Deacon Paul Graupmann, F.H.S. – The Path to Priesthood

By
The Catholic Sun
-

For Dcn. Paul Graupmann, F.H.S., his conversion was a bit like that of St. Paul — sudden, swift and sure. And from there, his certainty that God had a purpose for his life led him to discern the priesthood with the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit.

Hit play to hear how an invitation to confession and a penance of five rosaries led this fallen-away U.S. Navy veteran to say “yes” to God’s unexpected and deeply fulfilling call for his life.

Dcn. Paul will be ordained to the priesthood at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Avondale, Ariz., on Saturday, June 6, at 10 a.m., and will be joined by Dcn. Simon Ortiz, Dcn. Jeff Pooley and Dcn. Nathan Blanchard.

To support priests in the Diocese of Phoenix, visit priests.dphx.org

The liturgy sustains the faithful, renewing them in their faith, mission, pope says

By
Catholic News Service
-

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christ is present in the liturgy — in the word that is proclaimed, in the sacraments, in the ministers, in the community and most of all in the Eucharist, Pope Leo XIV said.

“Let us allow ourselves to be shaped from within by the rites, symbols, gestures and above all by the living presence of Christ in the liturgy,” he said during his general audience talk in St. Peter’s Square May 20.

Before the pope began his catechesis, he welcomed Armenian Apostolic Catholicos Aram I of Cilicia, who sat next to him during the audience.

The Great House of Cilicia for the Armenian Orthodox Church includes Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf region, Iran, Greece and the Americas, so Pope Leo called on everyone to pray for peace in Lebanon and the Middle East, which are “once again torn apart by violence and war.”

Pope Leo expressed his joy in receiving Catholicos Aram and his delegation, calling their visit “an important occasion to strengthen the bonds of unity that already exist between us, as we draw closer to full communion between our Churches.”

In his main talk, Pope Leo continued his series of catechesis on the Second Vatican Council, but introduced the next conciliar document he wanted to focus on: the council’s constitution on the sacred liturgy, “Sacrosanctum Concilium.”

“This document teaches that the liturgy immerses us in the mystery of Christ’s passion, death, resurrection and glorification,” he told English-speakers in his summary.

“Indeed, Christ is present in the word that is proclaimed, in the sacraments, in the ministers, in the community, and most of all in the Eucharist,” he said.

In drafting this constitution, he said the “Council Fathers sought not only to undertake a reform of the rites, but to lead the Church to contemplate and deepen that living bond which constitutes and unites her: the mystery of Christ.”

“Indeed, the liturgy touches the very heart of this mystery: it is at once the space, the time and the context in which the Church receives her very life from Christ,” he said in his main talk in Italian.

“The Christian mystery: the Paschal event, that is to say, the passion, death, resurrection and glorification of Christ, which is made sacramentally present to us precisely in the liturgy, so that every time we take part in the assembly gathered ‘in his name’ we are immersed in this mystery,” he said.

The liturgy helps sustain the faithful, encouraging and renewing them “in their commitment to faith and in their mission,” and it helps form “an open community, welcoming to all,” Pope Leo said.

The liturgy that is celebrated must be translated into and lived throughout one’s daily life, “in an ethical and spiritual dynamic,” he said. It demands “a faithful existence, capable of making concrete what has been experienced in the celebration: it is in this way that our life becomes a “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God”, fulfilling our “spiritual worship.”

©2026 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Beloved Sr. Lynn Winsor retires after 52 years at Xavier

By
Jeff Grant
-

The Xavier College Preparatory community gathered Friday (May 22) evening to celebrate the career of Sr. Lynn Winsor, BVM, the vice principal of athletics and activities, and former longtime golf coach. She is retiring after 52 years with the all-girls Catholic school where she helped build a premier athletics program.

“You’re an amazing human being,” Bishop John Dolan said at the retirement celebration on the central Phoenix campus. “You’re absolutely loved by the people of God here, and I love you, too.”

A graduate of nearby St. Francis Xavier Elementary School, Wisconsin native Sr. Lynn went on to Xavier, graduating in 1961. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Arizona State University before joining the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, then earning her master’s degree from the University of Iowa. She coached and taught at a high school in St. Louis. But two years later, in 1974, the school closed, and after a call from fellow Sister of Charity, Sr. Joan Fitzgerald, BVM, the new Xavier principal at the time, Sr. Lynn headed west to work with her colleague.

