Pentecost Preparation 2026

On the day of his glorious Ascension, the Lord Jesus Christ, shortly before he ascended to heaven, said to his disciples, ^“I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24: 49). In obedience to these words, “the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying….They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1: 12-14).

We are the disciples of Christ in this present time, and what he said to his first disciples, he says to us, and what they did, we should do; come together in prayer and expectation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Pentecost is a continuous event in the life of the Church and the world, for, as it is written, the promise of the Father is for all who are called to be disciples of Jesus (Acts 2: 39).

The body of Christ, the Church, draws its life, wisdom and strength from the Holy Spirit. Our journey through time to eternity is directed by the Holy Spirit. He is the principle of Christian mission. Pentecost is a time to appreciate the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the world, the Church and in the life of every Christian and to renew our relationship with him.

I am proposing and inviting us to a 9-Day Parish Preparation for Pentecost 2026 beginning from the day after Ascension to the day before Pentecost (May 15-23). On these days, we will gather as a faith family in the Church at 6 pm to pray and reflect on the wonders and mysteries of the Holy Spirit.

The Easter season looks forward to the celebration of Pentecost, and the last nine days of this season are specifically set apart for an intensive preparation for Pentecost. Every celebration of the major mysteries of our salvation is preceded by a period of preparation. Advent is the preparation for Christmas, and Lent is for Easter. There is preparation for Pentecost which is the oldest of all the periods of preparation in Christian history. It is traditionally called Pentecost Novena because it is a period of nine days.

Let us make room for this preparation in our schedules. Let us avail ourselves of this opportunity of a time to have the Church, the world and ourselves renewed, reinvigorated, and revitalized. May God bless us all as we do this. Holy Spirit, Our Life and our Love!

-Fr Bona 

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April 19, 2026

From Celebrating Easter to Living the Resurrection

Easter celebration which started with the resounding echoes of Light, Gloria, and Alleluia on Holy Saturday Night is continuing and will continue until the Pentecost day. This is the most important, the oldest, and the longest, by duration, of all Christian celebrations. Christians take forty days of Lent to prepare for it. Such is how important the Lord’s Resurrection is for us.

Easter celebrates the victory of light over darkness and of life over death. It is now over two thousand years since the Resurrection first took place and since then, the power of the Resurrection has been at work in the world particularly through the ministry of the Church. After two thousand years that the benefits of the Resurrection have been made available to us, the world is yet experiencing darkness in various forms because “the light has come into the world but people prefer darkness to light” (John 3: 19).

The Resurrection is not something that happened in the past or that will take place in the future; it is a continuous event in history. The Lord Jesus has made new life available for all. It is now a matter of individuals and peoples making this new life their own. This is what we mean by living the Resurrection. For the Resurrection to have a lasting effect in our lives and in the world, it is required that we move from celebrating to living it. This movement begins with the personalizing of the mystery of the Resurrection by every Christian.  

Faith in the Resurrection calls for a special way of looking at life, understanding everything that happens to one in life and relating to things and people in the world. The Resurrection outlook or mindset is such that sees meaning beyond the passing joys, challenges, and trials of every present time. Life is beyond what is happening currently. The grave and death do not have the final say in the life of those whose outlook is informed and founded on the Resurrection. They do not surrender to conditions of discouragement, despair or distress.

Jesus is a good example of one who lived on earth with a Resurrection outlook. Going through the Gospels, we will find that there was never a time when Jesus spoke about his suffering and death without concluding that he was going to rise. His suffering and death were mentioned as transitory stages in his history. The end point is his rising from the dead. This is the outlook that sustained him through his passion. Thus, we are asked to focus our gaze on Jesus “the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame and had sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12: 2).

Is my outlook on life informed by the Resurrection? Do I have a mindset that is soaked in the Resurrection? Are my basic attitudes in life founded on faith in the Resurrection? Think of these and act accordingly. Happy Easter.

-Fr Bona 

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April 12, 2026

Easter and Divine Mercy

Today is the feast of Divine Mercy or Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope St John Paul II instituted this feast in 2000 to be celebrated on every Second Sunday of Easter. He did this following the revelations that St Faustina received of the Lord Jesus Christ. In about fourteen of the revelations, Jesus asked that the feast of his mercy which he wants to be celebrated annually on the Sunday after Easter. One of the revelations has this to say:

My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are opened all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My mercy (St Faustina’s Diary entry 699).

