This Sunday there will be 2 Vocation Fairs to Celebrate Consecrated Life!

Watch this Video to find out about the Vocations Celebration this Sunday!

Un video para averiguar sobre Celebrando la Vida Consagrada este Domingo.

We have two new Franciscan Brothers at St. Mary’s Basilica in Phoenix!

Let us welcome Brother Scott Slattum, OFM and Brother Sam Nasada, OFM…

Featuring our Communities from Africa as the Pope Prepares to Go…

Providentially, Pope Francis is going to Africa this November!

On September 30th, I visited the Apostles of Jesus from Uganda in Phoenix.  The Missionary Order of the Apostles of Jesus was originally founded in the Moroto Diocese in Uganda on August 22, 1968 by the Most Reverend Bishop Sixtus Mazzoldi, MCCJ and Reverend John Marengoni, MCCJ.

They were Comboni Missionaries, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  Both founders, each in his own way, had come to conclusion  that for its development , and for its very survival in Africa, the Catholic Church needed both the diocesan clergy and missionaries for the Evangelization of Africa and of the World.  The Apostles of Jesus have this Missionary charism as Priests of the Sacred Heart.

Eleven years ago, the Apostles of Jesus from Uganda in Africa established a foundation here in the Diocese of Phoenix.  They currently serve at St. James the Greater Parish and St. Helen Parish in Glendale as well as St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Surprise.  They serve as Parish Priests and Pastors, evangelizing, administering the Sacraments and spreading the Gospel.

I had the privilege of joining them for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, supper, and I even got to befriend their dog!  These Priests live a humble and simple life, in complete service to the Church to evangelize in the person of Christ.

As sons of the Comboni Missionaries, the Apostles of Jesus are missionaries too, and they have grown and spread throughout the world, serving in the countries of Africa: Botswana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan.  In Europe:  United Kingdom, Germany and Italy; in Australia and all over the United States.  The first Religious Order of Sisters that were founded from the Apostles of Jesus is the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Juba).

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Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Christ from Nigeria in Africa.

                           

Here in Phoenix, we have a beautiful Nigerian Order of Sisters, the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Christ who live and serve both at St. Mary’s Parish in Chandler as well as Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glendale.

On September 2nd, I visited Sr. Mary Thelma, IHM and Sr. Maria, IHM (left) at their Convent near St. Mary’s Parish in Chandler.  Sr. Mary Thelma, the tall Sister on the left, is the principal of St. Mary-Basha School, and Sr. Maria has been serving as the Sacristan of St. Mary’s Parish.

On October 14th, I visited this Community at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Glendale. Sr. Miriam teaches at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish School and Sister Maudlyn is a pharmacist. They have been in Phoenix 5 years since they first arrived.  Their regional house is in Freeport, IL.

Their Founder was Archbishop Charles Heerey, C.S.Sp. (1890 – 1967), an Irishman born of good Catholic Irish parents.  Sent as a Holy Ghost missionary Priest, he arrived Nigeria in November 1922, was consecrated Bishop in 1927, succeeded Bishop Joseph Shanahan as the Vicar Apostolic of Southern Nigeria in 1931, and was raised to the status of Archbishop in 1950.

By God’s providence, he founded this Congregation in 1937 when he was the Vicar Apostolic of Southern Nigeria.  An eminent missionary he was consumed by a burning zeal for the spread of God’s kingdom on earth.  The plight of the less privileged in his Vicariate: their suffering, overwhelming ignorance, malnutrition, women and children subjected to de-humanizing conditions, poor medical care etc – captured his compassionate and humble personality.  A deep concern for their upliftment and for a good Christian family let him to do whatever was possible to bring relief to them, thus enabling them to enjoy their dignity as children of God.

Archbishop Heerey knew he would not be able to accomplish all that needed to be done with regard to bringing the compassion of Christ to the people.  He saw the need to found the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary as extension of himself.  He bequeathed this charism of Compassion and the spirit of Humility to carry on his mission among the people.

In Chandler and Glendale, these Sisters faithfully pray and serve the Diocese. Here are images of the chapels where they pray Divine Office together daily.

       

We had such a delightful time together, we wanted a nice photo for keepsake!

     

BOOK OF THE MONTH

“And You are Christ’s”: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life

by Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.

“From our mother’s womb, indeed before we were conceived, each of us has been personally called to the universal and most basic destiny of an eternal, enthralling embrace with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, supreme Beauty:  “With an eternal love I have loved you” (Jer 31:3). What this love entails for every individual man and woman and how we are to respond to it are presented in the pages of Sacred Scripture and the proclamation of the Church.”

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To conclude, I would like to share photos of Old Mission San Jose in CA, where I visited for a couple of days for a Regional gathering of Vicars for Religious.

God bless you.

Peace,

Sister Anthony Mary Diago, RSM