“When I look back on my 52 years, I thank God for all of you,” Sr. Lynn said Friday. “… alumnae, parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, associates, vendors, even people who coached against me; athletic directors, the AIA and the AIAA [athletics associations]. I have made wonderful friends. It has been really great.”

Hired as a physical education teacher, Sr. Lynn also coached basketball, softball and golf, before becoming vice principal of athletics and activities in 1976.

“[Sr. Joan] was getting Xavier’s money’s worth,” Sr. Lynn quipped.

It was in golf and the expansion of girls sports at Xavier and throughout Arizona where Sr. Lynn’s greatest impact was felt, along with her devotion to developing young women of Catholic character.

During her career, the Xavier Gators won a record 40 Arizona scholastic championships, producing numerous individual title winners. From 1980 through 1995, the school won 16 consecutive titles. Over one 27-year period, Xavier did not lose a single regular season match.

Overall, Xavier athletic teams won 163 state championships and 73 runners-up honors while Sr. Lynn was there.

Named to the Arizona High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame in 1997, she became the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1998.

Her other recognitions include inductions into the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) National High School Hall of Fame (2023) and the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) Hall of Fame (2021). She was also honored as the USA Today Studio IX Trailblazer Award (2025), the Arizona Republic newspaper’s Most Influential Woman in Arizona Sports (2022) and the NFHS Title IX Woman Trailblazer of the Year (2021).

She was the first religious sister in history to receive these awards.

A culture rooted in faith

Xavier colleagues said her impact goes far beyond titles and awards.

“She built a culture rooted in faith, excellence, compassion and opportunity,” said Tui Selvaratnam, Xavier’s current golf coach and athletic director.

“Her leadership was never about recognition or attention; it was about service. It was about opening doors for others, and making sure young women had the same opportunities to dream boldly and compete proudly.”

An advocate for expanding girls’ sports, Sr. Lynn, along with colleagues at four other schools, began programs for girls soccer in 1985 and beach volleyball in 2010. She advocated before with her professional colleagues in both Arizona and the nation for wider girls’ athletic opportunities, recalling that her first national athletic directors conference in 1985 included “500 men and eight women.”

“Sr. Lynn saw athletics not as an extra activity but an important part of a young woman’s education,” said Xavier Principal Carol Ann Michaelson, a 1989 graduate. “She understood when students step onto a court, field, track or golf course, they learn lessons that stay with them forever.”

“Even students like me with absolutely no athletic promise whatsoever still felt encouraged, included and valued in her class. I could still picture her, full of energy and enthusiasm, managing to push us and make us laugh,” added Michaelson.

Leading, laughing

She also made her colleagues laugh, even when Xavier got bad news.

Sr. Joan recalled one year when Xavier was forced to relinquish its Arizona swimming championship because of a disqualified athlete. A state high school athletics representative would take back the trophy and deliver it to its new winner, Mountain View High School in Mesa, Ariz. Xavier would become the runner-up. But before that happened, Sr. Lynn removed the trophy plaque, taped a snippet of a Xavier athletics skirt to its back and reattached the plaque.

“Somewhere in Mountain View’s trophy case is a little piece of the Xavier uniform,” Sr. Joan said as laughter broke out across the room.

“We can have fun with what we’re doing and still take it seriously,” said current Xavier softball coach Sydnie Steffen.

A second-year coach whose teams have won back-to-back titles, Steffen was born over 20 years after Sr. Lynn began at Xavier.

“She’s shown me it’s really fun to be energetic,” Steffen said, “and that no amount of performance can make us any more or less loved by God.”

Others cited her impact.

“She helped me grow closer to my faith,” recalled Ashley Menne, a 2020 graduate and three-time Arizona individual and team golf champion who went on to become an All-American at Arizona State University and a member of the Epson Tour, the LPGA’s qualifying tour. “She’s giving, and always thinks about community. Even though our golf team had 16 girls, she [saw] every one and lifted up each person, seeing them as individuals.”

“On the team, we went to Masses and had prayer; we had a good [religious] structure,” Menne said.

