Dear Parishioners,

This weekend is Trinity Sunday. We focus on God as a Trinity of persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The early Church struggled with the understanding and definition of the Trinity. Over time it has been clarified and defined but still remains a mystery. What I think is important is that God is a God of relationship by the very way the Trinity is revealed as three persons – one God. Each individual but one. This means we can know God as a person in three different ways. As God the Father, the one who creates, loves and continually chases after us.

Dear Parishioners, This weekend is Pentecost and the last day of the Easter Season. We have celebrated for 50 days the great mystery that Jesus suffered, died, rose, appeared to His disciples, ascended into heaven and sends the promised spirit to dwell in us. Amazing. So, why we remember, we are called to do even more than remember, and that is to live it. We live the victory. Our relationship with God is restored. Sin, death and division are conquered by love, forgiveness and unity in Him.

Dear Parishioners,

This week we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension. As Jesus ascends to heaven, He promises that He will clothe us with power from on high. This promise is fulfilled in the gift of the Holy Spirit and is much alive in our faith community. When we speak of God, it is more than a concept, teaching or an ideal; it is a real relationship with the one who creates us, teaches us, saves us, dwells with us and empowers us to live the bold Christian life in our world today. He does not leave us but rather is now with us for all time in the gift of the Church.

Dear Parishioners,

It is hard to believe it is the end of May and we are moving into the summer months of intense heat here in the desert. Like people in the North in the winter, we often spend more time indoors because of the high heat.

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend I will be celebrating Mass in Poland with 24 pilgrims. We will drive to a place where Saint John Paul II, as a young man, went to pray and reflect upon his life and service to God.

In the lush, green hills of Kalwaria Zebzydowska, we will visit the famous Calvary paths, an intertwining mesh of Churches, Chapels, and wayside shrines originally built to replicate the city of Jerusalem.

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend is known as Good Shepherd Sunday because the Gospel is always about the good shepherd. It is especially important for us this week and this year as we are in the midst of a change of shepherds with the passing of Pope Francis and the awaiting of the results of the Conclave. As I write this, the Cardinals have yet to enter into the Conclave; however, we may have a new Pope by the time it is published.

Dear Parishioners,

We continue to read the Easter encounters of the Risen Lord with His disciples in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus seeks them out, even when they have returned to their old ways of life and are not quite sure what to do as they proceed forward in life. Peter returns to fishing and is reminded of the first call when he encounters the Lord again… the Lord gives him the opportunity to profess his threefold love for Him in order to counter his threefold denial at the time of His suffering.