The Other Side of my "State of the Parish" Address
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 11/09/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
Last weekend, I gave you my state of the parish address, reflecting on my past year as your Pastor and laying out my plans for our parish going forward. I pointed out how excited and blessed I am to be your pastor. I reminded myself, too, as I often do, how grateful I must always be to God and to the several people that God brought into my own life over the years. That now includes you! It is this sense of gratitude that always brings a bright smile to my face, if you are wondering!
ContinueWho or what do you worship?
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 11/02/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
Since this weekend, my focus is on addressing the state of our parish at all Masses, so I decided to give a brief reflection on the liturgy of this 31st Sunday of Year B. Whereas the readings of this weekend focus primarily on Love: Love of God and Love of neighbor, my mind was drawn to the title of this article. I think this is for a good reason: who or what we love greatly influences our worship. Who and what do we worship in our society today?
ContinueA Living Faith
by Fr. Gabriel Terrill | 10/26/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
“By itself, faith accomplishes nothing. For even the devils believe and shudder. No, faith must be joined to an active love of God which is expressed in good works.”
—St. Maximus the Confessor
These words from Saint Maximus may remind us of the reading from the letter of Saint James we heard a few Sundays ago when he said, “Faith apart from works is dead.” Saint Maximus even goes so far as to say that even the devils have a technical faith as they know who God is and believe in his power. We see this in the various episodes of exorcism in the gospels, where Jesus casts out evil spirits.
ContinueA Word of Gratitude to You
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 10/19/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
I would like to express my profound gratitude for your active participation in a number of activities our parish has been involved in the last couple of months. Among others, we began by doing a census, which was followed by a survey to determine the size and needs of our parish. Even though the participation was not as we had hoped, it gave us some idea of the direction our parish desires to go.
ContinueLife is so precious, We are called to respect it!
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 10/13/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
This month of October is usually known as Respect Life Month in our Catholic Church. And so, in this article, I am going to ask all of you to do everything in your power to respect life. One way I am asking you to do this is by voting NO to Proposition 139, as the Bishops are asking us to do. This is because, as you know by now, this proposition opens the door to enshrining a constitutional right to abortion in Arizona, including even removing safeguards for girls and women currently in place at abortion clinics.
ContinueWhat is this Commitment Sunday about?
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 10/05/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
For the last five weekends of September, our reflections centered on stewardship, covering its three pillars of time, talent, and treasure. This weekend, as members of our parish community, it is our time to commit. As a community, we want to reaffirm our resolve and commitment to faithful stewardship to the support of our parish. As we do so, let us keep in mind that this is a sacred moment for us to reflect on our relationship with God and our role as stewards of His resources.
ContinueThe Transformative Power of Gratitude and Kindness
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 09/28/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
Last week, we, Priests and the Bishops of our Diocese gathered in Flagstaff for our annual convocation. While it was radically different from the convocations we had in the past, it was nevertheless hailed as one of the best we have had in recent years. Our presentations focused on the hidden life of St. Joseph through the lenses of artists. Elizabeth Lev, the renowned Vatican Church art historian, and author who made these presentations, captivated the priests and the bishops with her very thrilling talks and sense of humor, making the three days of the convocation look like half a day. This was not a mean feat to achieve, considering that she was talking to priests who are often hard to impress.
ContinueThe Joy of Stewardship: Sharing Your Financial Resources with your Parish
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 09/21/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
Over the past three weeks, we have emphasized in different ways that, as Christians, we are all called to be good stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us, which include our time, talent, and treasure. One of the most significant ways we can demonstrate our faith and commitment to our parish, which I want to focus on this week, is specifically by sharing our financial resources. In this article, I want to emphasize three points: the importance of generosity, the benefits of giving, and the practical ways you can share your financial resources with your parish.
ContinueWhat is the Stewardship of Talent?
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 09/14/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
In the last two weeks, our homilies focused on Stewardship, inviting us to recognize that all the things we have: our time, talent, and treasure are gifts to us from God. Both last week’s homilies and article discussed the stewardship of TIME, emphasizing the need for us to spend time with our Loving Father. It was essentially about creating time for prayer and for our brothers and sisters. Understood this way, stewardship of time becomes a very important aspect in developing our relationship with God and our community.
ContinueThe most deadly poison of our time is indifference.
by Fr. Gabriel Terrill | 09/07/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
This is a famous quote from one of the Church’s great modern saints, Maximilian Kolbe; a Franciscan priest who lived his life leading others to Christ and gave his life at Auschwitz in order to save the life of another. We recently celebrated the feast of Saint Maximilian Kolbe and his call to recognize the poison of indifference is even more relevant today.
Continue