Happy New Year! Dr. Ralph Wilson, a California pastor and Vietnam War veteran, wrote a fable about two newly-married mice. The young mouse-couple had made their first home in a nest of sticks and brush in the midst of a pile of firewood near the edge of the woods. One day this whole pile was lifted, log by log - with a lot of the sticks and brush caught up in them, including their home - and thrown into the back of a pickup truck. Despite their best attempts to cling to the wood, the married-mice couple were suddenly homeless. This terrible destruction of their home from some unseen force in the sky had never happened to them and they were devastated to now be starting back from scratch. But they were together and alive, safe from their home’s eventual winter fireplace destination. Dr. Wilson’s moral: “don’t cling to the firewood.”

Merry Christmas! On behalf of the priests and staff of the parish, we all hope you are able to share the many blessings of this holy season together with family and friends. Let us join together in prayer - both in Church and around our family dinner tables - asking our Heavenly Father for real peace and healing in the world today. In our prayer we are also mindful of those who are celebrating Christmas separated from loved ones because of distance or disagreement. Others are going through their first Christmas after the passing of a spouse, child, parent or sibling.

As St. Paul writes, "Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks" (1 Thes 5:16) and so, here at SJV we are! Today's rose-colored vestments are a visible sign that we are getting very close to the Nativity of Our Savior and are rejoicing, praying and giving thanks. We have many reasons for each.

What a busy few weeks at SJV and beyond! On November 11, the Carmel of St. Teresa in Alhambra, California, celebrated the profession of solemn vows of Sr. Elizabeth Cristina of Mary, O.C.D., (who taught in our parish pre- school when she was "just" Ms. Eli Gama) Several parishioners - and former pastors! -were in attendance and they tell us it was a very joyful day. Sister Elizabeth wrote to say she is praying for us all!

Since it has been a few weeks since I went down an “origin-of-the-word trail” I am happy to announce I am back on one, today the word Advent. Other than our liturgical season before Christmas I don’t think it is a very common word these days. Sometimes you’ll read about the advent of a new era or product - which of course means the arrival or coming.

A very warm and joyous welcome to the family members and friends who are in town this weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday. Whether you’re celebrating or sad about “The Territorial Cup” football game between Arizona State and the University of Arizona, I am really glad you’ve come to Mass with us at SJV and pray the Lord blesses you and your loved ones.

These final weeks of our Church’s liturgical year (which officially ends this year at sunset on December 2) always have us reading about the Last Days. Last Sunday’s Gospel passage, this week’s and next week’s are all from Matthew 25 and tell the Parables of the wise and foolish virgins (v.1-13), the prudent and fearful servants (v.14-30) and the final judgment (v.31-46). Popular culture has turned the topic of “end-times”, last days, final judgment into either a horror genre or a fringe genre of evangelical Christians (remember the “Left Behind” book series?)

160 years ago this week, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, our great President Abraham Lincoln helped to dedicate the battlefield cemetery. There he famously observed:

“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”

Over the past week we have celebrated the holy days of All Saints and All Souls, and in many homes in our parish we have also commemorated the Dia de los Muertos with pictures, mementos and regalitos to our deceased family and friends. We celebrate the saints, above all others our Mother Mary, throughout the year on different days. As well, our dear departed remain close to our hearts and in memories. These special days give us another special opportunity to pray together and celebrate.

Time seems to be flying even faster than normal, doesn't it? Fr. Tom and I saw a Christmas-themed commercial on television the other night and remembered that it wasn't too long ago when the "holiday shopping season" began the day after Thanksgiving. Now it's starting before Halloween! Such are the times. Although we Christians live in the world - and most of us buy both Halloween candy and Christmas presents! -we are not "of the world" and keep our eyes focused on the coming of Jesus. Saint Paul wrote to our Christian ancestors (though it holds true for us) "you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath."

Last Sunday we had a wonderful celebration of our Blessed Mother’s rosary together with a few thousand of our fellow Catholics at the Arizona Rosary Celebration 2023. Guadalupanas, Divina Misericordia, families and Knights of Columbus made the journey east to the Phoenix Convention Center where we joined Bishop Dolan and Bishop Nevares for the afternoon of prayer, song, celebration and fraternity. It was awesome! If you are able to go next year, I hope you’ll consider it - and it’s fun for the whole family (did I mention it was free?...)

Each October we celebrate the Rosary, although of course we pray it throughout the year. Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., (1909-1992) was a priest of our Congregation of Holy Cross and was famous for his “Rosary Rallies” and “The Family Rosary” in which he encouraged families to gather together in their homes and pray the rosary. He coined the phrases “The Family the Prays Together, Stays Together” and “A World at Prayer is a World at Peace.”

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This week our school principal, Doug Weivoda, and I were able to attend the first ever “Holy Cross Pastor & Principal Workshop” at Notre Dame in Indiana. It was a wonderful opportunity to be together with other parish pastors and principals in our U.S. Province (including Fr. Paul Ybarra and his principal from Portland) to reflect on how we are best able to educate the students in our care. We prayed together, listened to various expert presenters, and took a tour of St. Joseph Grade School in South Bend.

This Sunday’s second reading is from St. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi and contains the most beautiful poem about Christ (in my humble opinion…) It is often referred to as the “Philippians Hymn” or the “Christ Hymn” and some scholars believe it was written in the mid 30’s A.D. This means during the years immediately following Jesus’ resurrection! By 62 A.D. when Paul was writing to the Philippians, he included this poem in the letter and due to its distinctness from the rest of the letter and Paul’s “style”, it causes us to believe it was well known by both the Apostle and this community and was one of the first universal hymns about Jesus Christ.