Howdy,

Many of us sometimes make the sign of the cross so often that we sometimes do not think about it. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in his book, Spirit of the Liturgy, commented on the importance of the common gesture:

The bishops of the Arizona Catholic Conference (ACC) regret that legislation (SB 1600) to protect the lives of babies born alive was just vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs.

We believe in the dignity of human life from conception until natural death. Unfortunately, it is often the case that the most vulnerable people are the ones who need the most protection, whether it be the disabled people, the elderly, or newborn children.

Blessed Easter to you all,

In 1999, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a book asking a good question for our world today: “Can there really be special holy places and holy times?” The book is entitled, The Spirit of the Liturgy. While it can get a little technical, it is also very readable and appropriate for Catholics today.

He writes, “Christian worship is surely a cosmic liturgy, which embraces both heaven and earth.” He then asks, “Is the whole world not now God’s sanctuary? Is sanctity not to be practiced by living one’s daily life in the right way?

Howdy,

I pray your Lent was holy and now we enter into the most sacred time of the year: Holy Week. It is like no other week of the year and I hope you are all able to adjust your schedules to enter this week as much as possible.

We begin with Passion Sunday, first with the joyful entry into Jerusalem waving our palm branches and then preparing ourselves by hearing the reading of our Lord’s Passion. Monday the priests of our diocese have a retreat to prepare ourselves for the week. Monday evening is Chrism Mass, when the priests renew their promises and the Holy Oils for the coming year are blessed by Bishop Dolan. Wednesday we have confessions at 5:00pm.