In this text, we see a glimpse of what the feast of Divine Mercy means for the world, the Church and us. The Divine Mercy Sunday is not an additional feast to Easter but a celebration that helps to give expression to its meaning and purpose and make its graces available to us. While this feast is new, the reality it celebrates is as old as God’s relationship with the world.  

God’s will is for all to be saved. It is not His will that anyone should perish. Divine mercy encompasses everything that God does to save human beings and the world in spite of their unworthiness. It includes forgiveness of sins, providing help in times of need, withholding punishment from the erring, comforting the sorrowful, healing the sick, liberating captives, restoring the lost and reviving the dead.

Our salvation depends on God’s mercy. About this, St Paul said, “It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Romans 9: 16). Conscious of this truth, the plea for mercy is repeatedly done in our Eucharistic celebration: to prepare to celebrate, we ask the Lord for mercy and to prepare to receive Jesus, we ask for mercy.   

On this day, let us fly to the protection of God’s mercy for everything we need for our well-being and redemption. Let us thank God for his infinite mercy which reached its climax in the Resurrection of Christ. Happy Divine Mercy and Happy Easter.

-Fr Bona. 

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April 5, 2026

Let us Sing Alleluia Loudly and Joyfully; the Lord is Risen.

This is the day that the Lord has made. This is Easter. We rejoice and are glad. The Lord has done marvels for us, and our hearts are filled with joy. The Resurrection is one of the most fundamental distinctive marks of Christianity. Christianity is not the only religion in the world that believes in the resurrection of the dead, but it is the only religion whose founder rose from the dead in the way that Jesus did; that is, in a manner that is largely physical and historical.

The Scriptures makes it abundantly clear that if Christ did not rise from the dead our preaching and our faith as Christians would have been vain, our witnesses false, and we should be considered the most miserable of all people in the world (1 Corinthians 15: 14-19). Thank God that Christ is risen. This is the day of his Resurrection.

The resurrection of Christ is totally for our benefit as human beings and the world. Christ did not need to rise from death because whether he rose from the dead or not, he remains God. However, for the reason of the same love which made him to take flesh and come to the world, Christ rose from death. For this reason, we are grateful to God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

By his rising from the dead, Christ also raised us from death. In his death, humanity died and in his rising, we also rose with him. This is the mystery of baptism. All those who are baptized die with Christ and rise with him. Every baptized is a resurrected person. As the Scripture says, “anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has passed away and the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5: 17). Christ said to his disciples, “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14: 19). Therefore, Easter is also the celebration of our resurrection and new life in Christ.

For this reason, Easter is not only celebrated, but experienced. Celebrating Easter without experiencing the effect of the mystery makes it like a mere drama. The truth is that the Resurrection is a reality and not a play. Jesus is risen and he rose for us and with us. This is the cause of our joy and the anchor of our Christian hope.

Easter begins today and will continue for next fifty days. It is the longest Christian feast; beginning from the Easter Night until the day of Pentecost. Even after Pentecost, the Resurrection continues to be reenacted in every Eucharistic celebration particularly on Sundays.  

Our parish appreciates, congratulates and welcomes all who were baptized, confirmed, admitted into the Church, and received Jesus in the Eucharist this Easter; What a blessing it is for us to have about seventy-seven men and women become full members of our family! We are grateful to those who helped them through the journey that brought them to this point. Thanks too to all who played different roles to make Lent, Holy Week and Easter enriching for us. Together, let us sing Alleluia loudly and joyfully. Happy Easter.

-Fr Bona

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March 29, 2026

Welcoming the Holy Week through Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday recalls the day that Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He entered Jerusalem in a way that he had not done before. He started going to Jerusalem as an infant. This time, he chose to enter the holy city in a resounding manner because it was going to be his last physical entry into it. This reason was not known to the people. They thought that Jesus was entering Jerusalem to proclaim himself King in place of Caesar. This was the reason behind the people’s rejoicing.   

Contrary to the people’s expectation, Jesus entered Jerusalem to suffer and die to save not just the Jews but the whole world. The manner of his entry into the city confirms what he earlier said concerning his death; “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own free will, it is mine to lay down and to take up again; this charge I received from my Father” (John 10: 17-18). Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. He was not caught unawares. Nothing about his suffering or death happened to him by chance.

With this entry, the Holy Week starts. This week is called holy, and holiness here is used in the sense of sacredness. Sacredness refers to setting a thing apart in a way that makes it different from the rest. So, of all the weeks in the year, this week is not simply sacred, but the most sacred. It is the week in which the most important events in the history of our salvation took place, namely the passion of Christ.