“She worked diligently to ensure not only that our students would succeed,” said Bishop Dolan, “but that they would embrace [being] made in God’s image and likeness; they were created with that beauty of God.”

A source of her inspiration was Sr. Joan, her fellow sister and Xavier administrator. After hiring her, she told Sr. Lynn to form a healthy, friendly community culture.

“‘Let’s be friendly,’ LBF, she would say,” remembered Sr. Lynn. “She [also] said, ‘Make sports and activities a full part of our school, living up to our [Xavier] motto: Women of Faith, Pursuing Excellence.’”

Sr. Joan also told Sr. Lynn to “share her knowledge. Be part of positive change, especially in strengthening the athletic director position and advancing girls sports.”

Her younger colleague followed through.

“Her creativity, tenaciousness and professionalism created an exceptional Student Activities Program and Athletics Department,” Sr. Joan said. “She not only used these talents at Xavier, but within the Diocese of Phoenix, the state of Arizona and the nation at large. She left an indelible mark that will be with us forever.”

Sr. Lynn is retiring to the order’s mother house in Dubuque, Iowa, a city of nearly 60,000 on the western banks of the Mississippi River across from where the states of Wisconsin and Illinois meet.

“I will miss Phoenix so very much [although not the heat],” she said.

“We’re going to keep her spirit and her fun going,” smiled Xavier junior Maia Bleyl, a two-year golf team member. “Her light shines throughout this whole campus.”

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas

By
The Catholic Sun
-

Pope Leo XIV shared his first encyclical today (May 25) entitled Magnifica Humanitas (The Magnificence of the Human Person).

In the video below, Auxiliary Bishop Peter Dai Bui helps us understand how this letter fits into the writings of previous popes — Pope Leo XIII, Pope St. John XXIII, Pope St. Paul VI and Pope St. John Paul II — each of whom responded to the challenges of his times with one or more encyclicals.

Today, Pope Leo XIV does the same for us.

We are living in an age marked by rapid technological change — especially the rise of artificial intelligence — alongside deep questions about work, responsibility and what it means to be human. We are also witnessing fragile international relationships and ongoing conflicts that test our commitment to peace and justice.

This encyclical is an invitation to engage the world with faith, to see Christ in one another and to act with justice, compassion and courage. Because ultimately, the questions before us are not just technological or political — they are deeply human.

To read Pope Leo XIV’s full encyclical, click here.

Deacon Jeff Pooley – The Path to Priesthood

By
The Catholic Sun
-

As a pilot, Dcn. Jeff Pooley used to soar through the clouds. Now as a priest, he’ll guide others toward heaven.

Receiving his call to the priesthood at the age of 17, he was initially petrified. But through his journey of studying aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., and volunteering with a youth ministry group, he eventually found great joy in the call he’d had all along. Tune in to learn more about his journey.

Dcn. Jeff will be ordained to the priesthood at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Avondale, Ariz., on Saturday, June 6, at 10 a.m., and will be joined by Dcn. Nathan Blanchard, Dcn. Simon Ortiz and Dcn. Paul Graupmann, F.H.S.

To support priests in the Diocese of Phoenix, visit priests.dphx.org

New affordable housing brings hope to Central Phoenix

By
The Catholic Sun
-
Photo courtesy of Catholic Charities Community Services

Bishop Peter Dai Bui attended the Housing for Hope — an affiliate of Catholic Charities Community Services — grand opening of the third and final phase of Acacia Heights Apartments, an affordable housing complex near 7th Avenue and Camelback in Central Phoenix. He blessed the newly developed property and took part in the ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday (May 19).

Acacia Heights III, the new five-story building, features 35 one-bedroom units, 18 two-bedroom units and 15 three-bedroom units, ranging in size from 596 to 1,231 square feet. The addition of Acacia Heights III expands the complex by 68 units, bringing the total number to 212.

According to the latest 2025 Point-in-Time count, 9,734 people were experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County, marking a three-percent increase over 2024 — the highest total ever recorded in the region. Acacia Heights provides a critical resource for families and individuals in need.

“Through strong partnerships and sustained investment, Acacia Heights reflects a collaborative commitment to stability, dignity and long-term solutions that improve lives,” said Catholic Charities Vice President of Business Development/Housing for Hope Executive Director Steve Capobres.

