Our scripture readings today are centered on our call to a total commitment to discipleship. Jesus warns His followers that following Him would require a total commitment that involves sacrificing everything else and putting God first as the highest priority in our lives.

Work continues on the grading and the preparation of the pads for the extensions of the building. The west side extension will be for the Sanctuary, the priest Sacristy and the Minister Sacristy. The north side extension will be for the additional restrooms and the elevator to the chair loft. The south side extension will be for the bell tower and gift store. Photos show the wall and ceiling support of the building. The north side, the south side, and west side of the building showing the progress of the grading.

Growing up, one of the traditions I found very interesting in the Catholic Church, which I believe is true for most converts to the Church, is the use of different symbols to represent Christ, the Church, and the Eucharist. Symbols such as grapes, wheat, fish, Chi Rho, etc., may be found mostly on stained glass windows, vestments, and sacred vessels. One of the oldest symbols for Jesus Christ in Christian art is the pelican. It may not be a pretty bird, but it’s known as a symbol of self-sacrifice. Pelicans feed on fish but when a mother pelican cannot find fish to feed her broods, it bites deep into its own flesh and feeds its brood with her blood until the next food can be found. This is precisely what Christ does for us. Jesus did not wait for an emergency like the pelican. Rather, He gives Himself to us every day in the Eucharist. Jesus promised He would not leave us orphans (John 14:18). He has kept His word by giving himself to us as the Bread of Life.

Demolition clean-up continues, while the grading begins. Some of the current plumbing that is underground needs to be removed as it is in the way of the building extension. This work has begun, impacting the current restrooms which has forced us to shut down the restrooms in the building. The ground is being compacted at the northeast side of the building for the new restrooms and elevator. Next week, the southeast corner will be compacted for the bell tower.

Central to Catholic Theology is the Doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity: the union of God the Father (Creator), God the Son (the Redeemer) and God the Holy Spirit (the Sanctifier), three persons in One God. The Father pre-existed everything and created all things out of love, the Son is begotten and not made, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the love of the Father and the Son. In the Most Holy Trinity, God the Father is what God the Son is and what God the Holy Spirit is; yet, God the Father is neither God the Son nor is He God the Holy Spirit. The same is true of the Son and the Holy Spirit, they are three distinct persons united in love as one God.

First, I would like to acknowledge the support this project is receiving from our Priests and the staff. They were requested to move to the Annex building with little notice. They all handled this challenge with extreme professionalism, while continuing to conduct the day to day business of our Parish.

The demo continues with significant movement this week: The trees and bushes around the building have been removed. The roof and interior walls have been fortified in preparation for the west wall removal The west wall was removed.

Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus had directed His Apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. He assured them that His going to the Father would produce a pleasant consequence as He would send to them the Advocate, who would reveal to them the mysteries of the kingdom, empower them and guide His nascent Church to witness faithfully to the reign of God on earth. This promise was fully fulfilled on Pentecost, fifty days after Easter and ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven. We celebrate this outpouring of the Spirit on the Apostles on Pentecost Sunday this weekend.

Here is a quick construction update for the week. Demolition started last week on the inside of the building. The first photo below is the front of the building. The canopy has been removed. The old Sanctuary has been removed. The Sacristy and conference room areas have been demoed. The west exterior wall has a temporary opening to allow demo material to be removed. The interior ceiling will be supported before the west wall is entirely removed. The plant, tree removal and grading will begin shortly.

This weekend, we have some printed materials with construction information for you at the doors during all the weekend Masses. Beginning this weekend, we will also resume our prayer for the success of the building during our weekend Masses. You will also notice that we now have big banners on 48th Street to direct visitors to our Weekend Mass location in the St. John Bosco School multipurpose room.

The contractors and our Building Committee meet every Thursday to review the construction plan for the week. I will be giving you more construction updates in the next few weeks.