When we say the passion of Christ, we refer to his suffering and death, but the Paschal mystery includes his suffering and death of Christ, resurrection and ascension, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Week focuses on the Passion. The story of the Passion is the Gospel read on Palm Sunday and again on Good Friday.

During the Holy Week, we are expected to follow devoutly the liturgical celebrations as they unfold. As we do this, the focus of our attention should be on God’s love for the world which is the thread that holds the whole story together. The suffering and death of Christ are like the seal, the stamp, the proof and the measure of the credibility and authenticity of all the claims that Christ made as the Savior of the world.

At each point, it is good to remember that it is not enough to celebrate these mysteries of our salvation; they are meant to be experienced. We are to experience what we celebrate, and this experience begins with having ourselves immersed in the mysteries we celebrate. By participating actively in the celebrations we become part of them and are thus incorporated in the effects of the mysteries.

We thank God for the gift of the Holy Week. We thank the Father for the gift of his Son Jesus Christ whose self-donation gave birth to the Holy Week. We are grateful to him for granting us the privilege of participating in this year’s Holy Week. Happy Holy Week.

-Fr. Bona 

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March 22, 2026

Our Special Time of Grace, Lent, is Drawing to a Close

The Lenten season of this year is coming to an end. When it started on Ash Wednesday, it looked like it was going to be a long period of time, but now it has gone by very speedily. Many of us may have made resolutions or plans or set goals about what we wish to accomplish during this

period. Now, as we take stock of what we have been able to do, or where we are in the journey towards the set goals, we may find that we have either done wonderfully well or not too well.

This message aims at encouraging us to not lose hope. There is no reason to lose hope. The short time we have left can still make a great difference in the whole story. In one of his parables, Jesus likened the kingdom of heaven to a certain landowner who went out in a day to hire labors for his vineyard. He hired the first laborers at dawn and agreed to pay them the usual daily wage. About 9 am, he got other laborers to work in the same vineyard. He did the same around noon, and three o’clock. He hired the last set of laborers around five o’clock, that is, an hour to the end of the day’s labor. At the end of the day, the landowner summoned all the laborers and paid them their wages. They had expected their wages to reflect

the number of hours that each laborer put into work, but the landowner chose to pay all of them the same wage. According to him, that was how he chose to express his generosity (Matthew 20:1-15).

This parable gives hope to us who think we are late in doing what is required of us this Lent. It is never late as long as there is still time left for us to do something. God’s logic is totally divine and not human. At the same time, the parable reveals that nobody was paid any wage who did nothing. God expects us to apply ourselves to service in his vineyard. Our salvation does not come from what we do, and yet it requires our response to the free offer made to us by God in his Son Jesus Christ.

Lent is designed to help us to either recognize our need for Christ or deepen this recognition by cultivating a more profound relationship with him. He chose us and made us his friends; “I no longer call you servant but friends…” (John 15: 15). He desires our friendship, not for his sake but ours. We know that friendship is mutual. The prayers, fasting and almsgiving of Lent aim at making our friendship with Christ stronger and more intimate.

Listening to Christ is one effective way of deepening our friendship with him. For this reason, different readings and prayers during Lent keep reminding us of the need to listen to his voice. The world is full of voices that are not Jesus’. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve listened to a

voice other than God’s. In the wilderness, Jesus heard a voice which was not his Father’s and he firmly refused to listen to it. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the voice from heaven spoke and asked us to listen to Jesus.

It takes training to know which is Jesus’ voice amidst the cacophony of voices we hear all around us. It takes high discipline to resist voices that are deceptive especially when they present us with juicy promises. Lent is our time of training and practice of discipline, and what we begin during this time is expected to be continued through life.

It is never late to begin the training and the discipline which Lent recommends to us. Let us make these last days of Lent as productive as ever. God bless us all.

-Fr. Bona

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March 15, 2026

Rejoice as We Look forward to Easter

This Fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally called Laetare Sunday. Laetare in Latin means “rejoice”. This Sunday calls us to celebrate with joy in expectation of the end of our journey. On Ash Wednesday, we set out on a journey to a destination. This journey is marked by discipline

and penance which include fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Now, we are midpoint in this journey, and we are invited to look up towards our point of arrival, Easter and rejoice.

Lent is the oldest preparation period in the life of the Church. The whole Church is in preparation. We are getting ready to celebrate and experience the Christian Passover, the Resurrection. God has given us this time to prepare for the Passover, for the New Testament Exodus and our entry into the Promise Land. All Lenten programs and disciplines are aimed at preparing us for this great celebration and experience of new life in Christ.

