I am addressing you for the first time in public since March 16th when Bishop Olmsted made the decision to suspend the public celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. In the empty pews of our church today I can see all of your faces. I was deeply moved by the reverence with which so many of you received the Lord last Sunday.  My heart aches that I cannot have you here with me today. I miss you very much.

I want to thank those who in these difficult days have been rendering invaluable service to our community. I think of Father Joal and Father Job who have been hearing confessions outside of the church all week. I think of the people on our maintenance team who are working especially hard these days to disinfect the spaces where people are allowed to enter the church to pray. I think of the directors and staff members who have been working tirelessly around the clock to address the needs, requests, questions and emergencies of our community. I thank you all.

I must apologize for not having been able to answer the many messages I have received from so many of you "by land, by sea and by air". These days I’m receiving more than 100 emails a day and it has been impossible for me to even open most of them. Please know that I appreciate every one of them, but with all of the challenges we are presently faced with and with all of the decisions that must be made, there simply has been no time. For this reason, I want to apologize and ask for your patience. May these words today serve as a reply to many of those messages from those of you who are concerned for me and for our beloved parish.

The least important thing is the health of the pastor, but in transparency I want to tell you that I am well, thanks be to God. I have no symptoms of illness and I try to take care of my prayer life and physical exercise as best I can. In the current circumstances, my first act of charity for all of you is to try to remain healthy myself, especially spiritually.

Many of you have asked me about my family in Spain. Thank God, everyone is doing well at the moment, confined to their homes, but with no signs of illness. My parents and others from Spain have told me about people that I knew who have passed away over the past weeks. I ask you for prayers for their eternal rest. 

Last weekend I told you that the situation was developing so quickly that we had to be prepared for any decisions by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. We need to pray for them, now more than ever, especially for our dear Bishop who is going through, surely, very difficult days. May God give all of them the prudence, strength and charity to make bold and courageous decisions, always seeking, first, the Kingdom of God and his justice. In doing so, all those things will be given us besides. (Mt 6:33)

My dear St Anne family, the great saints and masters of the spiritual life teach us obedience to those who have legitimate authority over us as a way of pleasing God. We obey as sons and daughters, not as slaves. We obey because we want to obey, because we choose to obey and that sacrifice is like fragrant incense in the presence of the Lord.

Obedience in difficult times is a sign of fidelity. The blind man in today's Gospel probably did not understand the command that the Lord gave him. He simply did as the Lord asked. We do not obey because what is asked of us seems reasonable. That is human obedience, that of this passing world. We obey because when authority is legitimate and acts within the scope of its power, we see in its manifestations an expression of the Will of God for us and that turns this virtue into an act of faith that works miracles. In today's passage, the blind man is healed when he obeys the word of Jesus: “Go wash in the pool of Siloam (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and came back able to see.” Obedience makes us more humble, reminds us that we are part of a community, and produces unity, harmony, and social peace. In the current situation, we trust that if we are all one, if we all work together, we will get through this sooner, with less illness, anxiety, and hardship for everyone.

For this reason, as pastor of St. Anne, I owe it to you today to encourage the practice of obedience to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, each in their appropriate spheres. By acting in this way, we become "light in the Lord" and “children of light”, as St. Paul tells us today. At the same time, I am reminded of the obligation to be faithful above all to the law of God that is reflected in a well-formed conscience. That is, sin establishes a red line that we can never cross. No one can betray Christ with the excuse of being obedient to an order contrary to the law of God because such an order ceases to compel compliance. We Christians know how to be salt of the earth and light of the world, but we have also learned that we must obey God rather than men. Therein lies our freedom.

Picking up on the main idea of today’s readings, I want to encourage you all to be light in this world that lives in darkness. Let Christ give you light. At the present moment when confusion grips us and uncertainty hides from our sight the path we must follow, we have to be the light. In moments like this, you will see the best and worst in human beings: courage or cowardice, generosity - even to the point of laying down one’s life - or selfishness, love without limit or meanness and greed, people who let themselves be carried away by panic or those who in the midst of the storm do not lose control. We have seen this in the news – stores where people have taken more than they need and emptied the shelves without thinking about others, while on the other hand, there are people who have chosen to help the elderly so they don’t need to risk their health by leaving their homes. 

