The Catholic Sun

A diocesan-wide day of renewal aimed at inspiring attendees to live out their Baptism so as to welcome more people into the Catholic Church will take place Saturday, Jan. 18, at Corpus Christi Parish in Phoenix. Organizers say the daylong event will attract everyone from faith formation leaders, catechists and Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) team members to parishioners at large. The retreat day is being co-sponsored by the diocesan Office of Worship and the Office of Evangelization, Discipleship and Spirituality (OEDS).  

Last week, Bishop John Dolan kicked off the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Diocese of Phoenix by celebrating six special Masses throughout the state. He was joined by hundreds of parishioners and pilgrims from around the diocese at each of the Masses, which had overflowing crowds and were celebrated at the Jubilee pilgrimage sites decreed by Bishop Dolan in October 2024.  

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a troubled world, the birth of Christ reveals God's unwavering determination to draw all people to himself and illuminate even the darkest corners, Pope Francis said. Despite being born into a world "where there is a great need for light, for hope and a need for peace, a world where people at times create situations so complicated that it seems impossible to get out of them," Jesus, the pope said, opens windows of light "even in the darkest nights of humanity."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Just as the star over Bethlehem called to and welcomed everyone to encounter the newborn Jesus, God today calls on the faithful to welcome everyone, creating safe, open spaces to find warmth and shelter, Pope Francis said. The star is in the sky not to remain distant and inaccessible, he said, "but so that its light may be visible to all, that it may reach every home and overcome every barrier, bringing hope to the most remote and forgotten corners of the planet," he said.

The sun beats down unforgivingly on Andre House on a hot afternoon in downtown Phoenix. Inside, the working poor and those experiencing homelessness quietly congregate seeking relief from the soaring thermometer and the mean city streets. One man stands in line, holding a small cup of foamy shaving cream as he waits for a shower and a set of clean clothing. Others sit quietly at long tables. In the back corner of the room, Mark Poulin, a retired psychiatric nurse practitioner, sets up for a Christ in Our Neighborhood faith-sharing group.

I can remember the first time I truly recognized God in nature. I was 16 years old and was white water rafting. Being equally terrified and thrilled by the rapids, I found so much joy in the adventure and anxiety at the thought of falling out of the raft (which, of course, happened). After several hours of mixed emotions, the rapids slowed and we were floating down the calm river.  

It was not even a month after being declared a pilgrimage site in 2000 that St. Anthony Mission in Sacaton, Ariz., was up in flames, the fire caused by arson. Because of the fire, St. Anthony did not have that year of pilgrimage. Now, 25 years later, the new St. Anthony Mission Church stands as a beacon of hope not just for the Gila River Indian Community but for the whole Diocese of Phoenix.  It was at the dedication Mass in June of 2024 that Bishop John Dolan announced that St. Anthony Mission would be a pilgrimage site during the 2025 Jubilee year of hope.  

With descriptions such as “wonderful,” “beautiful” and “exciting,” worshippers formally welcomed Bishop John Dolan’s seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization and the opening of the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee year in the Diocese of Phoenix on Saturday night at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix. Bishop Dolan presided at the first of six opening Masses throughout the diocese, launching his blueprint and ushering in the Jubilee year of hope declared by Pope Francis earlier this year. 

Hundreds of people joined Bishop John Dolan in Nogales, Mexico, on Saturday where they took part in the rich tradition of Las Posadas along the U.S.-Mexico border wall as part of the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), a group comprised of six Catholic organizations whose vision is “Migration with Dignity.” The event was the 15th binational posada sponsored by four Catholic dioceses, including Phoenix, Tucson, Nogales and Sonora. Las Posadas, which is widely celebrated in the Hispanic culture, commemorates Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. Comprised of a procession that goes from one designated stop to the next, participants take part in the Holy Family’s experience of being told “there is no room for you in the inn” (Luke 2) in a unique way. At each of the five stops, passages of Scripture are read, and Christmas carols are sung.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A key part of a jubilee in the Bible was releasing prisoners, and Catholics today can join a global campaign to press for the release of thousands of people imprisoned in poverty because of their nations' foreign debt, said an official of Caritas Internationalis. Victor Genina Cervantes, director of integral human development at Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella organization for national Catholic charities around the world, presented the campaign "Turn Debt into Hope" at a Vatican news conference Dec. 23, the eve of the opening of Holy Year 2025.