The call to rejoice presupposes that we are already doing the preparation as required. It also serves as a midpoint reminder to all of us to begin the preparation in case we have not yet done so. If we have started, at this midpoint, we are being congratulated and encouraged to continue

without giving up.

As we rejoice and prepare ourselves, we are to have in mind and pray for those who will be initiated into the life of Christ either for the first time or fully at Easter. At the font of Baptism on Easter Night, through the ministry of the Church, new children will be born of the Holy Spirit for

the Father, who, will become brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, during the same ceremony of the Easter Night, there are others that will receive the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist and Confirmation. This is a cause of great rejoicing of us.

It is our duty as Christians who have received these Sacraments to support those who are preparing to have them at Easter. We support them through our prayers and also by our exemplary life. I propose that we (as family or individuals) pray “Our Father, and Three, Hail Mary” daily for these candidates who will become members of our family of faith at Easter. We pray that they be truly and fully prepared for the mystery of God’s grace in their lives. We pray that they may open themselves for grace and approach the throne of grace in a pure state. In the meantime, while we pray, we let them see in us shining examples of the life of Christ; this is a form of preaching that is more powerful than words.

Our parish is blessed with a highly enriching program of faith formation. We thank God for this, and we appreciate Sr. Esther Pillar and all those who collaborate with her in this ministry. The onus of prayer and example of good Christian life falls heavily on those who will serve as sponsors or God parents to the candidates preparing for the Sacraments. Being a sponsor or Godparent is truly an honor. In all, let us all be more fervent in our preparation for Easter. Let’s rejoice and be strengthened for the remaining journey.

-Fr Bona

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March 8, 2026

An Update on our Parish Air Conditioner Campaign

Beloved parishioner, in May last year, 2025, we started a campaign to raise funds for the replacement of the air conditioning system in our Church. So far, the campaign has yielded positive fruit. We have raised the sum of $109,441.49 as at last weekend of March 1.

I would like to begin this update on a note of gratitude. On behalf of my co-steward, Fr Chauncey, the Parish leadership team and councils, I wish to appreciate and thank everybody who has contributed in any way to the amount we have raised so far. I appreciate and thank our former pastor, Fr Paul Sullivan, who started the campaign and through his ingenuity was able to raise the initial funds.

Let us not be intimidated by the estimated cost of the project, which is $660,000.00. By joining our hearts, hands and heads together, and making supreme sacrifices in generosity, we will overcome the challenge. Our target is to raise about half of the total sum and find the rest of the money through other sources.

We are in contact with the Diocesan office of building and properties and it is offering us all the needed assistance as regards guidance and advice. The City permit required for the renovation is being addressed.

There are two biddings for the contract. We can proceed with this, but our preference, which is also of the Diocese, is at least three bidders. So, we are throwing open the bidding between now and two weeks (March 8-23). Whoever is willing and capable of handling the project should come forth with a bid.

Considering the fact that summer heat is already setting in aggressively, we plan to embark on doing some necessary repairs on the existing air conditioning system. We have been assured that doing this will likely get the system functioning through the summer. Then, we use the time from now through summer to double or triple our efforts to raise the required funds for the project.

Donating to this air conditioning system in our Church is in itself an act of worship. Let each person pray and decide what to give; whatever we have to donate should come from our heart. For those who have not yet given, it is now time to give. Those who have already made donations may consider giving more. God is never outdone in generosity.

In addition to individual and family donations, we will be having a one-dollar second collection during every Sunday Mass except on Sundays with already stipulated second collections. Parents should help their kids to make their own donations in their own names.

More ideas and insights are welcome on how we can get the dream of a new air conditioning system in our Church realized. May God bless us all, and give success to the work of our hands.

-Fr Bona.

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March 1, 2026

Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion

This is the title of the message of the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV for Lent 2026 published on February 5, 2026. It is his first Lenten message intended for all Christ’s faithful. Here, I present a summary of this message with the intention as an invitation to us to google, download and read it for our spiritual nourishment.  

The Holy Father notes that Lent is a time of listening and fasting aimed at conversion. It is a time when the Church invites us to place the mystery of God in the center of our lives in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life.

Listening is essential because “Every path towards conversion begins by allowing the word of God to touch our hearts and welcoming it with a docile spirit. There is a relationship between the word, our acceptance of it and the transformation it brings about. For this reason, the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled.”

Therefore, the Pope calls upon us to consider making room for the word of God through listening. According to him, “The willingness to listen is the first way we demonstrate our desire to enter into relationship with someone”. God speaks to us in the Sacred Scripture particularly when proclaimed in the liturgy. So, “In the midst of the many voices present in our personal lives and in society, Sacred Scripture helps us to recognize and respond to the cry of those who are anguished and suffering”.

