The King of Glory Comes, The Nation Rejoices

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  11/26/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

This weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King which also officially marks the end of the liturgical year A. Next weekend, we begin the season of Advent to prepare for the birth of this great King. Yes, don’t we all admire a great leader? Particularly here in the United States I often hear people insisting on having strong leaders; leaders who can lead us to the common good, to prosperity, to peace and stability, to achieving our “American Dream”.

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Inspiration Pilgrimage

by Fr. Gabriel Terrill  |  11/18/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

Two weeks ago I was blessed to go on a pilgrimage of sorts with the teens of our parish through our Life Teen program. It wasn’t a pilgrimage to the tomb of an obscure saint or the site of a Marian apparition. Instead we journeyed to California, to the thrilling amusement park known as Six Flags where we joined over two thousand teens in celebrating our faith. The experience proved to be a unique combination of theme park thrills and profound encounters with Jesus Christ. In a way the event inspired a realization that the Lord is always present to us, sometimes in the most unlikely of places, and that we are always invited into a profound and personal relationship with Him through the Eucharist.

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Warm on Phone, Impersonal in Person

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  11/11/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

Recently, I had an interesting experience, which happens to me quite often. It is that experience which inspired the title and content of this article. Please, read on.

On that day, I had an appointment at a certain huge parish in our Diocese with the Pastor. At the time of making the appointment, I had introduced myself and proceeded to have a great conversation on the phone with the sweetest sounding receptionist. So, on the day of the appointment, being my day off, I went dressed casually and arrived two minutes earlier at the office.

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The Evil Wolf vs the Good Wolf in the US

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  11/04/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

As I was away the other week “wasting time in the presence of God”, as Bishop Dolan described retreat to be, I had a lot of time to reflect in that serene environment. Suddenly while there, what seemed to be ordinary encounters and normal interactions began to take on new meanings as I meditated upon them. The retreat center offered just a perfect opportunity for me to do that. For instance, one morning as I took a walk in the quiet desert surrounding of the Center, before my morning prayer, I came across what looked like a wolf which scared the hell out of me.

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What is a Retreat?

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  10/28/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

Last week, I joined a section of the priests of the Diocese of Phoenix for a five-day retreat at Picture Rocks Retreat Center in Tucson. When I told my nephew, Saviour, that I was leaving for this retreat, he promptly sent me a sympathy note from Uganda wishing me a quick recovery. He thought I was seriously I’ll. Another one thought I was on a vacation. This is what inspired me to explain briefly what a retreat is.

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What Do the Crosses Hanging on the Pergola on the East Side of our Church Mean?

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  10/21/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

For a little over a week now, you have seen our crosses hanging on the pergola on the east side of our Church as they did for the first time last year. For those who are wondering what those crosses mean, well, here at our parish, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, which is a pro-life parish, each year, we join the entire Church in dedicating the month of October to celebrating the sanctity of life as I mentioned in my article two weeks ago. During this month, we are asked to pray each single day for an end to abortion through saying special prayers, prayer intentions, posters and through symbols such as those crosses, I have mentioned.

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The Five Blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  10/14/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

Through the many eras of our Church we have encountered great evils and sufferings in and of the world. We have seen this in the various instances of war, hatred, violence, division, and the disregard for the inherent human dignity that every life possesses. As our Pastor, Fr. Robert touched on last week, we commemorate October as the month of the Rosary and as Respect Life month in the Church. These two go hand in hand as our Lady, Mary the Mother of the Church works tirelessly to guide not only those who profess the faith, but all peoples to her Son, the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ.

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October– The Month of the Rosary and Respect Life

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  10/07/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

By tradition, the Catholic Church dedicates each month of the year to certain devotions. In the month of October for instance, we focus on two significant commemorations: Respect Life and the Holy Rosary. October also includes the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary which we celebrate on October 07 and the best way to celebrate the month is, of course, to pray the Rosary throughout the month. Here in our Diocese, we have the Arizona Rosary Celebration during which all the Catholics from around the Diocese gather to say the Rosary and honor Mother Mary in downtown Phoenix at the Convention Center. This year this celebration falls on Sunday, October 15.

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"I Thirst" John 19:28

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  10/01/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

Two weeks ago, more than 160 of our Priests from the Diocese of Phoenix joined Bishops Dolan, Nevares and Olmsted for a four-day Priests’ Convocation in Flagstaff. The weather there was gorgeous, the camaraderie among the priests was very uplifting and the surrounding pine trees were just beautiful, complete with trails for a leisurely walk. During one of our longest breaks one afternoon, two of my friends and I, decided to take a walk and enjoy the beauty of the pine forest. The walk was so enjoyable and conversation so interesting that soon we did not realize how far we had gone till we began to feel thirsty. Unfortunately, we realized that none of us had gone with a bottle of water. The thirst I felt that moment in my case, reminded me of an incident I experienced many years ago except it was worse.

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Father, there are two things I love about you!

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  09/23/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

Father, there are two things I love about you: Your Sermon and your Socks! These were the words uttered to me by one of our very cheerful and faithful ushers one day after Mass and it took me completely off guard. I didn’t know how to react to this ‘complement’ because I believe that was what he meant to communicate. However, the more I came to think about it the more I realized that there are many ways we can and actually do influence others even without knowing including through mundane things like socks.

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Divine Mercy Perpetual Adoration Chapel Update

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  09/17/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

Our Divine Mercy Adoration Chapel building project about which I gave you an update this past July, is moving forward even though not at the speed we had anticipated. This is because we had to change architectural firms and update our contracts, which has caused some delays. The architectural firm we were using initially went through unforeseen changes due to which, they could no longer provide the services we were contracted for.

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If God is Good, Why Does Evil Exist?

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  09/10/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

I was inspired to write this article on this topic by someone I was counseling a few days ago who was angry with God after losing both parents and two siblings in an accident several months ago. Just before that he had lost his beloved grandmother after a long battle with cancer. He heard a preacher say that God is Good which riled him even more. Now, in Uganda and in most parts of East Africa, there is a common call by preachers at the beginning of their homilies which goes: “God is good”, and almost reflexively the congregation answers: “All the time!” And the preacher with greater energy continues: “All the time” and the audience responds: “God is good, and that is his nature, Wow!” But if God is good, all the time, then why is there evil wondered this friend of mine? Dear friends, this is perhaps one of the oldest and most persistent rhetorical, philosophical, and theological human questions Christian theology in particular, has struggled to answer albeit, unsatisfactorily to many. I will not claim to have a satisfactory answer myself either.

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Despite the Challenges in our Church in America, There is Still Hope

by Fr. Robert Aliunzi  |  09/03/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

Last Friday, August 25, 2023, five men were formally admitted by Bishop Dolan to begin their three-year formation to the permanent diaconate. This included Peter Parian, one of our own parishioners. He was accompanied to the ceremony by his lovely wife Eva and children Paula and Christian, and me. Please, let us keep Peter and his four companions in our prayers.

As I participated in that very inspiring liturgy (Rite of Admission to Candidacy for holy orders), I was struck by a very encouraging hope that despite the rough time our Churches here in the United States has been through due to among others, the Clergy sexual abuse, there is hope emerging. To be sure, the said clergy sexual abuse had a great negative impact on vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and religious life. Also, as a result of it, many Catholics either fell away from the Church or stopped coming to Church altogether.

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