Dear Friends,

Pope Francis is fond of reminding Catholics that we were not baptized with vinegar. So, let’s have a little fun this weekend. Surprisingly over the last 70years or so there have been quite a few excellent films that highlight US Catholic culture and the priesthood in a positive way. These films certainly helped break down some of the anti-Catholicism that marred much of our history here in the US and made the Faith more attractive.

Dear Friends,

On this long journey to end abortion in the US, it has often been two steps forward and one step back. That may be the case with the recent US Supreme Court ruling letting stand the Texas law that prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat has been detected. The court allowed it to stand for technical reasons while the merits of the law are being litigated in the lower courts. How it ultimately shakes out is anybody’s guess at this point but it is a win for the Prolife cause.

Dear Friends,

Gary Bird died on September 11, 2001. His death certificate lists the cause of death as homicide. Gary flew from Phoenix to New York the day before to attend a scheduled meeting in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. And as his wife has remarked since, “Gary knew he was going to a meeting but what he didn’t know was that it was a meeting with God.”

Dear Friends,

Watching Vice President Harris travel to Hanoi, all the while our courageous service men and women are landing helicopters on top of the Embassy in Kabul as they try to evacuate people, I wondered if anyone in the Biden Administration thought about how bad those optics were? As was the case in Vietnam, while our service men and women acted honorably and bravely, our leadership did not.

Dear Friends,

Many of you may have been thinking, since our Parish Church was shut down for so long, that the parish was gasping for breath, just on the brink. Well I am glad to tell you the life-support has been removed and we are breathing with both longs at full capacity!

As you look over this Bulletin or website, you will see more and more activity, more groups meeting again, more ministries serving our Parish and community, more events planned. They are all signs of spiritual health and strength and vigor. Our objective is not just to survive but to flourish. And we’re just getting started!

Dear Friends,

The worst day of my life was always the first day of school. I hated going to school as a child. I was just a giant heap of anxiety. At first when they took me to school, I would sneak out the door and run home. Then they started locking the door. Then I would cry. After a few rounds of the that the kindergarten teacher would put me in the restroom and I could not come out until I stopped crying. Then I would just make myself sick, literally, and vomit so they would send me home. They caught on to that as well and just made me sit in the nurse’s office till I would go back to class. That didn't take long as the nurse must have been related to Nurse Ratched. I think it was around the time I got to High School that I finally liked school.

Dear Friends,

And when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, Let It Be….
“Let it Be” by the Beatles”

We are the broken hearted who have found the answer. Most of us have had the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” pointed at us and yet rather than remaining as victims we find the answer in faith. What we agree on even in the midst of so much disagreement is that Jesus is the answer to our broken hearts and wounded souls.

Dear Friends,

As the school year starts up once again, you may recall back in your school days when someone did something wrong in the class but the teacher did not know who did it, the entire class got punished. Even though you weren’t the perpetrator you had to suffer the consequences. The teacher’s strategy was to get someone to turn in the guilty party. Of course, the worse the consequences were, the sooner someone would turn in the perpetrator. Or maybe with enough peer pressure the guilty party would actually turn themselves in.

Dear Friends,

Quo Vadis? You probably remember the 1951 film and the title means, in Latin, “where are you going?” Recently Pope Francis issued new directives (Traditiones Custodes) actually restrictions, on the use of the pre-Vatican II Missal or the celebration of the Extraordinary form of the Mass (often referred to as the TLM or traditional Latin Mass). Where is he going with this and why? A little bit of history is needed to understand how we got here in the first place.

Dear Friends,

This issue will be divisive but it has been divisive for some time. This issue will be politicized but then again it already has been politicized. A clarifying decision one way or the other has serious and troubling consequences. But much like King David, after committing adultery and murder, and was given a choice of three consequences by God, all of which were hard to swallow, there is a choice of unpalatable consequences likewise on this issue.

Just for the purposes of full disclosure, so you get to know me… I do live with a red head that talks a lot. Her name is Lucy. I’m sure some of you husbands out there can relate. But don’t get the wrong idea—I am the owner of a parrot, or let me rephrase that to be more politically correct, a person who has a companion bird. So, you can understand why this headline from the Daily Wire caught my eye:

Police Detained A Parrot For Warning Its Owner About A Drug Raid. Yes, A Parrot.

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the newly reconstituted Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Sun City West. In a way we are all new comers at this point. Since May, you spun off Prince of Peace Church and now Our Lady of Lourdes will be the launching pad for another new Parish off the 303 and Lake Pleasant Pkwy. Quite a history. You did it once and God is calling us to do it again! Apparently, Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners have a real heart for mission and making new disciples! After all, ask yourself, what is the Faith of the next generation worth? It’s up to us to make sure it gets passed on. And I am sure there is lots of wisdom, experience, strength and hope among you that will be critical to us fulfilling the Great Commission.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted is pleased to announce that Prince of Peace Church will be elevated to the status of parish on the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker – Saturday, May 1, 2021.

The formation of Prince of Peace Parish will be out of the current Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, which had included the church of Prince the Peace. Bishop Olmsted is grateful for the leadership of Fr. David Ostler, the parish staff, and the parishioners who have served the people of this fast growing region, meeting the needs of a diverse demographic.