Designed to be a safe, comfortable home, the entire development was also built with community, connection and well-being in mind. Compassionate team members create a welcoming, community-centered environment by bringing residents together for social gatherings, mobile food pantries, after school activities for children and more. They also help with connecting to critical resources in the community, such as low-cost medical and dental services, medical loan equipment, donated household necessities, among others, so residents can enjoy a healthy, happy and stable life in their homes.

Additionally, Catholic Charities provides resident services specialists in its Phoenix-area communities, who offer resources and referrals so that residents remain housed despite common challenges, such as loss of employment, medical or mental health struggles, lack of support systems and the impact of inflation.

To learn more, visit housingforhopeaz.org/acacia-heights-apartment-complex

Pope explains concerns about AI

By
Catholic News Service
-
The ChatGPT app is seen on a phone placed atop a keyboard in this photo taken in Rome March 8, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV said a proposal to create an AI-version of him so people could have a virtual audience with the pope pretty much horrified him.

“If there’s anybody who should not be represented by an avatar, I would say the pope is high on the list,” he said in an interview with Elise Allen, a journalist and author.

Allen’s July 30 interview with Pope Leo is the last chapter of her biography, “Leo XIV: Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century,” which was published in Spanish by Penguin Peru Sept. 18. The text of the interview, in English and Spanish, was given to reporters.

Pope Leo, who has made his concerns about the potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence clear since immediately after his election in early May, gave some concrete examples about why.

“Someone recently asked for authorization to create an artificial me so that anybody could sign on to this website and have a personal audience with ‘the pope,'” he told Allen. “This artificial intelligence pope would give them answers to their questions, and I said, ‘I’m not going to authorize that.'”

While human creativity can be amazing, and artificial intelligence already has proven its usefulness in some fields, “there’s a danger in this because you do end up creating a fake world and then you wonder, what is the truth?”

At the core of his concern, the pope said, is AI’s impact on human dignity and on jobs.

“Our human life makes sense not because of artificial intelligence,” he said, “but because of human beings and encounter, being with one another, creating relationships, and discovering in those human relationships also the presence of God.”

“The danger is that the digital world will go on its own way, and we will become pawns, or left by the wayside,” particularly when it comes to employment, he said.

“Human dignity has a very important relationship with the work that we do,” the pope said. “The fact that we can, through the gifts that we’ve been given, produce, offer something in the world and earn a living,” is a sign of human dignity.

Pope Leo said he believes there is a crisis looming of not having enough decent jobs for people because of technology and artificial intelligence.

“If we automate the whole world and only a few people have the means with which to more than just survive, but to live well, have meaningful lives, there’s a big problem, a huge problem coming down the line,” he said.

“That was one of the issues in the back of my mind in why I chose the name Leo,” the pope said. His choice honored Pope Leo XIII, author of the encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which addressed issues of labor and workers’ rights during the Industrial Revolution.

“The church is not against the advances of technology, not at all,” he said, but it also insists on maintaining a relationship between faith and reason, and science and faith.

“I think to lose that relationship will leave science as an empty, cold shell that will do great damage to what humanity is about,” Pope Leo said. “And the human heart will be lost in the midst of the technological development, as things are going right now.”

Diocese of Phoenix joins national Sacred Heart consecration

By
Jamie Rose Bell
-
Original art by Ruth Stricklin, newjerusalemstudios.com

As the United States prepares for the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, the Diocese of Phoenix joins the broader Church in turning toward the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In preparation for the Semiquincentennial, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will join countries such as Portugal, Spain and Poland in consecrating their nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In anticipation of the U.S. consecration, which will take place on June 11 at the USCCB’s gathering of bishops in Orlando, the bishops have created prayer resources guided by Pope Francis’ encyclical on the Sacred Heart, Dilexit Nos (He Loved Us), and Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation Delexi Te (I Have Loved You).

Included in the resources is a special novena — a nine-day preparatory prayer — to the Sacred Heart. Each day inspires reflection on a different aspect of Jesus’ Heart, such as “aflame with love for us,” “patient and full of mercy” and “source of all consolation.”