Ordinarily, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord forty days after Easter Sunday, and this usually falls on the Thursday of the sixth week of our Easter celebration. This gives us ten days before the feast of Pentecost which comes up fifty days after Easter. However, most Dioceses in the United States now celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on the seventh Sunday of Easter in order to emphasize the solemnity of the day, and so, today is the day when we celebrate the return of the resurrected Jesus to heaven after spending forty days preparing His Apostles for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that would empower them to witness to the Gospel all over the world.

You must have observed that the First Readings during Eastertide have consistently been taken from the Acts of the Apostles. This is deliberate. Acts of the Apostles is said to have been originally written as part of the Gospel of St. Luke. It tells the story of the post-Resurrection Church: How the Apostles reacted to the Resurrection of Jesus, how they waited for and received the Holy Spirit, how the disciples remained connected and completely reliant upon the promptings of the Holy Spirit, how they encountered and responded to persecution from various individuals and groups, how sacred orders and ministries evolved; essentially, how the early Church began, lived and grew. One of the defining moments in the Acts of the Apostles is the encounter of the Gentiles with the Gospel and the resultant implications of this encounter.

Cast your mind in retrospect to the event of the Transfiguration of our Lord where the three Apostles caught a privileged glimpse of the Glorified Jesus as he conversed with Moses and Elijah, the lawgiver and the greatest of the prophets. On that particular occasion, the presence of Moses confirmed the discernment of the Apostolic trio, that Christ is the Divine Lawgiver. Jesus exercised this peculiar prerogative at the Last Supper after He revolutionized leadership by washing the feet of His disciples, and after Judas Iscariot had sneaked out to arrange His betrayal. Jesus viewed His impending passion as Divine glorification and chose this solemn moment to legislate “a new commandment.” “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another.”

As I announced last weekend, I am so glad we finally received the Building Permit from the City of Phoenix. Here is an update from the Building Committee regarding the construction process for the next few weeks:

Next week the contractors will begin the safety review and protocols.

The week of May 23 the contractors will conduct the site set-up and pull power to the construction trailer.

Work will begin the week of June 1st.

Please continue to pray for our building project, parish community, and for the protection and safety of all those working to construct our new Church home.

Traditionally, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is celebrated as “Good Shepherd Sunday” since the Gospel is taken every year from John 10, the “Good Shepherd Discourse.” This Sunday is also customarily observed as a day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, since priests and religious are, in a special way, visible manifestations of Christ in His role as the Good Shepherd. The readings trace this line of thought.

Congratulations! I am so thrilled to inform you that we obtained the Building Permit from the City of Phoenix on Wednesday this week. I am so excited the long awaited day has finally come! I thank Bob Prezkop and Deacon Ed for working so tirelessly behind the scenes with the City of Phoenix, the contractors and the Diocese of Phoenix. I also thank you all for your prayers, patience and understanding through the past several months of waiting for the beginning of the construction.

I believe I know the question in your mind right now: “When will the construction start?” The contractors are getting ready to start the construction soon. I hope to hear from them about the exact starting day by next week. Again, thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Let us continue to pray for a successful construction.

According to Matthew’s Gospel (Matt4:18-22), when Jesus called His first Apostles, He asked them to “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. This invitation required them to jettison their prior occupation of fishing in order to embrace, wholeheartedly, the noble vocation of Apostleship. They tried to do this until they were confronted with the trying period of uncertainty between the Lord’s resurrection and His glorious ascension. Simon Peter, the designated Apostolic primus, suggested going back to their old occupation and a good number of the eleven followed him. Like Peter and the other Apostles, our moments of decisive encounter with Jesus required us to give up any lifestyle or culture that does not please God and injure our conscience, in order to follow Jesus. Moments of crisis, transition, spiritual dryness and skepticism often make our hitherto foregone lifestyle attractive. At such moments, we should pay attention to the voice of the resurrected Jesus who gently calls us back to right relationship with God and our neighbor.