Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone had a great week. We are firmly into November and already looking ahead to the next school year. One of the ways we are doing this is opening registration early. Our Catholic school is a great opportunity for families to offer their children more than an education.

Happy Sunday!

Today the Church celebrates All Saints Day. This solemnity commemorates all the saints in heaven, known and unknown. The Gospel for this occasion is from Matthew 5, the Beatitudes. It is in the Beatitudes that Jesus takes the values of the world and turns them upside down. He tells us that true joy is not in being free of trial.

Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone has had a great week. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the air conditioning fund. We are very grateful for all the support for this project. We will have another collection in November for the air conditioning fund and then pause it until the spring. The link for the "Cool Gift" fund will still be on the website if you would like to contribute over the winter. Once more, I want to express my thanks to each of you and the Knights of Columbus for supporting this project. It makes me very grateful to be a part of such a generous parish.

Happy Sunday! Here we are, past the midpoint in October! I love the Fall and getting to see the Aspens change color (as I write this it is raining so there is no color to be seen). It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from G.K. Chesterton. He says, "The saddest moment for an atheist is when he sees a beautiful sunset and has no one to thank."

Happy Sunday!

Last weekend we had a great celebration of the feast of St. Francis. Thanks to the Knights of Columbus for moving the pancake breakfast to last weekend so we could celebrate. I'm grateful for our presenters who spoke about the life of St. Francis and for those who assisted with the blessing of animals Sunday afternoon.

Happy Sunday!

Happy Feast of St. Francis! This weekend's prayers and readings come from the Memorial Mass for St. Francis rather than the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Because St. Francis is our patron, his feast day takes precedence over the regular Sunday. To celebrate this day we have a weekend full of events finishing with the Blessing of the Animals at 3:00pm this afternoon (Sunday the 4th).

Happy Sunday!

This past week Fr. Jeff and I attended the annual Priest Convocation here in Flagstaff. It is always good to have time together as priests for a few days. I am grateful for Fr. Peter's assistance in covering Mass and confessions while we were out. Fr. Peter is always so generous in offering help and support when we have to be away. If you see him, please thank him for his generosity.

Happy Sunday!

Last weekend we announced our fundraiser to raise money for air conditioning for the church! Thank you so much for your generous support! I am very grateful to the Knights of Columbus who have generously offered a $75,000 matching gift. Over the years the Knights have been extremely generous in supporting the needs of the parish. They continue to be an example of good stewardship of their resources and I am grateful for their continued support. If you have not made a gift and would like to, you can do so by going online and under the "Giving" page select "Cool Gift". You are also welcome to drop a donation off at the parish office. Thank you so much!

In my parish, there was once a new employee who frequently told me she was sorry for various imperfections in her work. It could be a little tiring. I finally told her, "You know, you don't have to say 'sorry' so often." She looked me right in the eyes and said, "Father, you're right. I'm sorry" Her ear-to-ear grin betrayed that she enjoyed the irony - and that she would keep asking for forgiveness as often as she needed it.

Happy Sunday!

Happy Labor Day Weekend to everyone! Tomorrow the parish office will be closed in observance of Labor Day. We will reopen on Tuesday morning. Every now and then I like to give you an update on recent books I've read which I recommend and since it seems like it's been awhile I'd like to add that list today. This list is in no particular order.