An Invitation to Prayer

Bishop John Dolan invites the faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix to join the USCCB and Catholics throughout the nation in praying the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus from June 3–11, or anytime between now and July 4. On June 11, the eve of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the consecration will be livestreamed at 1 p.m. local time on the Diocese of Phoenix YouTube and Facebook platforms.

“This consecration serves as a national act of trust in Christ, who is El Camino Real,” Bishop Dolan wrote in his 2026 pastoral plan, which coincides with year two of TILMA, his seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization.

“The Sacred Heart reminds us that Christ’s love is not abstract or distant,” he continued. “His Heart beats for us.”

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus gained popularity in the 17th century when Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in France, revealing His exposed Heart both physically and symbolically, emphasizing His unconditional love for humanity and inspiring the faithful to receive His blessings and comfort.

“I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored,” Jesus said as one of the 12 promises He made during His revelations to St. Margaret Mary.

Bishop Dolan encourages individuals and families to embrace this devotion by placing an image of the Sacred Heart at the entrances to their homes.

“[Placing this image] becomes an outward sign that Christ dwells here, that His mercy abides here and that all who enter are met by the love of His Heart,” Bishop Dolan explained.

An Icon that Speaks to the Heart

The Diocese of Phoenix is also partnering with local sacred artist Ruth Stricklin, whose paintings of the Sacred Heart are being featured locally in tandem with the novena. Stricklin and her husband are co-founders of New Jerusalem Studios, a liturgical arts and design studio in Phoenix that specializes in sacramentally informed liturgical design and hand-painted, large-scale sacred art murals. Their work includes an oil painting of the Holy Family, commissioned by the Diocese of Phoenix to commemorate the diocese’s 50th Anniversary in 2019. They have also collaborated on murals in numerous churches in the diocese including St. Joan of Arc in Phoenix, All Saints Catholic Newman Center at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., and St. Mary Magdelene in Gilbert, Ariz.

Available at a reduced cost for the faithful to purchase, Stricklin’s Sacred Heart images depict Christ’s His heart aflame and surrounded by a crown of thorns. True to the vision of St. Margaret Mary, the images portray Jesus’ total love and the personal relationship into which He invites humanity.

Love That Beats for Us

On Sunday May 24, Bishop Dolan will host Stricklin and Fr. Estevan Wetzel, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Phoenix, on “TILMA” — his monthly video podcast that delves into all aspects of his seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization, from community events around the diocese to a deep-dive into the topics related to this year’s theme: El Camino Real.

The episode, entitled “Love That Beats for Us,” will feature Fr. Wetzel speaking about the Sacred Heart devotion and the special celebrations taking place at his parish. Stricklin will also discuss her painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and what it is like to create an image of such a personal and integral part of Jesus’ love for us. In addition to Sacred Heart Parish in Phoenix, Sacred Heart Parish in Prescott, Ariz., will also be hosting a special celebration for the consecration. Events at both parishes will take place on Friday, June 12.

Bishop Dolan plans to extend a personal invitation to all viewers to join in the novena leading up to the historic consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“From this Heart flows every sacrament, every grace and the very life of the Church.”

For more information and assets on the Sacred Heart of Jesus and TILMA, visit dphx.org/tilma/novena-to-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus/

To purchase a print of “Christ the King – Sacred Heart” by Ruth Stricklin at reduced cost, click here.

Diocese of Phoenix celebrates newest transitional deacon

By
Jayce Galvez
-
Photos courtesy of Hartnett Productions

Bishop John Dolan celebrated the ordination to the transitional diaconate of Dcn. Lawrence Hogue, F.H.S., on Saturday (May 16) at St. Anthony Catholic Mission Church in Sacaton, Ariz.

“I really feel like the Lord has called me here to serve this beautiful community.” Dcn. Lawrence said. As a Franciscan Friar of the Holy Spirit, he is entrusted with the pastoral and spiritual care of the Native American communities in the Diocese of Pheonix, on which he has already made a positive impact.

Bishop Dolan said Dcn. Lawrence has “the greatest gift that he is going to create”, which is joy.

“I think he’s probably one of the best examples of what, when a deacon says at the end of Mass, ‘go and announce the Gospel with your lives,’” Bishop Dolan continued.

