Hello friends,

Last week I spoke about this time of waiting that we are in. Advent is a time of joyful anticipation, the prophet Baruch says, "to take off your robe of mourning and misery". God is leading his people "with his mercy and justice for company." God's people are "wrapped in the cloak of justice from God," and they "will be named by God forever the peace of justice."

Paul, too, speaks of this joyful time of anticipation, of waiting for "the day of Christ Jesus." He encourages the Philippians and us to grow in "love, understanding, wealth of experience, clear conscience, and blameless conduct." The message of John the Baptist goes along the same lines of preparing the way for the coming of Christ, to make straight the winding and to make smooth the rough ways. We need a "baptism of repentance," a cleansing from the old ways of "greed and darkness" and a commitment to a new way of living.

Hola amigos,

Esta es nuestra segunda semana de Adviento y nuestra segunda semana con nuestra Misa en espanol. Quiero
comunicarles que estoy muy contento por su respuesta a la primera misa. Tuvimos mas de 120 personas que atendieron a la celebracion. Para mi es un honor poder sevir al pueblo de Dios en los dos idiomas. Espero que me alluden a promover esta misa y asi hacerla crecer. A todos aquellos que colaboraron de alguna manera en la celebracion, muchas gracias. Ocumpamos de todos ustedes y ojala en un future cercano mas de ustedes se animen a ayder en los diferentes ministerios que se ocupan en las misa.

​Fr. Alex Urena

Hello Friends,

On Monday, November 26th, Bishop Ramirez and  I had the opportunity to celebrate a 24th anniversary in Guadalajara  with his Excellency Cardinal emeritus Juan Sandoval Iniguez. Many bishops, priests and religious sisters attended this event. It was a beautiful celebration held at the Sand Pedro church in Taiquepaque, Jalisco. It was a such a blessing to be a part of a great event.

I have been conscious of the work and commitments I have in the parish, so I decided to take a few days for myself to reflect on what is to come. This weekend we welcome the Spanish mass in our community. This will be the first time Newman will have a permanent Spanish mass.

A toda la comunidad de habla hispana, quiero darles la bienvenida a nuesta primera misa en Espanol en el Newman Parish. Sinceramente espero que esta comunidad los haga sentir como en su casa. Aqui estamos para ustedes. Que esta experiencia nos ayde a aumentar nuestra fe en Senor Jesucristo. A todos ustedes bienvendios a esta su casa!

Fr. Alex Urena

Hello Friends,

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year and we honor the lord Jesus today as a King whose Kingdom is eternal in time, universal in scope, and very personal in power. This feast of Christ the King was made a Church-wide feast in 1925. At that time there was Bolshevism in Russia, and fascism in Italy. Soon there would be Nazism in Germany. Now, that is all gone and Jesus Christ's Kingdom remains. When human history is finished and after the collapse of every human kingdom, there will be only Jesus Christ. Only the Kingdom of Christ is enduring and eternal. 

This is the last Sunday of the liturgical year which means we are approaching Advent. Advent is  a time of preparation, of waiting for baby Jesus to be born. As we prepare ourselves for the new liturgical year, Advent, we as a community of St. Albert Newman prepare ourselves for the beginning of our first Spanish mass. We welcome international students from Latin America and the Spanish speaking community to be part our parish. Pray that Christ the King brings all of this to fulfillment.

​Fr. Alex Urena

Hello friends,

We are soon coming to the end of another liturgical year. This weekend, plus, next weekend which is the feast of Christ the King. We will then be in the first Sunday of Advent. Being that we are towards the end of the liturgical year, the readings that we will hear around this time are eschatological. What does that mean? It means that we are hearing about the last things. The things that are to take place at the end of the world. We know that our world as we know it will not continue forever. God has other plans for us and that is, to be with him forever.

Last week, the Diocese of Las Cruces published a list of 26 priests (one religious women and one religious brother) against whom there were credible allegations of sexual misconduct with minors between 1955-2000. All of those listed are either deceased or no longer active in ministry. You can read the letter that Bishop Gerald F. Kicanes sent to all parishes HERE. The purpose of this letter is to be as transparent as possible and invite anyone who has been harmed to come forward. This has been a very difficult time for everyone. I believe that many good things are to come and I encourage to pray for our church, if what it needs is a cleansing, so be it. I ask that your pray for the victims, their families and for all priests.

Many blessings,
Fr. Alex Urena

Hello friends,

Last week we got such great surprises. I am happy to say that St. Albert the Great Newman Parish was awarded $5,000 by Desert View Homes. This award was granted to us in recognition of the various ministries we provide to help the community and the students of NMSU. I would like to thank Desert View Homes for this kind donation. I would like to that our parishioners who serve on our ministries. Your service does not go unnoticed.

