Hello, friends:

With all of the area university and high school graduations complete, summer vacation is upon us! What's on the plan for this year's summer break? We're in the brainstorming stage of offering either a movie series or a book study; if you're interested in helping with either or both of these summer activities, please let me know, ASAP. These summer months can be a great opportunity for renewal and rest. It can also be a time to either enjoy or begin a new hobby; this could be the best time to start that book or finish that movie or spend time with a friend. There's a great temptation to waste the next 6-8 weeks; please consider making this the best summer season yet!

Congratulations to both Fr. Alex on his 1st year priestly ordination and to Msgr. John Anderson on his 50th anniversary. Please keep them both in prayer! I'll be away on a silent retreat this week, Monday - Friday, at Christ in the Desert Benedictine monastery, just north of Santa Fe. Know that our parish family and our parish initiatives will be in my prayerful intentions and please keep me in your prayers this week.

Blessings,
​Fr. Ray 

Hello Friends: 

The week before Pentecost was a beautiful and busy week with Confirmations, First Communions, end of another school year, and many graduation parties. The weekend of Pentecost I had the privilege to help with Masses and a wedding in Mescalero and Ruidoso. As you all know that is a beautiful place to get away for a weekend or for a few days. The weather was nice, they got a nice breeze over Saturday night, and it was nice to contemplate deer in the front yard on Sunday morning while having my coffee.

Now that I am back, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity this weekend. This mystery of the Triune God from which everything flows. Everything we do and are flows from the Trinitarian God who dwells within and is pure Gift. Every time we start Mass or a service in the church we sign ourselves with the sign of the cross that is in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This gesture connects the whole triune majesty and mystery of God.

​Fr. Alex

Hello, friends:

As you probably heard last weekend, if you were here, Fr. Alex is being transferred to a new parish. Please join me in congratulating him on this new assignment; St. Francis de Paula in Tularosa and its missions, which include Cloudcroft, Bent and La Luz. I join with the parish staff, Deacon Dave, and seminarian Frankie, in thanking Fr. Alex for his service to our faith community this past year. He has been a joyful and wonderful presence to our parish and it has been a delight to see him grow into his priesthood this very first year. At both the deaconate and priesthood ordination we make a promise of obedience to the bishop of the diocese and trust that the Holy Spirit is working in and through him; we are asked to be radically available to be sent wherever and whenever he calls. There are a number of other area churches who are also in transition; Holy Cross, San Albino and Our Lady of Health just to name a few. Please keep all of these local parishes in your prayers as they make the transition.

Congratulations to all NMSU and DACC graduates! A special thanks to Campus Ministry for all of their hard work this past week; it’s been a busy one! A special shout out to our campus ministry team: Sal, Mona and our two student interns: Rene and Steven, as well as to the numerous amounts of students who give of their time and energy. It’s been a great spring semester; please keep the university community in prayer as they either move onto another chapter of life, or just a summer break. Have a great summer!

​Fr. Ray

Hello, friends:

On Wednesday, April 27, our students from NMSU had their midweek mass and dinner. This time it was a bit different since dinner was hosted by the “padres” as they call us. We had the honor of serving them by making home-made pizza. It was an effort of several people: Fr. Ray, seminarian Franky, some students, and myself. It was such a beautiful experience being surrounded by more than forty students, all sharing one meal and enjoying the company of each other. Personally, I was able to hear some of their stories while I was making the pizza. Most of them sounded excited and ready to finish another school year. So this opportunity to get together before everybody goes back to their home was great. The following day, we had another opportunity to get together at a softball game. I even had the opportunity to “prove” my batting skills after the game. Over all, it’s been a good year for all of us. Now as we come to the conclusion of another school year, students begin preparing for their final examinations, projects, and presentations. Additional to the ministry events, we have First Communion and Confirmation for the RE students. This weekend and the next is so special for them and for all of us as we celebrate with them the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost next weekend. Congratulations to all of them.

​Fr. Alex

Hello, friends:

A huge thanks to all of you who responded to our parish ministry fair last weekend. I have great news to share; there were over 200 of you who signed up, who are interested in making our parish community even better. You should be expecting a follow up phone message very soon; hopefully this will be a great opportunity for our family to further our mission to share the Good News of Jesus’ love. I’m very grateful to the members of the parish pastoral council as well as to the heads of ministry, who help animate and give life to the various parish activities.

This weekend I’m visiting Holy Trinity seminary, in Dallas, along with seminarian Frankie and several other young men, who are interested in looking into seminary life. Please pray for our diocesan seminarians as well as those who are discerning a possible vocation of service to our church. Thanks, again, to the parish council for their efforts in reaching out to our seminarians. You’ll notice that we all have an opportunity to pray for each one of them. At the back of the hall you’ll see an SOS (support our seminarians) sign with information on how you can pray for and support all of our seminarians.

​Please pray for our business manager, Isabel Gallegos, who is out of the office, recovering from a medical procedure. Hopefully she won’t be out too long; but please keep her in prayer, for a speedy recovery!

Fr. Ray