Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

One of the primary ways in which a Pastor fulfills his obligation of working collaboratively with the faithful and effectively serving the needs of his parishioners is through the work of the Pastoral Council. The Pastoral Council is an advisory council made up of various parishioners who meet on a regular basis to aid the Pastor in assessing the needs of the parish, establishing priorities, and making decisions concerning the allocation of parish resources. For the past year and a half, much work has been done with the Pastoral Council. We have updated our guidelines and statues, ensuring their compliance with those of the Diocese of Phoenix, and we have established a strategic plan to advance our parish mission of witnessing the love of Jesus Christ through evangelization, catechesis, and the celebration of the Sacraments. I feel richly blessed by the members of the Pastoral Council. They are faithful Catholics who love the Church and St. Mary Magdalene Parish. This weekend during the 9:30 am Mass, I will perform a special blessing and commissioning of the Pastoral Council. We have recently finished our revision of the guidelines, statutes, and strategic plan and I feel that now is the appropriate time to give them a public blessing and commission them as they continue to assist me in fulfilling my obligations and duties as Pastor. Please take time to offer a special prayer for the members of the Pastoral Council. Pray specifically that we will always place Jesus Christ and His will at the center of all that we do.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will

The following are the members of the Pastoral Council for St. Mary Magdalene Parish:

Mike Rimbey (President), David Hillier (Vice-President), Sherry McCarville (Secretary), Jane Douglas, Clint Leonard, Mike McCartney, Debbie Rinell, Ric Serrano, Scott Fleckenstein, and Walt Stenborg.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As human beings, we are emotionally invested in the world as much as we are physically and intellectually. We experience all kinds of emotions everyday and sometimes we are unsure what to do with these emotions. Jesus knows that our emotions play an integral role in the way we live our lives. In a way, today's Gospel (Matthew 5:17-37) is a beautiful teaching by Christ on the role of emotions in the human person. Yet, Jesus' teaching is easily misunderstood and needs some clarification.

First, it is important to understand that emotions are morally neutral: they are neither good, nor bad by themselves. Rather, emotions become good or bad based on two things: (1) the object they are directed toward and (2) the degree with which they are ordered toward their object. What does this mean?

An emotion is considered a good one if it is the proper response to a particular stimulus. For example, anger is an appropriate response to an act of injustice, or grief is an appropriate response to the death of a loved one. These are appropriate corresponding emotions. An example of an improperly ordered emotion would be anger directed toward the birth of a child. Anger is not the reasonable or appropriate response to that particular stimulus.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

When I was in the seminary I was able to be a full-time student and spend the vast majority of my time focusing on the necessary preparations for the priesthood. It was a blessing that I didn't have to worry about school payments or trying to find various ways to pay for my seminary formation. My attention and focus was on becoming the priest that God wanted me to be. It was the generosity of Catholics throughout the Diocese of Phoenix through the Charity and Development Appeal (CDA) that afforded me this great blessing.

The CDA impacts our diocese in so many ways. Providing a seminary formation for priesthood candidates is just one of the many ways CDA contributions support the great work of our diocese. This week, we begin our annual collection for the CDA. I would like to invite each and every family from St. Mary Magdalene to prayerfully consider supporting the CDA.

As a beneficiary of this great appeal, I can promise you that your donation will make a huge difference. Our parish goal this year is $90,000. Please take some time this week and visit the CDA website to learn about the great charities the CDA supports (www.diocesephoenix.org/cda). Also, please ask God in prayer how He might be inviting you to make a contribution this year. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today we celebrate the feast of the presentation of the Lord. In the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law prescribed that each first born male was to be presented to the Lord in the Temple as an offering and that the mother was obliged to fulfill ritual purification laws. Sometimes this celebration is referred to as the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin. St. Bernard found this feast to be somewhat ironic. Why?

The Blessed Virgin Mary was immaculately conceived and was thus free of sin and full of grace. Why must she go to the Temple to be purified? She is not in need of purification. She is the living tabernacle of the Lord. With Mary, there is nothing unholy. She could have easily demanded special treatment and ignored this ritual. Yet, in her humility she chose to obey the law. Instead of asking to be exempted from this law (which she had every right to do), she chose to be like every other woman and fulfill it.

How often do we ask for special treatment? How often do we find ourselves trying make ourselves the exception, and not the rule? Mary teaches us today that we need to be more humble. Even when we deserve special treatment, even when we are the exception, it is good for our humility to not ask for such things (Let's be honest though...most of the time we don't really deserve it). Our pride is often the factor behind why we ask us for such things.

Mary is the model of discipleship. She shows us how to be a faithful follower of Christ. Christ asks that we humble ourselves. Mary is a phenomenal example of such humility. As we celebrate this great feast day today, may we ask the Lord for the strength to grow in the virtue of humility. May we set aside our pride and stop asking for so much special treatment and exemptions. May we be content with going unnoticed as Our Lady was content with going unnoticed.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will