One of my mentors in college, Msgr. Michael Osborn, taught us that the word “mystery” has a deep and important theological meaning. For most of us, mystery is a genre of entertainment: the mystery books of Agatha Christie or stories of the detective Sherlock Holmes. In this sense, mystery means something like a puzzle to solve or a case to crack. If you work at it with the right clues and for long enough you’ll be able to figure it out. Other times we may use mystery in the sense of a fact completely and forever unknowable, as in “it’s a mystery how the 1993 Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost to Boston College.”

Congratulations to Karina Rocha, our wonderful business office coordinator, and to her family for the birth of her son Matteo last week. Mom and baby are both healthy, happy, and holy! Karina is grateful to everyone in the parish who has prayed for her during the pregnancy and delivery and looks forward to returning to SJV after her maternity leave time with Mateo.

Speaking of pregnancy, you’ll notice the two new parking spaces reserved for pregnant moms in our SJV parking lot. We love life at all stages and just as we try to ensure parishioners with mobility limitations can park close, so too for our families with pre-born babies. Certainly parking is a precious commodity here at church, and we are all grateful for your observation of these new reserved spots. As well, let’s pray all these babies keep growing in good health!

Though the temperatures don’t seem to reflect it here in Arizona, we are finally at autumn’s doorstep. For a while now we have been in “new year” mode at the parish and the school as we kick off programs, classes, and ministries. Everyone seems renewed after summer travels and rest - and happy to be together again! Please keep reading our weekly bulletins for information on all the exciting opportunities for prayer, fellowship, catechism, and Christian service here at SJV.

My dear friends,

This past week we Catholics celebrated two of our great saints, Monica and her son Augustine. These two “early” Christians were northern Africans who went on to become one of the most well known Mother-Son duos since Mary and Jesus! St. Augustine is a doctor of the Church, a pillar of western philosophy, and is generally considered to have written the first autobiography, “Confessions”. Besides being a wonderful theological and philosophical reflection, this life story reveals a complex family that grappled with serious problems. Augustine’s father was a non-believer and would fly into violent rages and become physically and emotionally abusive. Monica was a devout Catholic who suffered greatly due to her husband’s abuse and his infidelity - and later the wild and rebellious life of her son Augustine.