From Our Pastor

Welcome!

Dear Friends of St. Andrew's,

From the founding of our Parish in 1958, we have grown and developed with Sierra Vista - as partners in building up this great community we call home.

Over the decades, we sought to be active participants in every aspect of community life. We believe that serving the common good and making this city a place where people come first, where the least and most easily-overlooked are served and cared for, and where the quality of life is enhanced for all our fellow citizens, is an essential witness to our faith.

We hope our parish church is a place where all experience the Presence of God and the welcome of God's People. We pray that its beauty will speak a wordless invitation to those who are seeking, those who are wearied by life's burdens and those who are drawn to lift their hearts in prayer.

We thank God for giving us this opportunity to extend His blessings and to share our church and campus facilities with the Sierra Vista community.

The pulse of St. Andrew's is reflected through our ministries and individual parishoner efforts. I hope to highlight these achievements and bring focus to upcoming events in the article following this message.

Yours because His,

Fr. Greg Adolf
Pastor

Bienvenido

Estimados amigos de San Andrés,

Desde la fundación de nuestra Parroquia en 1958, hemos crecido y nos hemos desarrollado junto con Sierra Vista construyendo esta gran comunidad la cual llamamos nuestra casa.

A través de las décadas hemos tratado de participar activamente en todos los aspectos, dentro de nuestra comunidad. Creemos que un testigo esencial de nuestra fe es el servir al bien común y el hacer de esta ciudad un lugar para quienes lo más importante es su gente, donde los más necesitados y los más olvidados son servidos y cuidados, y donde la calidad de vida es mejorada para todos nuestros ciudadanos.

Deseamos que nuestra parroquia sea un lugar donde todos puedan sentir la Presencia de Dios y se sientan bienvenidos como hijos de Él. Rogamos que su belleza les haga una invitación silenciosa a aquellos quienes están en busca de Dios, a aquellos quienes se encuentran abrumados por los problemas de la vida, y a aquellos quienes han sido llamados a levantar sus almas en oración.

Agradecemos a Dios por darnos esta oportunidad de extender sus bendiciones y de compartir nuestra iglesia y nuestras facilidades con la comunidad de Sierra Vista.

El servicio de San Andrés está reflejado en nuestros ministerios y los esfuerzos individuales de nuestros parroquianos. Espero que podamos realzar estos logros y llevar enfoque a futuros eventos los cuales mencionamos en el artículo debajo de este mensaje.

Suyo en Cristo,

Padre Greg Adolf

Pastor

Did You Know...

...That a number of our parishioners (and Fr. Greg) are attending the Annual Meeting of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in Salt Lake City this weekend?

This world-wide Order supports the Latin Patriarchate of the Holy Land – parishes, schools, seminarians, hospitals, clinics, and Bethlehem University! The unfolding crisis situation in the Holy Land – since the beginning of the war one year ago – is the focus of the Meeting. The reports received from the Church leaders in the Holy Land are deeply disturbing. . . and we ask, “What can we do about this situation?” The crisis seems in many ways beyond our ability to alleviate, at least in any permanent way. We’re called to share the sufferings of our sisters and brothers in Christ, which naturally leads us to share in their anxieties. Over time this can weigh on us, making our hearts heavy, filling us with discouragement.

In sharing the help that we can (supporting our Nursing Scholarships at Bethlehem University, for instance) and other ways, we are called also to share the great hope that Christ offers. How can we offer this hope to others if we allow ourselves to lose hope? St. Louise de Marillac offered this advice to the Daughters of Charity, who also suffered what we now call “compassion fatigue” telling them: “You will see a great amount of misery that you cannot relieve. Remember that God sees it as well …do all you can to provide them with a little assistance and remain at peace.”

So, we seek a way to the peace that will ease our anxieties, but there seems to be no way to peace. God’s peace is already in our hearts, for JESUS. Is our Peace! (Ephesians 2:14) Letting go of our anxieties and fears, abandoning ourselves to God’s will rather than our own, trusting fully in His Providence; in these ways we let go of all the noise and anxiety that disturb His peace within us. In turn, we share this peace with the neighbor through our friendly assurance and invincible goodwill, which mean kindness, sweetness and patience in our relationship with others. JESUS is our Peace and JESUS is our Way to peace.

