Dear St. Catherine Laboure Family,

The beauty of Christmas is not that it's limited to only one day, the sentiment of these holy days unfolds for us deeper hope, deeper peace, deeper joy, and the most deepest love. These pillars given to us at Advent are never lost but continue with us as we deepen our love of God. It is the season after all that we are called to reflect more profoundly on the essence and mystery of our faith, and decide whole-heartedly to focus on things that really matter.

On the fourth Sunday of Advent, we testify to LOVE. What is love? So many ideas of what love is, yet the world is in most need of love. Love is married bliss, love is a pop music ballad, or a country music song. So many things have been said of love. It's a perplexing mystery, but we know we crave it and rejoice when we find it. Who does not want to be loved, but at times we can be stingy with this most wonderful gift of God. It's easy to love the people that love us but what about those that don't love us back, those are the hardest to love, yet we are called to love them anyway.

Rejoice in the Lord Always, Again I Say Rejoice !!!

Gaudete Sunday or Rejoice Sunday is the Third Sunday of Advent reserved for lighting the one and only liturgical rose-colored candle for the Fruit of the Holy Spirit of JOY.

Each candle of the Advent wreath brings us a new Fruit of the Holy Spirit to learn to live by, and to build our foundation of faith. We have come a long way, building upon Hope, Peace, and now Joy as the pillars that will hold us up and lead us to the final candle of LOVE.

Delving into the Advent Season we find ourselves thinking about the four fruits of the Holy Spirit, as we began with Hope, then continue to move onto Peace, JOY, and Love. Hope and Peace are the cornerstone of the Christian life with all four gifts our foundation. The Advent Wreath really is a great instrument of contemplation, the circle of the wreath reminds us of the pilgrim journey we've undertaken, and that the path of that journey must be illuminated at all times, as we light the candles of the wreath, and become open to the ways God will lead us, if we only stop to pause and listen to Him.

Advent is a time of New Beginnings, to turnover a New Leaf, to be renewed, blessed, and to change our hearts and minds to work for the good of all in Christ. Our Catholic Faith has some remarkable ways of growing spiritually, as this Advent we seek to put our hearts in motion. Yes, our hearts and minds must be in synch with Christ at all times, otherwise we lose our way very quickly.

The final day of the liturgical year is upon us. The Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. This culmination of all the events surrounding our viewfinder of the liturgical year that leads us to realize more profoundly what it means to declare Christ the King of the Universe and to be his disciple. How can it be that the Church calls us to receiving Christ as king, when most of the kings depicted in sacred scripture were corrupted, diabolical, barbaric and not interested in giving away any semblance of power to a Deity. What is it about Christ as king, that he leads us with attributes of love, accountability, charity, forgiveness while being humbled, and a servant leader?

A November to Remember allows us to reflect and pray whole-heartily for the souls of the faithful departed. The Corporal Works of Mercy are a necessary part of living our faith practically in response to the Gospel. The Church teaches through these corporal works great compassion and Christ-like behavior.

Today the Church celebrates the dedication of the Basilica St. John Lateran in Rome as the church gifted to the Church by Constantine in 313 A.D. It was under the reign of Constantine as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, that Christianity under the universality of the Catholic Church became legalized and began to flourish. Today we honor the fact that this church becomes the cathedral Church of Rome where the Pope of the Universal Church is also the Bishop of Rome.

Dear St. Catherine Laboure Family,

Today we celebrate All Soul’s Day, as a way to commemorate the Faithful Departed. The Church has a long tradition of commemorating the dead, because one of the corporal works of mercy, and our Christian responsibility, is to bury the dead. We bury the dead by offering proper Christian burial that includes a funeral mass. And proper burial in a cemetery. Hopefully we had given the opportunity for the dying person to receive the final sacraments of the Church with Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum, Food for the Journey, by receiving the Eucharist.

The month of October allows us to move deep within this autumnal season. This time of year, is a necessary part of the spiritual life because it’s a season of renewal in that we are called to shed the old to make way for the new. How have we grown or matured in the spiritual life? How might we better identify with the cross of Christ and instead of wavering, actively embrace our cross each day? We are blessed to have somewhat of a sense of four seasons here in Chino Valley, as the night air begins to turn colder, and our morning sunrises are crisper. The change of seasons is also a signal for the changes we are moving through as well interiorly. St. Teresa of Avila speaks of the way to perfection, or the interior castle which reflects our soul.

Fervent praise and thanksgiving prevent us from ever losing our sights on God. Fervency is tough, because it requires consistency. Consistency is tough because it requires tenacity. Tenacity is tough because it requires commitment. This is what Jesus is asking, are you up for it? Jesus wants fervency. He wants a commitment. This is the message of breaking open the Word this week. Just like Jesus asked us recently in a Gospel a few Sundays back, “will you be my disciple” This is not just an “at whim” question, but is one that requires our contemplation, because Jesus is asking us for a commitment. It’s a radical decision to be His disciple. He does not want us to be wishy washy, fence-sitting, or lukewarm. He wants us to be faithful to him 24/7/365/52. That’s it.

Oh, to have the faith of a mustard seed! That would be some incredible faith! Is it possible to muster up such faith in the midst of our doubt, fear, or lack of trust? All eyes are upon Erika Kirk these days, due to the death of her husband Charlie Kirk, some may have known her, while many have gotten to know of her because of that horrific day. Faith requires hardship, and in the face of hardship, we either can fold or have faith to move mountains. That was the display recently as Erika Kirk was dealt an unfair blow, that had changed her course indefinitely as wife, mother, and now as CEO.