The Pope makes a connection between listening to the word of God and fasting. According to him, “fasting is a concrete way to prepare ourselves to receive the word of God”, which aids us to govern, purify, free and expand our desire so that it is directed towards God and doing good. This type of fasting helps us in disarming our language, refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor, avoiding harsh words and rash judgement, and refraining from slander and speaking ill of those who are not present and cannot defend themselves.

This “practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence” is “a visible sign of our inner commitment to turn away from sin and evil with the help of grace.” It gives way to a greater space for the voice of others and contributes to building a civilization of love.

The Holy Father invites us as a community of faith to embark on the journey of Lent together because Lent in itself has a communal character. Finally, he imparts his blessing upon all of us and our Lenten journey.

Guided and encouraged by the message and blessing of the Holy Father, let us advance on our Lenten journey. Happy Lent.

-Fr. Bona 

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February 22, 2026

This Year’s Lent: What Shall We Do?

The Scripture says that there is a time allotted for everything on earth (Ecclesiastes 3: 1). Even our worship of God takes place in times and seasons. Our liturgical year began with the season of Advent that took us to Christmas, a season that ended with the Baptism of the Lord. The Ordinary liturgical season started and after six weeks, the new season of Lent has started.

It is important that we begin this year’s Lent with a plan that is focused on specific things to do and things not to do. There is a common saying that “a jack of all trades is a master of none”. Sometimes, we take up a number of things for Lent and end up achieving very little or nothing. It is better to take up just a few, perhaps, one or two goals for Lent. If one is able to decisively attend to one or two areas of one’s life each year, in about ten years, one would have grown tremendously.

To have a good plan for Lent, we should ask ourselves some basic questions: What do I need most at this time for my spiritual and human growth? Where am I most deficient in my faith journey? Every one of us has strengths and weaknesses; so, we have the best knowledge of ourselves than anybody else. For one person, the need might be to return to God, for another it is fighting some particular unhealthy habits or sins, yet for another, it is commitment to service in the Church.   

Traditionally, our Lenten observances are mostly channeled to abstinence, that is, depriving ourselves of some things that may or may not be sinful or bad in themselves. For example, we abstain from certain foods or drinks such as chocolate, coffee, meat, beer, wine, or making use of some social media apps. Sacrifices of this nature that are undertaken in the spirit of Lent help to strengthen us spiritually.

However, it is good to also consider things we should do that are capable of transforming us or the world around us. Think of things to do to grow in faith or contribute to the greater growth of the kingdom of God on earth. This means beginning to attend Masses every Sunday or daily, or attending Masses on time, or moving from attending Masses to being more involved in the Church, or going from casual involvement to active engagement in serving.

I commend us and our plans to the special graces of God for this Lenten season. I pray that through a harmonious combination of doing and doing-without things, our Lenten observances may bear lasting fruit onto salvation. Amen. Happy Lent.   

-Fr Bona

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February 15, 2026

Some of our Lenten Programs

The Lenten period of this year begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026. As we know, this is a very special moment of grace for all of us Christians. It is a forty-day journeying with Christ in the Church towards the great paschal event of Easter. We thank God for counting us worthy to be part of this.

The first thing we wish to note about our plan of activities for Lent is that on Ash Wednesday, there will be 6.30 am Mass in addition to the already scheduled Masses at 8 am, 9 am (school Mass), 12 noon (service without Mass), and 6 pm (bilingual) Masses. This early Mass is scheduled to enable people be at Mass and have the ashes before going out for the day. As part of our culture of evangelization especially in the spirit of the second year of TILMA, we considered that having the ashes on our foreheads as we go out to carry on our daily tasks will amount to witnessing.

The effect and or symbolism of having the ashes on us does not depend on or drive from the time it is received. It is the same ashes whether it is received in the morning or midday or evening. However, getting the ashes and driving home to prepare to go to bed for night sleep may not be as effective in witnessing as receiving it in the morning and having it on us through the course of the day. In all, we should feel free to participate in any of the Ash Wednesday celebrations in our parish or elsewhere.

Secondly, during the period of Lent, we will have Stations of the Cross every Friday evening. The time is 6pm (English) and 7 pm (Spanish). The Stations of the Cross is one of the most popular devotions of Catholics during Lent. There is hardly any part of the world where this devotion is not found. We have beautiful depictions of the Stations of the Cross in our Church. Let us all decide on how best to take part in this meditation prayer on the passion of Christ.

