The Catholic Sun

When Fr. Andrew McNair first visited Phoenix 16 years ago to preach the homily at the Diocese of Phoenix’s Martin Luther King Mass, he didn’t know that he would one day call the city his home. When visiting the church building that was then called St. Pius X, he told his host — then director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministry Kit Marshall — that as a courtesy he’d like to introduce himself to the pastor.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Song and music are gifts capable of touching the hearts of young people, drawing them out of spirals of anxiety and bringing them closer to God, Pope Francis said. Greeted with song Dec. 30 by young people from the International Foundation of Pueri Cantores -- an organization that promotes sacred music and the formation of children in choirs for liturgical singing -- the pope praised the young vocalists for helping others pray and open their hearts to God, which is "fundamental for the life of the church."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- On New Year's Eve, believers and non-believers alike give thanks for all they have received in the last 12 months and express their hopes for the coming year, but Christians are called to cultivate their gratitude and hope following the example of Mary, Pope Francis said. "Faith enables us to live this hour in a way different than that of a worldly mindset," the pope said during an evening prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 31. "Faith in Jesus Christ, the incarnated God, born of the Virgin Mary, gives a new way of feeling time and life."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The first step toward keeping Christ in Christmas is for Christians to make room for him in their hearts, the preacher of the papal household told Pope Francis and top Vatican officials. "We must do everything we can to keep him obstinately present. Not in order to hide behind him and remain silent about our failures, but because he is 'the light of the nations,' the 'name that is above every other name,' 'the cornerstone' of the world and of history," Cardinal Cantalamessa said Dec. 22, offering his final Advent meditation of 2023.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Exchanging Christmas gifts and organizing holiday parties are all well and good, but Christians should contemplate the scene of Jesus' birth to recover what is truly important during the Christmas season, Pope Francis said. At his weekly general audience Dec. 20, just five days before Christmas, the pope told people that "the risk of losing what matters in life is great, and paradoxically increases at Christmas."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When St. Francis of Assisi staged the first Nativity scene 800 years ago, he did so to remind people of the powerful, awe-inspiring truth that God became human in Jesus, Pope Francis said. Nativity scenes are not simply works of art or folk art, the pope told hundreds of people involved in staging a live Nativity scene at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome Dec. 16.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis advanced eight sainthood causes Dec. 14, including the cause of St. Gianna Beretta Molla's brother, Capuchin Father Alberto Beretta, who died three years before St. John Paul II canonized his sister. Father Beretta, who died in 2001, was a physician like both St. Gianna and their only surviving sibling, Canossian Sister Virginia Beretta. He was a missionary in Brazil for 20 years until partial paralysis from a stroke led the Capuchins to bring him back to Italy.

On Feb. 10, Bishop Eduardo Nevares will celebrate the annual healing Mass for the World Day of the Sick at St. Bernadette Parish in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Mass will also be broadcast on EWTN. Knights and Dames will be on hand to assist with getting to and from the pews before and after Mass, as well as during communion and anointing. After the Mass a Catholic Fair will be hosted in the parish hall featuring local Catholic ministries and businesses from throughout Ariz.

PHOENIX -- The Diocese has marked the first year of an unprecedented outreach to individuals and those around them struggling with mental illness, seeing broad progress in expanding the historic initiative. In what has become the signature program of Bishop John P. Dolan’s young episcopate, the Diocese of Phoenix has grown its Office of Mental Health Ministry from a singular physical site and web resource to 15 parish-level offices. A total of 138 individuals --- including priests, women religious and laity --- have been trained in Mental Health First Aid, a course that equips graduates to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance-use disorders.

Usually, they’re on the receiving end, but children at St. Mary-Basha Catholic School in Chandler had a chance to play Santa themselves. Hosted by...