. The dominion of darkness was over. Death was given a fatal blow by the immortal One and man stood redeemed.

I am humbly glad to inform you that our Bishop, Thomas Olmsted, has appointed me as Vicar Forane in charge of the the Deanery #3 (South East Central Phoenix), effective May 1st. The Deanery #3 is one of the eight new deaneries recently created out of the existing seven, making a total of 15 deaneries in the Diocese. This is to accommodate the expansion and the growing needs of the Diocese. This news was announced last weekend on Saturday, April 9. Our Deanery (#3) is comprised of the following parishes:

Today we commemorate the solemn and triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Traditionally, this day is called “Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.” It is the first day of the Holiest week of the year when Jesus endured His passion and death, culminating with the triumphant Resurrection of our Lord.

Holy Week begins this weekend with the celebration of Palm Sunday. Holy Week is the peak of the Liturgical Calendar of the Church and the most important week for Catholics. I am glad the pandemic has declined significantly, making it possible for us to celebrate the full liturgies during Holy Week this year, including the Triduum and Easter. Here is what to expect during the Holy Week:

This is the fifth Sunday of Lent, next Sunday will be Palm Sunday, the Sunday before we enter into the Holiest week of the year. The very last week in the earthly life of Jesus Christ during which He suffered, was crucified, died and rose from the dead. The church invites us to evaluate with sincerity our commitment to the Holy practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, knowing that God is always willing to forgive our unfaithfulness if we repent, even if it is at the eleventh hour.

I am pleased to introduce to you our new Director of Music and Liturgy, Mr. Phil Arkfeld. Phil comes to our parish with over 25 years of experience. He is currently serving as the Liturgy Coordinator and Music Director at Our Lady of Fatima Church in San Clemente, California. Tuesday of next week will be his first day in the parish office when he will settle in and be introduced to the staff. He will be leading our Masses next weekend, April 9/10.