This will be an historic week for us as we install the 5th bishop of the diocese of Phoenix. Please pray for Bishop Dolan, for Bishop Olmsted, and for our diocese. God has led us through His Holy Spirit for all these years and it is exciting to see what God has in store for us in our future.

It is hard to believe it is almost August. That means schools will be starting soon and families will be back from vacations. It is always a transition time for many in our community: starting school for the first time, moving on to high school or college, and for parents this is also a time of change. Please remember all of our families in your prayers during these exciting and challenging times.

I was recently moved during my morning prayers by a passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. In chapter 4 he begins by saying, “Bear with one another charitable, incomplete selflessness, gentleness, and patience.” After prayer, I tuned on the news before going to Mass to see if anything important had happened during the night. What I saw was a commercial for a political candidate, and then another one, and even a third. I want back to read all of chapter 4 of Ephesians.

I know many of us are tired of hearing about Covid-19, but it is still with us and there are people who are still very concerned and cautious. We always want to respect those parishioners.

When someone says to me that they haven’t been to church since the virus broke out, and that they miss communion, I always remind them that we have a very large church and there is usually space to sit apart especially at the 5:00pm and 7:30am Masses. However, all our Masses are getting fuller even during these summer months.

I don’t need to remind you that Monday is the Fourth of July, our Independence Day. Yes, it is a day to celebrate and be joyful. It is also a day to be very thankful for what we have received from our ancestors and from our God. It is definitely not a time to take our life for granted.

Like many of our ancestors, we are in a difficult time, and it is a time to focus on what is important. It is not a time to give up hope. Our country has been through worse times than these. It was the people of those times who brought us through them. Now it is our turn.

Next Friday we will celebrate the founding anniversary of our parish, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Since July 1, we have witnessed the presence of our God in this community in North Scottsdale. I know many of you have been with us since that day in 1994 and have watched us grow.

In the Breviary there is this interesting reading from a letter written to Diognetus:

“Christians are indistinguishable from other men (and women) either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in.

Next Sunday is Father’s Day! No, not priest fathers, well, maybe, but most especially fathers of families and grandfathers, godfathers, etc. It is a good time to remember St. Joseph, the adopted father of our Lord. His example reminds us that fathers are the primary teachers of the faith.

After our Confirmation/First communion celebration, one of our young boys came up to me and asked if I would give God a message. Of course, I said “yes”. He handed me this note:

(Ok, I changed some of the spelling.)

Today we celebrate the ordination of men to the transitional diaconate. These are the men who will be ordained to the priesthood next year. For a year they will be able to proclaim the gospel and preach, to baptize, to celebrate weddings without a mass and to learn what ordained life is like. Please remember to pray for these men.

It is that time of year: budgets. Our parish runs on a fiscal year from July 1 through June 30. Budgeting is always difficult and it was especially during the pandemic. While Covid is not over yet, it has slowed down and we can look at next year’s budget a little closer.

The largest part of any parish budget is salaries. We are blessed with talented and dedicated staff members who see what they do as ministry, a calling from God. Of course, they still need to be paid. The Diocese of Phoenix gives “guidelines” for different ministry positions. As we get busier our parish staff works harder and longer hours.

Just a reminder, next Saturday is our KofC Tournament; I hope many of you have signed up. Our Knights of Columbus do so much to help our parish family and we are so grateful to them.

Next Sunday, May 22 at the 11:00am Mass is our annual Baccalaureate Mass honoring our high school graduates. This is always special because most will weal their school caps and gowns making the procession very colorful. Please remember to pray for all our graduates as this is a very important time their lives, not just for what they have accomplished but also as they look to the future. We are all so proud of each of them.

Next Saturday we will celebrate First Holy Communion and Confirmation with a group of our young children. Please remember to pray for them. After Confirmation, they are able to serve at the Altar at Mass, so we will be having training in the next month or so. Any others who would like to serve should call Fr. Simon or Kathy Stine at the office. This is an important ministry in our parish and we could use more help, especially with older students.