This week we begin Catholic Schools Week with lots of celebration and prayer here at St. John Vianney Catholic School. The national theme this year is Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community.

Saint John Paul II addressed U.S. Catholic school teachers in 1987:

“The ultimate goal of all Catholic education is salvation in Jesus Christ. Catholic educators effectively work for the coming of Christ’s Kingdom; this work includes transmitting clearly and in full the message of salvation, which elicits the response of faith. In faith we know God… and in faith we truly come to know ourselves.”

Thanks to the wonderful generosity of so many of you and your commitment to serving Jesus by serving his vulnerable brothers and sisters the SJV Pantry is one of our largest ministries. Week in, week out our many volunteers, led by Deacon Bill Booth and his amazing leadership team, receive, organize and distribute food to those who seek it.

Many of you know that St. Gerard Majella is the patron of pregnant mothers and many couples over the years have been blessed with conception after praying through his intercession. Less well known is that Gerard was born to a very poor family and his father died when he was just 12. Besides the terrible grief he experienced in this tragedy, little Gerard was forced to leave school and work to help his family survive. Years later, after his family was able to get onto its feet again, he joined the Redemptorists as a lay brother and helped to serve the many poor families of Muro, Italy - especially those struggling and grieving after the death of a parent.

After the whirlwind of sacraments, prayer and activities in Advent and Christmas, I hope everyone has had a chance to catch their breath! From the Immaculate Conception and dedication of our new Grotto to the many celebrations of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Las Posadas all the way through Christmas and our Masses last weekend for Holy Mary, Mother of God we have been going, going, going. Which certainly speaks to the Holy Spirit moving and blessing us in the parish!

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.