It was twelve years ago on the Feast of Divine Mercy that we gathered with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and a large number of priests for the Solemn Mass for the Dedication of the Church and Altar. The date was April 11, 2010.

Even though we had our first Mass inside our church on Christmas Eve in 2008, we had been using our temporary wooden altar from the time when we were having Masses in the parish hall. Finally, in 2010, we had the permanent altar that you now see in the church as well as the stone baptismal font and the tabernacle.

These images capture the beauty of Easter weekend at St. Clare of Assisi Parish. We are grateful for our community and higher attendance this year. Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Concrete floor for the basement of the new activities center.

This has been a wonderful year as many more parishioners were able to return to the church for Mass. I was very glad to see more faces and catch up with their stories. We still have a weekly live stream Mass for those who need it, but we hope we will see you soon inside the church if you are healthy. We started construction on our Parish Activities Center to include offices, social hall, chapel, meeting rooms etc. We really appreciate our donors and hope you are one of them! I recently announced some priests and staff changes.

As a Catholic priest, more so, as a religious missionary priest, I was always formed and trained to be ready and willing to go anywhere and to any mission or place that the need calls or God’s Spirit leads to through the use of Major Superiors or the Bishop of the Diocese where we work.

After almost 8 years serving at St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Parish, it is now time for change, time to move to another Mission. This time at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Chandler, Arizona.

Praying with Scripture can be done alone or with others. When done with others, it can be a means of sharing more deeply the faith that you attempt to live out day by day. We believe that one of the ways God is manifested to us is through the Scriptures. When we prayerfully read the Scriptures, we open our minds and hearts to the Spirit of God. We can be both challenged and affirmed by the Word of God.

In the Gospels, Jesus commands man to deny himself and take up his cross. What does it mean to take up our own cross in our daily lives?

When we think about what our crosses are, we may assume that it could be some sort of physical or emotional burden that has been placed upon us. While these can add stress to our lives, the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that Jesus has not given us a burden that is too heavy or impossible to bear (CCC 1615).

Thank you to so many parishioners of St. Clare of Assisi. Thanks to the chairpersons, Jackie Mialki and Lorrie Holland from the Women's Guild and Don McLane, Bruce Grattan and Wayne Lorenzana from the Knights of Columbus. Thanks to all the members of the parish and ministries who volunteered their time and backs doing pickups and deliveries, setting up, pricing and selling the donated items. Thanks to all the parishioners who donated items to be sold and coming to the sale and supporting the parish.

As we prepare to enter another Lenten season, it is good to remind ourselves that this is not only a time of penance but of conversion as well. That is why there is such a close connection between Lent and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). You know that RCIA is a process for those over the age of seven wishing to become Catholic. Some enter the RCIA process as unbaptized people, called catechumens. While others join the process having been baptized in another Christian denomination. We call them candidates.

The Church has celebrated the Eucharist since Jesus’ Resurrection, but it has not always looked the same. Originally, the small Christian communities gathered for the evening meal in one of its members’ houses. Prayers, hymns, and even readings from one of Paul’s letters were included as parts of the meal. Of course, most importantly, the host blessed and shared bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ. St. Paul discusses some of the issues that arise as a result of these early liturgical gatherings in chapter 11 of the First Letter to the Corinthians.

When two baptized people, one man and one woman, enter into marriage they bestow upon each other a Sacrament. For each of the other Sacraments the ordinary Minister is the Bishop, Priest, or Deacon. But in marriage the Bishop, Priest or Deacon is the Church’s witness of the Sacrament which the bride and groom bestow on each other.

Our BSA Pack & Troop 400 were honored on Sunday, February 6 at 9:00am Mass for all their contributions to our community. The Pack & Troop also hosted a local food drive supporting the St. Vincent de Paul Chapter at St. Clare and demonstrated their skills for parishioners in between morning Masses.

Are we controlled by fear? Does it hold us back? Is it preventing us from living fully?

Life is a series of adventures and risks. It seems these days, that a great many people are living in fear. We are afraid of a virus which we do not understand. We are afraid because we have seen so many stories of people who got sick or died, some were even friends, family, fellow parishioners, colleagues, or neighbors. We are afraid to be around people wearing masks or vice versa, people who don’t wear face masks. We are afraid of criminals, the loss of property or violence.