After struggling for a time to let go of their son due to living in Pennsylvania, Dcn. Lawrence’s parents, Steve and Monica Hogue, are happy that he is called to serve the people of Arizona.

“There is nowhere else in the world that he should be other than here, and we freely give him to these people and his calling,” Steve said.

Through Dcn. Lawrence and the formation he has received, his parents have grown in their own spiritual lives over the past several years.

“He’s been formed, but through him we’ve been formed,” Monica said.

Br. Damien Van Amerongen has been a Franciscan seminarian with Dcn. Lawrence for over four years and was happy to enjoy the moment of ordination with his fellow brothers.

“As Franciscans we share all things in common, so we get to share this ordination in a special way just through grace,” Br. Damien said.

Br. Damien is looking forward to seeing Dcn. Lawrence’s joy pour over into the sacraments he will be able to celebrate. “I’m really excited to see him baptize some babies.”

On Saturday morning, after becoming a transitional deacon, Dcn. Lawrence can now serve the people in additional ways, such as administering baptisms and presiding over weddings and funerals. As a deacon, he can also prepare the chalice for the Blood of Christ at the Mass, a tradition which dates back to St. Lawrence himself, who was born in AD 225.

However, the excitement for Dcn. Lawrence extends beyond his new role, as he looks forward to his ordination to the priesthood in 2027.

He had first heard the call to the priesthood when he procrastinated doing his math homework during freshman year of college and decided to pray instead. “I felt like the Lord said to me, I need to be a priest,” Dcn. Lawrence said.

His parents described how growing up they never knew what his vocation would be, but they did have moments of insight.

“He had a towel wrapped around him, and I thought he was going to say he looks like a king,” Monica said. “But I said, ‘who are you dressed up as?’ He said, ‘a priest.’”

Bishop Dolan says as a deacon, Dcn. Lawrence will be a blessing and his radiating joy “is probably the great gift that we can celebrate here in our diocese, what we can celebrate with this community, his brothers in the community, but also here in the Gila River zone of Arizona.”

SEE FACEBOOK PHOTO GALLERY

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne opens new church after 22 years

By
Jeff Grant
-

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Gal 6:9)

Nearly 2,000 years after St. Paul wrote those words to believers in Galatia, they are ringing true — along with the bells of a brand-new church — at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Parish in Anthem, Ariz.

Over two decades after its first gathering in the home of Bob and Alana Bush, the parish opened its new building of worship with a dedication Mass celebrated by Bishop John Dolan Wednesday (May 13).

“Congratulations to all of you on this historic and grace-filled day,” St. Rose’s pastor, Fr. Francisco “Bing” Colasito beamed, crediting parishioners and staff for the completion of the project that includes a new perpetual adoration chapel and a chapel for daily Mass.

“This sacred milestone is the fruit of years of prayer, sacrifice and tremendous generosity; a testament of faith, perseverance and unwavering commitment to building a spiritual home,” Fr. Bing said.

The Bushes were among more than 1,000 worshippers who filled the church for the dedication Mass.

“It’s unbelievable; just amazing,” smiled 22-year parishioner and choir member Teri Clein.

Laid out in a cruciform shape, with a nave intersected by side areas, or transepts, the Spanish mission-style structure boasts a sanctuary punctuated by detailed gold carvings and dark wood. Its altar sides and front are adorned with retablo figures of the 12 apostles. Its dark wood pews and massive ceiling beams contrast with its white walls and floor, and large arch transept windows. A total of 44 colorful stained-glass windows depicting saints, including St. Rose, the Blessed Virgin Mary and others, dot the interior walls’ upper portions. A large stained-glass depiction of the Last Supper highlights the perpetual adoration chapel.

Fr. Bing and Bishop Dolan compared the building’s physical nature with the spiritual identity of its occupants and the universal Church.

“My brothers and sisters, this church is not ultimately about concrete or wood; glass or stone,” the bishop said in his homily. “It is about Christ, the capstone, and you, the living stones joined together into a holy temple where God is worshipped in spirit and in truth.

“Today, we give thanks for all who carried this parish through those years: founding families, volunteers, benefactors and priests, especially Fr. Bing, who continues to shepherd this community with fidelity,” the bishop continued.