The coronavirus is a mirror in which we all see ourselves reflected. It helps us see what kind of people we are and what the inner quality of our soul is. It is also an opportunity for great sacrifices. It is an opportunity to stop the frenetic rhythm of our lives and to place more value on our inner world where we find the hidden presence of God. It is an opportunity to never again take the gift of the Eucharist for granted. It is also an opportunity to examine the way we relate to the material world, the way we consume, in order to acquire. From now on, let’s seek new habits that lead us to a more simple and spiritual way of life, seeking happiness not in things but in people, especially in the living person of Jesus Christ, who is our only light. It is an opportunity to understand that human beings need each other and that together, with the grace of God, we can do more and do better. In these times when many of us cannot move about freely and the borders of our countries are closed, the coronavirus is an opportunity to remember that the most important and most exciting journey is the path to the interior of our hearts, where we must all find God and allow ourselves to be transformed by Him. It is an opportunity for prayer and especially for meditation. It is an opportunity for silence and solitude, so as to find ourselves. As Saint Augustine wrote in his Soliloquies: "Domine Iesu, noverim me, noverim te." “Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know You.”

Dear brothers and sisters, your pastor encourages you to be “light in the Lord.” Thank you to all those who in these past few days have used social media to offer prayers, to upload videos explaining the Scriptures, to provide ways to reach out and connect to people in their homes and to remind us that true life, the one that matters most, is the life of grace. The laity have been on many occasions the advance guard of the Church and I feel this is your hour again. Thank you for being light to the shepherds.

Dear parents and grandparents, your pastor encourages you to be “light in the Lord.” In today's first reading, David is anointed at home, surrounded by his father and brothers. Home is a place where the Holy Spirit is poured out when we let him in. You have always been the primary educators in the faith for your children, but now you are more so than ever. Now you are, to a large extent, the only catechists for your children. Pray with them, read the Word of God to them and give your children all the love of Jesus and your pastor. I said earlier that I miss you all, but you cannot imagine how I miss the little ones. They give me life and not hearing their voices in this almost empty church, not seeing their smiles, is a fast that costs me what words can't quite describe.

Last Thursday, on the Solemnity of St Joseph, the Diocese of Phoenix issued a Ministry Guide for all parishes. All of the changes that have been made at St. Anne regarding sacramental life are the result of the directives coming from the Diocese. "Where the captain rules, a sailor has no sway.” The staff of St. Anne is doing everything they are allowed to do to serve you, and we will continue to do so in as much as we are permitted to. For my part, it will be me who, beginning this week and until this crisis is over, will preside over the Holy Mass at noon, which will be broadcast, starting tomorrow, from Monday through Saturday. I will place you all on the paten so that the Lord will keep us united with each other and with Him and so that He will transform the wheat of our lives into the flesh of God for the salvation of the world. We are literally working day and night to make ourselves accessible to all of you. Please be patient. As you say in English, "one thing at a time."

Finally, I want to ask you to also be a light by helping the families of our staff with your financial contributions. As I said a week ago, these families, which many of you know because they are part of our great parish family, have never been as much in your hands as they are now. Our staff is also small, so now, more than ever, we have to help them. Help us with your online giving and demonstrate, again, that this is your home and that you take care of it because you love St. Anne. Without your online participation, we will not be able to last long. I also think of the families in our community who are being affected by the coronavirus problem, especially owners or employees of restaurants and other businesses. To the best of our ability, we will help you as much as we can.

To all of you, I say that I suffer with you and that, like you, there are things that I do not understand. I also ask myself questions for which I don't yet have answers. It is at times like the present, when we find ourselves walking in the dark valley, when we most need to hear the words of today's psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. I have no fear for you are with me.” Christ is the light of the world, and to whoever is listening, I invite you to find in Him words of eternal life.

I conclude with this message of hope, dear brothers and sisters. The path of the Christian life certainly crosses dark valleys. We don't know what awaits us in the coming weeks, how long the trial will last, or what the effects will be when it ends. We have ahead of us months of struggle and suffering, days that will test the best in each of us. The storm is raging and we don't know when we will see the sun again. But the sun is there, on the other side, waiting for us. We are not afraid because Christ, the Good Shepherd, is with us. After the darkness of difficult moments has passed, better days will come in which we will celebrate, all together again, at the table that God himself spreads before us, the table of the Eucharist, a feast of rich food and choice wine (Is 25:6). I already see that day breaking on the horizon and that ray of light gives me enough hope to keep moving forward.

Dearest Mother, help all your children in need. Help the unborn children because we can never forget them. If we remember and pray for the more than 12,000 people killed by the coronavirus, how can we forget the more than 50 million children who every year lose their lives to abortion?  

Mother, help all those who suffer from other causes and other diseases that receive less attention, but have same outcome. Help those who suffer from any cause. 

Finally, Mother, help the victims of COVID-19 and their families. Help all those who suffer or will suffer the consequences of this crisis and make us part of the solution and never part of the problem. 

Mother, on this Sunday especially remember and bless all those who wish to receive Holy Communion and will not be able to do so. You, who carried Jesus to your cousin Elizabeth's home, take your Son to my children of St. Anne who are in their homes waiting, their hearts hungry for the Eucharist and filled with love for you.

 

Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in You.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, be the salvation of our souls.