“These are the ones who, living in the flesh, planted the Church with their blood; they drank the chalice of the Lord and became the friends of God.”

This is the antiphon, sung at the beginning of the Mass on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, which describes the effect of their martyrdom: their blood being spilt planted the Church, and through their acceptance of martyrdom, they entered perfect union with God. The Church, since the earliest times to even today, is built and sanctified by those who give their life for Christ, and through this gift of themselves, they are joined in perfect communion with Him.

Dear friends,

Saints Peter and Paul, whose feasts we celebrate this weekend, are perhaps two of the greatest apostles, though called under different circumstances. Their feast, this year, is one of those liturgical feasts that replaces what should have been the ordinary Sunday of the Year, in this case, the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C.

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ), a special day where we draw attention to our Eucharistic Lord, and was instituted as a Feast in the entire Latin Church after a Eucharistic miracle in Bolsena, Italy in 1263.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I greet you all and wish you good health and happiness. When I visited Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in early 2023 and stayed for two months, I so enjoyed my stay with you that I could not hide my wish to one day be part and parcel of your faith Community. By God’s grace, this wish has been granted to me, and I am so grateful to God and to all those who made this possible. I am so excited to be among you. Here is something brief about myself:

Dear Friends,

Every year, during summer, the vocations office of the Diocese of Phoenix assigns theology seminarians to certain selected parishes so as to experience what a typical parish life looks like. Our parish has been fortunate to have been selected two years in a row, beginning with seminarian Max Rich last year. This year, we are blessed with the assignment of seminarian Steven Gutierrez, who will be with us from June 2 - August 4. This is an opportunity for us as a parish to participate in a crucial stage of his formation for the priesthood.

In the beginning, there was a man named Adam, and he had a great deal going for him. He had an intimate relationship with God—the Lord walked in the same garden and called to him by name—and, as a result, he also formed a beautiful relationship with his wife, his own self, and his surroundings. But one day, leaning into a tree, he turned away from God, turned on his wife, and turned his life (and the world) upside down.

In the account of Pentecost as recorded in scripture, we’re told the fire of the Holy Spirit fell upon Our Lady and the apostles in the Upper Room, were they were not consumed nor harmed by the flame. Once we hear such a thing, we’re immediately led back to Moses before the burning bush at Mount Sinai. The bush was on fire, but was not consumed. The bush wasn’t consumed because the fire was expressing the presence of God. It led Moses to greater reverence. It was a sign of his purification and of his call to go and proclaim freedom from slavery and an exodus back to the Promised Land of his forefathers.

Dear Friends,

“The Holy Spirit leads us like a mother. He leads His child by the hand…as a sighted person leads a blind person.” -Saint John Vianney

As I grow in my journey of faith, discernment of God’s will, and in my relationship to God as an adopted son through Jesus Christ and as one of his little priests, I continue to learn how to trust in his providence. In the good, the bad, and the ugly of life the Lord has worked to bring me to where I am today and to embolden me in my faith.

One of the greatest things that has happened to our beloved parish this year is the official commencement of perpetual Adoration in our Divine Mercy Perpetual Adoration Chapel on April 21, 2025. I feel so blessed that the Lord gave me the privilege of ensuring that this tremendous treasure of our parish was built. I am so grateful that he used me. Since its opening, we have not only had a record of over 350 committed adorers but also Adoration going on uninterrupted 24/7.

Relics are physical objects that have a direct association with the saints or with Our Lord. They are venerated (not worshiped) as tangible memorials of holy people and events. The practice has roots in early Christianity and is based on the belief in the power of God's grace working through the saints and their remains. The veneration of relics is supported by passages like 2 Kings 13:21, where a dead man comes to life after touching the bones of the prophet Elisha. In the early Church, Christians gathered at martyrs’ tombs to celebrate Mass, believing that their closeness to the remains of the saints brought them spiritually closer to God. Now, in each altar as a connection to the early life of the church, first-class relics of saints, typically of a martyred saint, are embedded inside the altar, and that is true for us here at OLMC.

Traveling through Italy, I visited numerous churches that were exquisite in their beauty, from large Papal Basilicas to small local parishes, and were constructed in a variety of times over the course of history, each with their era’s distinctive marks. These churches, from the more simple ancient churches simply decorated with early frescoes, to the lavish baroque basilicas gilded with gold and porphyry all display a commitment to making the most beautiful house for our Lord that they could at that moment.

Dear Friends,

I joined the priests of our diocese for our annual retreat two weeks ago in my favorite retreat center, the Redemptorist Retreat Center at Picture Rocks in Tucson. Each time I go there, I am inspired by the words written near the tabernacle, which read: “The Desert will lead you to your heart where I will speak.” However, though the retreat was very inspiring and our retreat director, Fr. Lorenzo, was very engaging, this time, nothing struck a particular chord in me to validate this sentence until a brief encounter with a couple I met on the last day of my retreat at the reception.

Ten days ago, on May 8, 2025, Robert Cardinal Prevost was elected Pope, taking the name Leo XIV. This day he was elected, May 8, is a feast day of St. Michael the Archangel, commemorating his multiple apparitions atop Monte Gargano in southeastern Italy since the year 492. This feast day used to be celebrated throughout the world, but has now often been neglected.

Dear Friends,

When the announcement of the new pope was made on May 8th, I was in a hospital bed in the emergency room battling an illness. All of a sudden, my phone went ballistic with messages informing me of who the new pope is - Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, an American-born Augustinian missionary! What? I unconsciously reacted. At a human level, I was thrilled that the new pope and I both share the name Robert and both of us are Americans of dual citizenship. But I was also shocked, like I believe many were, because though holding a prominent position in the Vatican, little was known about him. Besides, many more still never expected an American to become a pope at this time.

The first U.S.-born cardinal, Robert Francis Prevost, has been named the Roman pontiff on Thursday, taking the name Leo XIV.

Following the opening Mass (The Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff) on Wednesday, 133 cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel later that day to begin the conclave. To elect a new pope, a two-thirds majority was required, meaning at least 89 votes were needed out of 133 electors. On Thursday afternoon in Rome, the white smoke indicated the new pope had been selected.

While I was in Italy, we celebrated Mass in the Catacombs of Rome, surrounded by the tombs of the early Christians, as well as by where some of the early Popes used to be buried. There were buried martyrs, clergy, families, and children; all Christians who lived the faith even through persecution. We celebrated Mass in a similar way to these early Christians, who celebrated the Mass atop the tombs of the Martyrs, sometimes even becoming martyrs themselves in the process. Even through the centuries of time that have passed between then and now, we share the same faith as the faith of our forefathers.

Today I am writing to you from Italy, where only a few days ago, I attended the funeral Mass of Pope Francis. I had planned for this trip many months ago to go for the Jubilee Year, and was going to be at the Canonization Mass of (soon to be Saint) Carlo Acutis, but just 3 days before I left, Francis passed, causing the Canonization to be postponed. A trip for jubilation turned to a trip for mourning.

Dear friends,

The past thirteen or so days have been marked by significant events that have rocked the world to its core. First, though expected, was the horrific death of our Lord Jesus Christ and his glorious resurrection three days later on Easter Sunday. Just as the Christian world was rejoicing and celebrating this centuries-old momentous event, Pope Francis died the next day on Easter Monday.