One of the most precious gifts bestowed on each and every one of us is the gift of free-will, the capacity to choose for ourselves among options what we consider beneficial. Ordinarily, God does not interfere with our free-will. However, when we make wrong choices and incur on ourselves unpleasant consequences, God shows His magnanimity and graciousness through merciful intervention to save His straying children. This is what Jesus taught His disciples in the Gospel passage this weekend.

You may recall one of the initiatives I mentioned last Fall was the migration of our software and database into a new system called, “Realm.” Realm is designed specifically for churches and will enable us to consolidate several of our platforms such as Donor Perfect, Faith Direct, and eventually, Ministry Scheduler Pro. Our goal is to strengthen our connection and engagement with one another while saving the parish money and time.

God is a God of second chances for those who are willing to repent. This does not mean that God’s willingness to provide opportunities for change endures limitless elasticity and endurance. The justice of God will have to be administered to those who ignore the opportunities offered by Him or outrightly resist the pull of repentance. This is the message presented by the Gospel passage at the liturgy this weekend.

Please join us in praying for the people of Ukraine. Let us pray for the dead, those suffering, for the refugees and for an end to the war. In view of the seriousness of the situation, Pope Francis will be consecrating Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday next week, Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 2022. Pope Francis will lead the consecration in Rome at 5:00pm – which will be 9:00am, Arizona time.

No one desires slavery, yet we often find ourselves enslaved by other people or even things. We find ourselves being slaves of sin, drugs, sexual inpurities, social media, money and other material things. When this happens, we stand in need of a redeemer who will return us to our natural and desirable state of freedom and peace. Scripture shows us that we have never been alone in our need for a savior. When humanity embraced darkness and became enslaved to sin, one of God’s initial responses was to establish a covenant relationship with a chosen individual, his name was Abram. The ritual that authenticated the establishment of the old covenant is described in the first reading at the liturgy this Sunday. READ MORE

A quick reminder to come and join us for our Stations of the Cross at 6pm today and every Friday through Lent. All Stations of the Cross this year will be held outdoors in the St. John Bosco Courtyard. Different ministries will lead each week. The Women Spirituality Ministry will lead the Stations today. They will also serve soup right after the Stations around 6:30pm. Please invite your family and friends to come and join us.

Welcome to the season of Lent. Lent is the time that falls between Ash Wednesday and Holy Week, the season when we do spiritual warfare to our inordinate and sinful desires as a means to prepare ourselves to commemorate well the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we battle against the lure of sin aiming to defeat decisively, by the grace of God, the power of evil in our lives and in doing so, deepen our relationship with Christ.

All Stations of the Cross this year will be held outdoors every Friday at 6:00pm in the St. John Bosco Courtyard. Different ministries will lead each week. Please invite your family and friends to come and join us. Tonight the Knights of Columbus will be leading and will provide a small meal of soup and salad afterwards.