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4/26/2025 Pope FrancisWell done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy. – Mt 25:23 Dear friends on the journey, Easter Monday was like no other. While still holding the joy of Jesus’ resurrection, we also gripped the grief of losing the “world’s parish priest,” the bishop of Rome, our beloved Pope Francis. No words will ever accurately describe this humble servant, shepherd, and reformer. Francis’ first appearance as our spiritual leader indicated the man and priest he was and foreshadowed his papal ministry. On March 13, 2013, the newly elected pope met us in humility, breaking from tradition by wearing his own brown shoes and skipping the red cape. Before blessing us, he asked for our prayers for him. St. Francis of Assisi’s reputation as a man of peace, poverty and love for creation would inspire not only his name but his legacy. I’ll always remember the photos showing our new pope paying his own hotel bill and then opting for a simple Fiat for transportation. Even his burial reflects his humble simplicity. In homage to his devotion to Mother Mary, he will be laid to rest in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in a tomb buried in the ground, with no ornamentation and only the inscription: Franciscus. Francis is even paying for his own burial through a benefactor’s gift. As our pope for twelve years, Francis modeled what it means to be a missionary disciple. As the second most traveled pope, Francis placed at the center of his ministry the poor for they are “at the heart of the Gospel.” Francis emphasized caring for the marginalized, the LGBTQ community, the immigrant, the vulnerable, the speciallyabled, the imprisoned, and creation. He was a trailblazer in reforming the Church to be more inclusive and affirming of women and the laity, to be more transparent in the abuse crisis and to be more fiscally responsible. Francis was a servant for peace, speaking out against war and violence, calling upon world leaders to do better. He opened unprecedented ecumenical and interreligious dialogues and relationships. Pope Francis was elected just as I was beginning my pastoral ministry. Francis worked towards a field hospital church. He was a smelly shepherd gently guiding with his flock. This is the ministry and the parish I envision. So let us continue the work of Pope Francis as humble missionary disciples who care for the poor in this life.
4/20/2025 He is Truly Risen!When the economy has unusual ups and downs, when politics are uncertain, when society is divided, to whom do you turn? When the talking heads on the news programs are all yelling at each other, when the influencers are being arrested for the crazy things they do to get attention, and when you’re uncertain about both political party leaders’ decisions, where do you find truth? For people of faith, there can be only one answer: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). True, we learn from Him that there will be hard times, betrayals, false judgments and condemnations, followed by genuine, great suffering. We will all have times when it is important to provide ourselves confidence and hope, in spite of the news, the politics, the economy...whatever. But the difficulties are certainly not the only message we learn from the dying and rising of Jesus. After struggle and death comes renewed life. It might be very important this year to take this faith of ours as our frame of reference to live well in these times, since when all else can seem dark, our faith remains a springboard for hope. We don’t take this approach with foolish optimism. We are intimately joined to the world’s problems by our commitment to the Lord who created it. And because of that deep connection, we are forced to confront the world’s reality, and where possible, to do the good within our arms reach to address the world’s wounds. But even as we do so, we remember the primordial stories of the creation, where God saw that what he made was good, and that those made in his image and likeness are capable of being very good. We recall God’s original intent, of placing us in a beautiful and productive garden, with worthy companionship, a sense of purpose in caring for that garden, where, in the cool breeze of the evening, God would walk among us and call us by name. God intended us to know our purpose and be happy. How good it would be to surrender to God’s original plan. With this as our goal, we remain people of gratitude and hope, with confidence in our own renewal, as well as the world’s. We recognize the grace operating in our lives, and that alongside struggle is triumph, that wounds can be healed and cancer cured, wars are not forever, and that as spring follows winter, struggling adolescents become loving and confident young adults. Renewal happens.  Our world is full of hope for better things. On this Easter Sunday, in particular, we celebrate that for Jesus, and for us, death is not the end. He is risen...truly risen. Alleluia. May you be surprised by happiness this Easter, Fr. Patrick Mullen Pastor 4/14/2025 Aurora Castañon
4/12/2025 PassionGod becoming man may seem enough for Him to express His immense passion for His people. Becoming mortal seems reckless, and what kind of God would be willing to experience pain to ensure salvation for His people? To put it simply, only a passionate God would do that. Passion is interesting. It’s probably a word we throw around loosely. We aren’t shy about using this word pertaining to our hobbies and interests, but it means more than that. When we express that God is passionate for His people, it means that he we will go through any means to simply give them the opportunity for salvation. In the Second Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul expresses Christ’s passion very clearly. God is so passionate for us, that he “humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” A God who is willing to walk with His people is striking. A God who is willing to become mortal and experience death is shocking. A God who is willing to be executed, is outright baffling. This truly expresses God’s infinite passion for us. Not only does he want to spoil his people with eternal life, he is willing to experience, not just death, but a gruesome and inhumane death, so we can be with Him in eternity. How should we respond? With gratitude. As we dive into Holy Week, there may be challenging times. Sometimes guilt kicks in, sometimes apathy among other difficult feelings. But the whole point of this week is for us to truly embrace the idea that your God will go through any means to save you. And he already has. Let’s not dwell on guilt or pain, but rather, let’s respond by thanking Him. As we dive into Holy Week, my prayer is that we can all dive into the uncomfortable nature of the God’s passion. Not because we are striving to feel unworthy. But rather, so we can fully embrace that our God loves us so much and we should respond with true gratitude and celebrate that our God conquered death, for us to live in eternal life. Just because He loves Us.  I look forward to celebrating our God’s triumph over death. And I look forward to celebrating it with all of you.
God Bless, Brett Becker Youth and Young Adult Minister 4/9/2025 Cynthia Winkler
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