The third thing in our plan is that in the morning Masses on Fridays during Lent, we will pray for the sick and people’s special needs. The Lord Jesus Christ spent his life on earth preaching, proclaiming the Gospel and healing the sick. He has continued to do the same in our time particularly through the ministry of the Church. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever (Hebrew 13: 8). We are continually in need of physical, emotional and spiritual healing. Therefore, let us avail ourselves of this opportunity on Fridays in our Church at 8 am.

Looking forward to a blessed beginning of Lent and to our making the best use of the opportunities that the season will present to us. Happy Ash Wednesday. Happy Lent.

-Fr Bona  

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February 8, 2026

Charity and Development Appeal (CDA) 2026

The 2026 CDA kicks off this first week of February. Our bishop, the Most Rev John Dolan sent us a letter to thank our parishioners for the commitment shown last year towards the Charity and Development Appeal (CDA) in the Diocese. According to him, the 2025 CDA achieved remarkable results, for “Against a goal of $9.94 million, we received $9.56 million in gifts from 17,578 families”.

Thanks to our generous donations to the CDA, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix is able to make extraordinary impacts in bringing the light of Christ to the lives of people in various conditions of need ranging from education, formation and outreach. The CDA proceeds support the over fifty seminarians that we have in our Diocese, the education of the future disciples of Christ in all the Catholics schools across our Diocese, and such individuals as the homeless, the elderly, needy pregnant mothers, refugees and others. So, through the CDA, we partner with our Bishop in helping others to see Christ’s love more clearly.

In a world “longing for hope, healing, and faith”, the 2026 Charity and Development Appeal aims at helping us to fulfil the call that Christ addresses to every disciple, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5: 16).  At baptism, we were entrusted with this light, and it is meant to be shared and not hidden in a bushel.

Our parish has shown continued commitment to donating to the CDA. This year, the CDA goal for our parish is $70,738. I am hopeful that in the spirit of generosity, we will realize this set goal and perhaps more. In thanksgiving for your past and anticipated support, I call on all families and individuals in our parish to donate to the CDA 2026.

More information on this can be found on our parish website. You can find it on the “Resource Tab” menu, the parish news page, and the picture slideshow. Thanks.

-Fr Bona     

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February 1, 2026

5 Minutes after Mass: Our Fellowship Goal for 2026

In our most recent messages, we have been reflecting on the implications of the sacrament of baptism for us and our salvation. We spoke about how it gives us an identity as God’s children and places us into the family of God whose visible manifestation is the Church. In this reflection, we focus on how we can contribute to the building and strengthening of the family of God through fellowship.

We know from experience that it takes time, energy, commitment, and a lot of other sacrifices to build a healthy and joyful family. It is even more the case with the family of God. Jesus started his ministry on earth by gathering to himself a group of people who became the foundation of the new family of God that he planned to create. The Gospel makes it abundantly clear that Jesus’ primary reason for choosing his disciples was that they might be with him (Mark 3: 13-15). Thus, fellowship or communion is the prime reason for discipleship. This reason has not changed.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost day gave rise a communion of believers. On account of their experience of the Holy Spirit, those who believed in Christ became a community that “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2: 41-42). Moreover, as it is written, “the company of those who believed were of one heart and one soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4: 32).

We are aware that fellowship is an essential element of the Holy Mass. Beginning with the gathering itself, the words, actions, and symbols of the Eucharistic celebration express and bring about our fellowship with God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. This fellowship, which is a participation in the heavenly liturgy, does not end with the liturgical celebration of the Mass. It is expected to continue even after the celebration.

To build up and strengthen fellowship in our community beyond the Eucharist celebration itself, I propose that we practice a small new habit this year; that is, stopping and spending a few minutes after Mass outside the Church building to greet and be greeted, and exchange pleasantries with others who celebrated the same Mass with us. Spending about five minutes after Mass to chat with others before leaving the Church is the proposal. We are used to the custom that obtains in many parishes that after Mass, people leave the Church to their homes or restaurants or other destinations.

Spending about five minutes after Mass outside the Church building for fellowship will go a long way in strengthening the existing love and bond that exist in our parish. We will surely get to know someone or persons we did not know before in the parish. To begin, we should not wait to be approached; instead, we should be the first to greet, to extend hands, and introduce ourselves the other.  

What of the Coffee and Donuts tradition that we used to have after Mass? The hall and the prayer garden by the side of our Church provide us with beautiful spaces for fellowship after Mass. Would you like to volunteer or sponsor this noble tradition? In fellowship we stand and move and serve.  