When one person is angry, it can lead others to anger. Laughter, too, is contagious. We are created to live in community, and it is only natural for us to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”(Romans 12:15). At the same time, as our hearts connect with the neighbor, we cannot help but share God’s peace when we allow it into our own hearts.

St. Vincent de Paul, taught: “The kingdom of God is peace in the Holy Spirit, He will reign in you if your heart is at peace.”

Rejoicing in your great generosity and your willingness to extend your hearts to the farthest parts of the world, we are happy to report that we have reached our GOAL for the construction of the nine classrooms at St. Francis de Sales School in Zambia! Because of your extraordinary generosity, we have enough money to furnish the classrooms with desks and chairs! May God reward your kindness to these children, whom you will meet in Heaven!

Prop 139

The Bishops of Arizona have released a video on the dangers of Arizona's Proposition 139

Read the text below:

"As Catholic Bishops of Arizona we want to express our strong opposition to Proposition 139. If passed, this initiative threatens to enshrine a constitutional right to virtually unrestricted abortion in Arizona. What makes a constitutional amendment especially grave is that our own Arizona legislators could lose the ability to regulate abortion in any meaningful way, leaving us with the potential for what would likely become nearly unrestricted abortion. Arizona law currently allows for abortions up until 15 weeks of pregnancy. Proposition 139, however, would go far beyond even this current law. The proposed amendment, among other things, would likely remove most safeguards for girls and women that are currently in place at abortion clinics, permit a minor to obtain an abortion without parental involvement or permission, and allow for painful late-term abortions of viable pre-born children. While this ballot measure claims to be moderate in nature, its vague language would make Arizona one of the most extreme states in terms of abortion. We believe that even many of those who support abortion in limited instances would find this proposed constitutional amendment extreme and misleading. Arizonans deserve far better than the measures being proposed in this initiative which is why we strongly oppose Proposition 139."

Sundays

8:00 AM

10:00 AM

12:00 Noon (Spanish)

5:00 PM

Mon - Fri Daily Mass

9:00 AM

12:05 PM

Saturday

9:00 AM

5:00 PM (Vigil)

6:30 PM at Good Shepherd Mission (Whetstone)

Masses on Holy Days of Obligation are usually 9 AM, 12 Noon, and 7 PM (bilingual)

+ Reconciliation +

Weekdays: 8:30-8:55 AM – before the Mass
Saturdays: 8:30-8:55 AM and 3:30-4:55 PM
Sundays: 7:30 – 7:55 AM and 4:30-4:45 PM

Anytime by appointment

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Weekly Bible Studies are in Madonna Hall. Please join us for study and discussion of the Word in a relaxed setting!

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This Week's Soul Food

““I believe you must be well aware of the dreadful things that are being said about the Supreme Pontiff [Paul IV]. The people who say them are taking delight in open jest and scurrilous action over their father’s shame. It is not for me to pronounce on the cause; they have God for their judge. Only one thing I would say, that even if the Pope’s case were more indefensible than the mob now asserts it to be, still the children of God and of the Church are duty bound to speak and feel in a kindlier and friendlier way of the Head of the Church and the Vicar of Christ. Wretched creatures that we are, we look at the human person and forget the divinely instituted office. We often let vulgar rumor affect us and, hasty in judgment, slow in wisdom, cold in prayer, that last thing we consider is averting the judgment of God on ourselves!”

// From a Letter (1557) of St. Peter Canisius (1521-1597)

This Week's Catholic Quiz

This week’s Question: “What is a ‘Parochial Vicar’?”

The Answer to Last Week’s Question: “What are the ‘Four Forms of Reverence’?”

The ‘Four Forms of Reverence’ (corresponding to the four forms of dignity)are: 1) Familial reverence (toward parents or those taking their place). 2) Civil reverence (toward civil authorities). 3) Ecclesiastical reverence (toward those in the service of the Church). 4) Religious reverence (toward any person, place, or thing related to God.)

(If you would like to be as smart as the “Quiz Master” – pick up a copy of the Catholic Source Book – available in the Parish Office, for only $25.00!)