Greetings from the Pastoral Council!
During this time of year, we are reminded of who we are and why we are Catholic. Christ’s death and resurrection is the core of our faith. It moves the end game from having a good life here on Earth to striving for eternal life in heaven. Jesus gives us the road map to get there all through the Gospels. We see it where he tells us in the book of Matthew that many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” (Mt 19:30) We have to remember that although God does not grudge us our worldly possessions, He wants to make sure that we stay focused on the fact that they should not be our primary focus. The path to heaven is not through these, it is through the words of Christ. He clearly lays out what he wants us to do in the parable about the sheep and the goats.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (MT 25:34)
Doing these works for Christ is the Bishop’s goal through the Charity Development Appeal (CDA) drive. He, as our shepherd is trying to help us on the journey that Christ wants us to undertake. If you have not already made your CDA commitment, please prayerfully consider this opportunity to contribute to the CDA drive. The benefits are far reaching to include the less fortunate of our local community, and it helps us along the path that our Lord has asked us to follow.
We look forward to keeping you updated. As always, we are here to serve, so please reach out with any comments or suggestions at pastoralcouncil@bscaz.org or reply directly to this email. Thank you for your time, treasure, and talent.
On behalf of the Pastoral Council, we would like to wish all of the mothers a Happy Mother’s Day!