 Hello Friends,

As Catholics, we firmly believe that God has a plan for our lives! He calls some to marriage, some to the priesthood, and others to religious life. Some remain as generous single people. To fully live our own vocation and teach young people how to discern God's call is a serious but joyful duty. Today, November 4th begins National Vocations Awareness Week. During this week, please pray about how God is calling you to live your vocation more deeply. Encourage the youth, children, grandchildren, students, friends to be open to Gods call to priesthood or consecrated life.

This weekend, we will be in Cloudcroft with a few gentlemen who are discerning their vocation. Pray for these men that they may answer God's call. We need more people to fall in love with the Lord. He calls us to follow  him in different ways. I am grateful that this community is praying and supporting vocations. 

Last weekend, we had a large group of college students attend the Aggie Awakening at Holy Cross Retreat Center. I had the opportunity to visit with them briefly. I saw joy, love and hunger for the Lord. The retreat team  and Annisa Wright did a fabulous job coordinating the retreat. We are blessed to have the students of NMSU

Many blessings,

​Fr. Alex Urena

Dear Friends,

​You just heard a one sentence summary of the mission of Jesus Christ. You heard him saying to the Twelve: "For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." "Many" means "all," the entire human race; the "Son of Man" is a messianic title, an expression that occurs seventy times in the Synoptic Gospels; in every case, Jesus applies the title to himself. It is precisely as Son of Man, a title that emphasizes his humanity, that Jesus suffers and dies. That title puts him close to you. "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." If you want to understand Christ, you have to understand service. If you are interested in salvation, you have to be interested in service. If you want to be like Christ, you have to be concerned about serving, not being served. With that been said, I want to say that many of you showed the spirit of service during our Pachanga. Last weekend was a beautiful opportunity where many of you took to heart the words of the Gospel, to serve others. I want to thank the entirely community of St. Albert the Great for an awesome Pachanga. There are so many of you who helped in many ways, to you all thank you. Special thanks to our Pachanga chair and co-chair: Erlinda Portillo and Christina Kelley for organizing all the events of the Pachanga. They put a lot of time and effort into it. May God bless them and you all for your hard work.

​Fr. Alex Ureña

Hello Friends,

We are a week away from our St. Albert's Pachanga.  I want to extend a personal invitation to all of you and your family and friends to be part of our annual celebration.  This is an opportunity for all of us to come together as a family and enjoy some time together.  Remember that this year the kick off of our event is on Saturday, October 13th with a dance.  The following day the Pachanga continues all day with different events throughout the day.  I really hope that you can make it and be part of this experience.  On Sunday, October 14th, we will have matachines dancing at 10:00 am at St. Albert's church and at 10:30 am we will have a mariachi mass at our church.  After that we all can go to have lunch at our Pachanga at Tortugas.  There will be brisket, gorditas, hamburgers, aguas frescas, sodas, sweets, etc.

Hope to see you there!
Fr. Alex Ureña

Hello Friends,

This coming week the diocesan priest of the diocese of Las Cruces will be attending a retreat in Tucson, Arizona.  This is part of our continue formation to nourish our souls and to dedicate time to pray together as priests.  During that week, there is a priest or bishop who directs the talks throughout the week.  We celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation among ourselves and also the Anointing of the sick.  It is such a wonderful time to spend with one another and to be able to receive the sacraments that we perform with all of you, parishioners of the different churches.  Pray for us while we live our retreat.  May the Lord give guidance and strength to guide His church in its journey to Holiness.

Next weekend, I want to present to the community the state of the parish address.  I've been here for a year already and I want you to know how we are doing in the different areas (financially, spiritually and pastorally).  I hope I will have some time during the retreat to prepare this report.  With that been said, there are some items that are still up in the air.  We are conscious that our bishop, Oscar Cantu is leaving us at the end of this month.  We need to pray that the Holy Spirit sends us another good leader to our diocese.  We wish bishop Cantu the best in his new assignment in San Jose diocese.  We are grateful to him for his leadership during his time with us.

Fr. Alex Ureña

Hello Friends,

Some of you might notice that last weekend I was absent.  I  made a short trip to Los Angeles, California to baptize a child in the family.  I also took that opportunity to visit my siblings that live in California.  I am happy to be back with all of you and continue to finalize some details for our St. Albert's Pachanga.

Let me share with you some words from today's readings.  Today we heard the prophet Isaiah speaking words of encouragement to God's people during their captivity in Babylon.  He proclaims:  "Be strong, fear not!  Here is your God...he comes to save you."  God's salvation is expressed in terms of numerous blessings among which are healing the blind and the deaf, the lame and the mute.  The reading prepares us for the gospel where Jesus heals man who was a deaf mute.  Jesus' healing work was a work of compassion, but it also announced in a dramatic way the saving presence of God among his people.  In our own times of trials, we need to remind ourselves over and over that God is with us.  In some way, even if we do not understand it.  He is touching us with his saving love.

​Fr. Alex Ureña