At St. Benedict the first Friday of every month is usually marked by a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I invite you to join us during our monthly Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 9am to 7pm this Friday, September 3. We will hold our weekly Friday Confessions from 5pm-6pm and conclude Adoration with a Benediction at 7pm. In addition to your personal prayer intentions during the Adoration, I invite you to offer a special intention for the success of our Church building plan. The months of September and October are a very critical period in the planning process for the building as we anticipate some significant permissions from the City of Phoenix and the Diocese of Phoenix within this time frame to enable us to move closer to the construction stage. I also ask that you include in your prayers an intention for an end to the pandemic.

In today’s world, as was in ancient times, nations are said to be great if they have a powerful military, strong economy, achieve significant scientific and business feats, and possess international diplomatic integrity. Israel had left Egypt and, after forty years of desert wandering, was about to enter Canaan, the promised Land. Moses, their leader, wanted them to have a unique national identity and so he invented a new standard of measuring national greatness. According to him, Israel was to be a nation of God’s people and they would achieve that by observing God’s statutes. They would be acknowledged as great in wisdom and understanding, not because of their military might or economic strength, but because of their diligent observance of God’s just statutes.

Are you one of those who have no Will or Trust, or have not updated your plan over several years? Or are you one of those who say to themselves, “Estate planning is not for me because I do not have enough to worry about it?” If so, I invite you to come and join us at the Wills and Trust Seminar to be held here in our St. Benedict Parish this week on Wednesday, August 25th at 6pm, and on Saturday, August 28th at 9am. The seminar will be sponsored by the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF).

Beloved people of God.

After the people of Israel possessed the promised land, Joshua, an old man approaching his earthly end, gathered Israel together for one final address. Part of this address is what we have as our first reading today. In it, Joshua reminds the nation about the good deeds of the Lord towards them, encouraging them to always remember. He concludes his emotional speech by placing before them two options: choose to serve Yahweh and live, or choose to be like the surrounding nations by worshiping their gods and face the consequences. To set an example, Joshua went ahead to make a choice for himself and his family. “.......as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24: 15). The people naturally followed their leader and chose to serve only God in gratitude for his benevolence towards them. Like Israel, we are presented with options and expected to make a choice: choose to love and serve God who has loved us first, or create and acknowledge any god we want living by the standard of the world and in slavery to the desires of the flesh. The options are clear, the choice is completely ours to make but whatever choice we make comes with great responsibility and consequence.

I was so glad to welcome back all of our St. John Bosco students and school community to campus Wednesday of last week. Watching the students arrive on the first day of school and walk on the Red Carpet through the main gate was very special. Later in the day, the entire school processed from the campus to the church with the Blessed Sacrament and celebrated the first Mass of the school year at St. Benedict. All of this was so beautiful to behold.

Brethren, Catholic doctrine has four Marian Dogmas namely: Theotokos (Mary, the Mother of God), the Immaculate Conception, the perpetual virginity of Mary, and the Assumption. Today we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. The doctrine was defined by Pope Pius XII in the year 1950 in his apostolic constitution munificentissimus Deus. The Pope proclaimed in this document that Mary, the Mother of God, after completing her earthly life was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven. Mary, the “New Eve,’’ lived her entire life for Christ and his Church and so attained the final bodily resurrection promised to all Christians through her assumption into heaven.

A very big Thank You to Lani Gore and members of the Event Committee for a very enjoyable and successful In-Person Bingo Raffle. My special thanks to the families that donated the gift items and everyone who participated in the event. Over 100 gift items were donated and we made $1,500 net from the event. The funds will be used to support our Gift Shop in the new Church. It was a very wonderful and memorable night and I look forward to the next Bingo Night which will be announced later on in the year.

We live in a society where many people crave longevity, but at the same time, are afraid of any sign of old age. We are bombarded each day with advertisements about how to lose weight and achieve the so-called ideal body shape; many people put so much eff ort into new forms of diet and exercise to stay healthy and strong, or spend large amounts of money on plastic surgery and anti-aging products in an attempt to remain looking youthful. Many scientists are embarking on advanced research to fi nd diet formulas and genetic modifications that will enable people to live up to 200 years or more. While all these may appear as vanity, they seem to me more like a demonstration of our inner longing as humans for eternal life. No matter the scientific advancement and human achievement, we cannot attain eternal life by human eff ort alone. Only God can give us eternal life.

Join me in welcoming Jennifer Sentz to our Parish Staff team as our Coordinator of Stewardship and Development. Her first day in the office was Tuesday last  week, July 27th. Jen comes with several years of experience in Donor Relations, Business and Office Management, Data Analysis and Campus Ministry among others. I assure Jen of my prayers and support in her new responsibility and ask for your prayers and support for her too.

Beginning last Sunday through the last Sunday of this month, the Gospel is centered on the theme of “Bread of Life.” Last Sunday we heard Jesus feed 5,000 people from five loaves and two fish. This particular miracle drew special attention from the people more than all other miracles He performed throughout His ministry on earth. We are told that many people were looking for him and asking him to repeat the loaves and fishes miracle. The multiplication of loaves in the Gospel reminded the people about the event in today’s first Reading when God rained down bread/mana from the sky daily. The people saw Jesus as the new Moses so they wanted him to repeat the miracle daily for them like Moses. Jesus understood the deepest desires of the people even more than themselves. He told them He would give them the Bread of Life so those who eat it will never hunger again. This promise was fulfilled in the institution of the Eucharist.