“May St. Rose pray for this parish community, that you continue to be missionaries of hope here in the desert; gathering people not merely into a building but into the very household of God here in Anthem.”

Pilgrims in the desert

The parish’s story began around 2001.

Catholics living in the then-3-year-old master-planned community of Anthem, about 35 miles north of downtown Phoenix, came together under Good Shepherd Mission in neighboring New River, Ariz. They worshipped and fellowshipped with one another that way until 2004, when the Diocese of Phoenix established the parish, naming it after a young Frenchwoman who became a nun and eventually ministered in the United States along the Missouri frontier. As the Anthem area grew and more Catholics arrived, the parish’s faithful met and worshipped in a local school gymnasium, then a parish office and eventually in its multipurpose Spirituality Center that opened in 2010.

The parish yearned for a permanent church building, and with the arrival of Fr. Bing as parochial administrator in 2015, those plans began to coalesce.

“Our journey beautifully reflects the living stones of the Church: the people of God, who first built a community of faith before raising walls of brick and stones,” Fr. Bing said Wednesday.

The parish also needed to pay its construction debt.

By 2021, the bills for building the Spirituality Center were paid, and planning as well as fundraising for the new church ramped up, its pastor leading the parish development council and local donors toward their financial goal.

“We asked the parishioners to storm heaven with the bishops, trusting that if God desired this church to be built, He would provide the way,” Fr. Bing recalled.

The project began September 1, 2024, and culminated Wednesday, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, with principal designer Christine Naiman of Adaptive Architects in Mesa, Ariz., handing the building keys to Bishop Dolan, who opened the doors. Once worshippers had filed in, the bishop blessed the church, sprinkling holy water across each of its walls.

Before the offertory, he continued the time-honored Church process of placing a holy relic — in this case, a relic of St. Rose — inside the base of the altar and anointing its top with holy chrism oil. He poured the oil over its center and four corners, symbolizing Jesus’ five wounds on the cross. He, Fr. Bing and Parochial Vicar Fr. Charles Ouemenga then anointed the church walls with oil. The bishop concluded the ceremony by swinging a lit thurible of incense, allowing its smoke to waft over the altar and congregation, praying along the way.

Parishioners felt God’s hand and His presence in their new worship home.

“It’s surreal,” said John Isbrandt, a 22-year parishioner who attended both the first and final Masses in the Spirituality Center. “It’ll help people realize their time, sweat, blood, tears and money went into something that is really worth it.”

Jack Evans, who produced the parish’s video construction reports, said the project will encourage church involvement.

“You can’t help but be impressed and overwhelmed,” he said.

Gaye Rose, whose husband’s new job brought them from Houston to Anthem seven months ago, agreed. She said the couple hopes to dive into ministries there.

“The crucified Lord is so realistic. When you’re surrounded by the saints and Marian images; to be part of something they built for so long. I can’t wait,” Rose said.

Patroness of perseverance

Parish Project Manager Paul Novak said pursuit of the new church reflects their patroness.

Born to a wealthy French family in 1769, St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, RSCJ, became a nun in 1788. When the Visitation Order was dispersed during the French Revolution, she turned the convent over to the newly founded Society of the Sacred Heart. In 1818, the order sent St. Rose and four other nuns to the United States, where she opened a boarding school for daughters of pioneers near St. Louis and launched the first free school west of the Mississippi River. The nuns founded orphanages and engaged in missionary work among Native Americans.

Canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988, St. Rose’s feast day is Nov 18.

A patroness of Catholic schools, educators and Native American rights, St. Rose also is regarded as a saint of perseverance amid adversity.

“We hope all the work, prayers and effort will last for the next several generations, and they will feel the love that was the foundation of building this,” Novak said.

The new church comes as the area is poised for further residential growth. Home to 1,700 registered families, the parish is ready to welcome more.

“May this church stand as a visible sign of God’s abiding presence in our midst,” Fr. Bing said. “… a place where the Gospel is proclaimed with conviction and charity, where the sacraments are celebrated with reverence, where the weary find comfort and where all who enter encounter the love and mercy of Christ,” he concluded.

“When people drive by this parish,” Bishop Dolan said, “they should not merely see architecture, they should see hope.”

SEE FACEBOOK PHOTO ALBUM

1234...1,045Page 3 of 1,045