-Fr. Bona

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January 25, 2026

The Family of God is Catholic: Further Implication of Baptism

Baptism introduces all the baptized into a new family, that is, the family of God. God is a family of three distinct and undivided persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By baptism, the baptized become “Children who are born not of natural descent nor of human decision or the will of humans but born of God” (John 1: 13).

Through the Incarnation of the Second Divine Person, God exalted the human family and made it part of the channels of redemption. The same Son of God, Jesus Christ, revealed to us that “What is born of flesh is flesh, and what is born of Spirit is spirit (John 3: 6). Thus, our natural births and families are in need of rebirth.  

The Book of Revelation tells us of the vision of the family of God in heaven that John saw; “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7: 9). This is the family we are initiated into by baptism. It is universal and excludes nobody on the grounds of language, color, wealth, social class, political party, age, gender, or tribe. This truth dawned on Martin Luther King Jnr and he stood for it and gave his life for it.

The universality of this family is what the word “Catholic” refers to in reference to the Church. Catholic is not the brand name of a Christian Church as many tend to think and understand it nowadays. Catholic or Universality is one of the four essential marks the family of God; the other three are Unity, Holiness and Apostolicity. This family extends to heaven.

By his extraordinarily generosity, Jesus opened the door of the divine family to let in every man and woman who is willing to enter. Children are born into the family of God through two inseparable portals: (a). Christ’s Portal: Accepting Jesus Christ, and by implication being baptized (John 1:11-12) and (b). Spirit’s Portal: Accepting to be led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14). Children born into this family grow to become disciples who draw others into the same family by their words and deeds. This is evangelization and it is a culture of the family of God on earth.

One of the ways we can deepen our appreciation of the Sacrament of Baptism this second year of the TILMA will be to live out in word and deed the true meaning of our Catholicity by throwing open the doors of our hearts, families, and Church and letting in as many men and women as possible into the family of God. This is evangelization at its best.

-Fr Bona  

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January 18, 2026

Baptism and our Basic Identity

The ordinary season in the Church’s liturgical year started last Sunday with the solemn celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. The celebration was also an opportunity for us to celebrate the baptism of all Christians and thank God for the mystery of baptism as a sacrament of salvation.

One of the major effects of baptism is that it gives us our basic identity as Christians. Through baptism, the words of the Scripture are fulfilled which say that our identity or qualification comes from God (2 Corinthians 3: 5). We are who God says that we are.

Most of what society does in life is to define people by categorization. Politically, it defines people as citizens or non-citizen, immigrants or non-immigrants, visitors or indigenes etc. Economically, it categorizes people into the wealthy or poor, high class or middle or low class etc. Academically, people are either educated or not educated, well-educated or not well educated. Racially, they are black or white or Asian or Hispanic etc. Nations are either developed or non-developed, and the world as a whole is classified into first, second and third worlds. Such definitions as these affect how people see themselves or others and how they are perceived and treated by others.

God, who knows what identity means and how it can impact on people’s lives, does not leave us without identity. He built the mystery of our redemption on the bestowal of a fundamental identity on us. Through baptism, God made us his children. By creation, he set us apart from other creatures by making us his images and likeness (Genesis 1: 27). Through Christ and the Holy Spirit, he crowned us with the identity of sons and daughters, depending on whether we were created male or female. The Scripture recognizes this as a superlative expression of God’s love for us (1 John 3: 1-2). Reflecting on this meaning of our baptism and learning to live by its implications can be a profitable way of realizing the aims of the second year of the seven-year pastoral plan of Bishop Dolan for our Diocese (TILMA).

We can conveniently say that baptism is the sacrament of adoption. Jesus is the only eternally begotten Son of God. However, by baptism, we too become sons and daughters of God the Father. Nonetheless, adoption bestows on us full rights as children. Therefore, taught by Jesus, we call God our Father. In the early morning of the Resurrection, when the risen Lord met the women around the tomb, he said to them, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20: 17). Jesus called the disciples his brothers because with them he shares the same Father. 

God does not call us his children or Jesus call us brothers simply to make us feel good; that is who we are. The recognition of this identity bestowed on us through baptism is meant to transform us into new creations. Every definition of us that does not align completely with this God-given identity is ungodly and anti-life. In our subsequent messages, we will further explore how this identity defines and shapes the mission of the baptized. In the meantime, let us accept God’s definition of us and live by its implications for us and others.

Homework: Think and reflect on, and repeat these phrases many times (at least twenty times) daily for one week: (1) I am truly God’s son/daughter. (2) God is my Dad/Father (3) Jesus is my brother (4) Thank you Lord Jesus for my baptism.

