Dear Parishioners,

We are halfway through our Journey to the Cross this Lent as Pilgrims of Hope. We have together opened our hearts to the Lord by uniting our sufferings, challenges, temptations, weaknesses, and sins to the Cross... trusting that it is through His wounds that we are healed. This season is a time of conversion. The path to a deeper relationship with the Lord is always one of trust and surrender, and the Cross is what gives us hope and strength.

Dear Parishioners,

We are well into the journey of Lent – entering into our third week. The evening talks by Bishop Wall were a blessing – taking time to open our hearts to the way the Lord speaks to us through the Saints. We are all called to be imitators of Him and their example helps us to embrace our own call to holiness.

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend, we begin our Lenten Parish Mission/Retreat. Over the years, parishes have often invited a priest to preach the weekend Masses and then provide several nights of spiritual talks to help us grow in the Lenten season—preparing ourselves for Easter.

This year, I am pleased to welcome Bishop James S. Wall, the Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup. Bishop Wall and I attended seminary together and worked closely as brother priests here in the Diocese of Phoenix. The topic, “The Saints and Virtue”, is meant to provide us stories of these witnesses and how we too are called to virtue and public witness of our faith in today’s world.

Dear Parishioners,

Our Lenten journey has begun after being marked with Ashes this past Wednesday. As we walk the Lenten path this year, we will focus on being Pilgrims of Hope – Journey to the Cross. Hope in the Cross seems strange to nonbelievers. For Christians, we never look at the Cross without remembering that His suffering and death led to the Resurrection and new life. In some ways, we look through the Cross and to the gift of eternal life. Easter is our hope.

Dear parishioners,

This is the last Sunday before Lent 2025. We start our journey on Ash Wednesday – March 5th. Lent, if embraced well, can be a time of growth in the awareness of God’s loving presence. I encourage you to start getting ready to take the 40-day journey of renewal. God always invites us to go deeper and this Lent is no different. Find some way to help you stay alert on the journey.

Dear Parishioners,

If we follow the Gospel this week, it is one that truly makes us as Christians stand out in the world; the teaching to love our enemy is unique. The deep call in the Christian life is to love not just those who we like or are like us, but to embrace in love all people. This can be difficult, especially when we have been hurt or someone in our family has been mistreated. And it is hard if we keep it simply at an emotional level, but what God calls us as Christians to understand is that love is an action as well as a feeling. We are called always to act in love even when we might not feel like it. This comes from grace – it is a supernatural grace that allows us to do something that otherwise seems impossible.

Dear Parishioners,

Our readings today call our attention to Jesus the teacher as He shares what we call the Beatitudes. A call to what it means to be blessed – to be poor, hungry, weeping and hated. Wow! That does not seem like what we signed up for, does it? Being blessed ultimately is being in a right relationship with God and dependent on Him. So the poor, hungry, weeping, and hated in a special way have to rely on the Lord.

God's love certainly unites us!

This is evident in the parish response to our recent annual mission engagement outreach. THANK YOU! I am humbled and grateful for your commitment to St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, especially during challenging times. Through your commitment, our parish remains vibrant, engaged, and Christ-centered in the Eucharist and in serving one another.

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord. It is a feast of encounter. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to Jerusalem to the temple to present Him to the Lord. God places two special people in their path, Simeon and Anna, both of them were devout and righteous people of faith. They immediately recognize the presence of God in their midst and proclaim their wonder and blessings to God. The Holy Family will return to Nazareth, where the scriptures tell us “he grew and became strong, filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him.”

Dear Parishioners,

Today in the Gospel, we witness Jesus teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, His hometown, as well as in the other towns in Galilee. People are amazed and listen intently. Teaching and passing on the faith is an important part of our journey as disciples. It is good to ask ourselves how we are listening and learning more about God’s love for us, Jesus’ saving grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We have the great benefit of many saints and scholars who have gone before us and help to provide insight through their experience of God’s love.

Dear Parishioners,

It is now ordinary time in the Church year. As you walk into the Church this week, it will look so different with all the Christmas decorations down. It seems that in a blink of an eye – the seasons of Advent and Christmas are gone. Yet, we carry the way the Lord has spoken to us in history, mystery and majesty in these special times into the natural order of ordinary time.

Dear Parishioners,

Merry Christmas! Today we complete the season of Christmas in the Church. It has been a nice extended period for us to soak in the mystery of love revealed in the crèche and the cross. The Baptism of the Lord is celebrated today and helps us make the transition into the public ministry of Jesus. He submits himself humbly into the waters of the Jordan so that he might sanctify the waters of baptism for all Christians who follow.

Dear Parishioners,

Merry Christmas and Epiphany blessings! The word epiphany means manifestation, striking appearance, and we often use it to indicate a deeper understanding or revelation of something that was confusing or unknown. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany – God’s revealing His love for all nations. The preface of today’s Mass says, “For today you have revealed the mystery of our salvation in Christ as the light for the nations, and, when He appeared in our mortal nature, you made us new by the glory of His immortal nature.” He comes to save all nations and for us to share in His divine and immortal nature.