-Fr. Bona

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January 11, 2026

Encountering Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism

This Sunday is the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. This celebration marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of the ordinary time of the Church’s year of grace. We thank God for the Christmas blessings, especially, for our exaltation and divinization through the incarnation. We thank God for all the beauty, goodness and truth that we were privileged to witness, express, and experience thanks to Christmas. We thank him for all gifts given and received during the season. Empowered by these experienced graces, we are set to follow Jesus in his mission in our everyday circumstances, places and time.

The celebration of the baptism of the Lord and ours is an important way of aligning ourselves with the Second Year of the Seven-Year Pastoral Plan (TILMA) which has just started in our Diocese of Phoenix. This year, the Bishop wants us to “continue renewing our commitment to a culture of evangelization that forms missionary disciples who accompany one another along the royal road that leads to Christ” (TILMA). The sacraments are our principal ways of encountering Christ, and of the seven sacraments, baptism is the first.

The baptism of the Lord offers us the opportunity of deepening our understanding and appreciation of the Sacrament of Baptism. Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3: 13-17. Mark 1: 9-11. Luke 3: 21-22) and he asked that those who believe in him be baptized (Matthew 28: 19f). This is why the Church baptizes all who present themselves (adults) or are presented in faith (infants) to her.

By baptism we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the beginning and end of life, and then offer ourselves totally to him. This acceptance implies the renunciation and rejection of everything opposed to Christ, who is the truth, way, life, light and love.

By baptism, we become God’s children incorporated to Christ as new creations (2 Corinthians 5: 17, Catechism, no. 683). Every baptized person is configured to the person of Christ, making us other Christs who share in his priesthood, kingship and prophet hood. To the baptized, the Scripture says, “You are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2: 9). Baptism forms us into a worshipping community.

Through baptism, our sins are forgiven, both the original and actual sins, we become members of Christ’s body, the Church (1 Corinthians 12: 13), and temples of the Holy Spirit. Thus, baptism grants us and guarantees our salvation (Mark 16: 15-16). Everything we are as Christians, and all the benefits we derive in and through this begin with and are founded on baptism.

To highlight the importance of this sacrament and show gratitude to God for it, we have chosen as a parish to recall, pray for, and celebrate the anniversary of the baptism of our members in the context of the Eucharist on the first Sunday of every month. This is only one of the many ways we can appreciate the sacrament of baptism by word and deed. Let us begin and go through the year putting into action the implications of our baptism. Happy baptism to all.

-Fr Bona. 

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December 28, 2025

Looking forward to a New Year

This is the last Sunday in 2025, and in a few days from now we will enter the new year, 2026. Considering everything that we experienced as a parish this year, we give eternal praise to God as we look forward to an even more exciting year to come.

We celebrate today the feast of the Holy Family, the family of Joseph, Mary and Joseph. The family is the nest into which we are born and nurtured to become who we are. Without it, we would not be truly human. Thus, thinking of the Holy Family and thanking God for the gift of the family is a beautiful way to end a year and begin a new one. Let us pray and do our best to protect family life from all the forces bent on destroying society through the annihilation of the family.  

The Church is the family of God and we also celebrate it today. Into this family we are born through Baptism, strengthened for mission in Confirmation, nourished for life at the table of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and continually healed from the wounds of sin through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and from physical illnesses by Holy Anointing. All these are made possible through the ministry of parents (marriage) and ordained ministers (Holy Order).

In the new year, we plan to celebrate the anniversaries of the births, baptisms, and marriages of all our members during Mass. All those born in a given month will be celebrated on the first Sundays.  On second Sundays, we celebrate all those baptized in that particular month, on third Sundays, we celebrate those wedded in the month. In this way, the births, baptisms and weddings of every member of the parish gets celebrated each year.

In the meantime, we consecrate and re-consecrate our families and our parish to God as we place them in the hands of Jesus, Mary and Joseph for maximum blessings of divine provision, protection, and promotion all the new year long.

Thank you for all your love, services and dedication to the promotion of the kingdom of God in our parish this year. Without these, we would not be where we are now. Let us not relent in our efforts. We have the air conditioning in our Church to replace and we hope to overcome the challenge through our generous giving.

Let us not forget that next weekend, precisely on Saturday at the 5 pm Mass, we will launch and celebrate the youth in our parish. Please, be part of it. Our presence will be highly appreciated.  

Happy Holy Family feast. Happy New Year.

-Fr Bona.