A Reflection on Psalm 23 All are the first line of the Psalm 23. “Yahweh is my best friend and my shepherd.  I always have more than enough.” The Passion Bible. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing that I lack.”  New American Bible. Also Catholic Study Bible. “God, my shepherd: I don’t need a thing.”  The Message Bible. “O my beloved.  You are my shepherd; I shall not want.”  N. Merrill’s Praying the Psalms. Read each one

Living without Comfort As we prepare for Pentecost, I have been reflecting on my Lent and Easter season. The day after Ash Wednesday, I injured my finger and quickly found myself not being able to use my left hand. As an independent woman, who is used to taking care of myself and others, I started asking for help with the littlest things, and I realized I was really uncomfortable, but didn’t know what to do next. When Fr. Dale hosted

Change is in the wind. Apply that to our local environment and it could be change is in the stillness and dry heat of the desert. A couple of months ago, during Lent, our Praise and Worship Center (PWC) offered a series entitled the School of Change. I like to think of myself as a lifelong learner and I look forward to all of the amazing “Schools” that are offered. This one was no exception. We even had an exceptional

Motherhood Since this is the month of May and Mother’s Day is May 14th, I decided to choose Motherhood as my topic in line with Mother’s Day. Becoming a mother has been the most generous blessing God has given to me, and one I share with so many women. “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him.” Psalm 127:3 (NIV) “The definition of motherhood is the state of being a mother. A person enters motherhood when

Civility, Manners, and Compassion What has happened to civility, manners, and compassion? Ephesians 4:32 states ‘to be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other just as in Christ Lord forgave you”. Has this gone out the window? We now have to deal with a decline in civility and have replaced it with hostility, gun violence and fear. Have we become so desensitized because of social media and politics? What has happened to fellowship and friendship that used

Father Dale started a wonderful adult series on “Change” a few months ago.  I do believe if we don’t constantly change, we will become like robots.  If God wanted us to be that way, He wouldn’t have given us free will. Sometimes we take the wrong road, but He is right there helping us all get back on course. Prior to this class, we started a new format of learning and teaching in our Women’s Bible Study.  This was

Seeing God’s Hand in our Family Well, here I am again with another reflection. This time no Alaska trip dialogue.  How about I get really personal! Karen and I just returned from an eight-day trip to Vancouver BC Canada.  Then on to Whistler, Blackcomb skiing, shopping, and babysitting our ever so cute 2-year-old grandson Theo, son of our son Scott and his wife Michelle.  Scott’s wife Michelle and Theo are obvious results of God working in my and our

Trust in the Lord Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6 There have been too many times in my life that I have unequivocally experienced God’s hand guiding my path and my decision making to question whether or not God accepted my request to take the wheel.  The song Jesus Take the Wheel resonates with me because I know

I Am Simply His Some of you have heard me say that my husband’s cancer journey gave me a new set of lenses to see life through, to live each day fully present. But losing him gave me a new child-like perspective to live life in. Being thrown into a different role, a different life…It stripped away every idea of who I was and caused me to question, who am I now? Learning my new role in motherhood, being

Every person celebrates special days and events, birthdays, graduations, marriages, these dates are significant because they are packed with emotion and help place our lives in a context of change, fulfillment and meaning. The people of Israel remembered the events of their freedom from oppression in Egypt and the joy of the harvest, the times when God redeemed them and delivered them from their enemies. Holy Week is more than a remembrance of distant historical events or reenactments of

To Act Justly, Love Mercy, & Walk Humbly with our God As we have opened our doors at Recovery Café Arizona and began our ministry, I have had many people ask me, “How many members do we have?”.  To some I have replied, “Remember the Shepherd left the ninety-nine and went after the one who was lost.”  But it is not about the numbers.  We miss so much if we measure our success by the number of people who

In Search of the Outcast Do you ever feel like you don’t belong? Perhaps, for whatever reason, you feel like an outcast from society and you’re on the outside looking in. Maybe you’re not part of the popular in-crowd and it feels like everyone else is included except for you. Maybe you feel that you are being judged by the color of your skin; the cloths that you wear, the political views you have or the church you attend.

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the death of my dear friend Spencer.  I truly believe that I will never fully recover from his death.  He was “my boy” and I enjoyed having him in my life.  We talked several times a week, and even though we were very different, we had a deep love for each other. I don’t know exactly when it happened, but at some point God gave me His heart for Spencer.  I no

The Present Moment So many of us are so busy in life we fail to encounter a new life that awaits.  I've been guilty of this.  Focusing on a future that either gives hope in something not real, or frozen in a past that causes lament, regret, shame. Either one of these ensures that we miss out on the only place where we can encounter God - the Present moment.  Then wonder where God is in our lives yet

Mothers Left Behind As a pastoral officiant and a mother, I have discovered that there are few tasks any more difficult than finding words for another mother who has lost her child. The respective ages of the mother and that of her child do not matter. For any woman who has both welcomed her child, and then faced an hour when she is left behind on this earth without her child – regardless of how many minutes or decades

When praying about what I should write this reflection about, the clear call was prayer.  So, I’m going to share with you my life around prayer.  I don’t remember how I learned to pray.  I do remember praying for most of my life. I remember saying prayers before bed and before meals.  I remember praying at school to start the day, praying at mass as a student at St. Agnes church and school and as a congregation at mass on

True Love I decided to write about “true” love, being that Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. We know that love is mentioned in the Bible a multitude of times.  The most common passage is:  1 Corinthians 13:4-5: Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, or boast, it is not arrogant, rude or proud, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no

I have loved watching The Chosen series for many reasons.  Most poignantly, it has brought me to a deeper knowing and understanding of the humanity of Jesus.  Watching him dance, laugh, create little wood objects for the children, tell stories and the countless instances of kindness, compassion and love has moved me episode after episode to tears. Consider this an ad or endorsement if you wish.  Watch it and most importantly, watch with the eyes of your heart. Season

Community I belong to a community. Webster has a variety of examples, one being “A group of people living together as a smaller social unit within a larger one, having interests in common.” In old French it can mean ‘public spirit’ or sharing a sense of place. The Praise and Worship Center has been the first place where I have been part of a whole, one of many searching to strengthen our faith, care about each other and improve

I was lucky enough to go on the recent pilgrimage to Assisi.  We held Sunday service on the hotel roof, which provided a picturesque view of the medieval city of Assisi barely two kilometers in the distance. As we sang, prayed, and even during our pastor’s insightful homily, I was drawn to gaze at the medieval city in the distance.  I was transfixed.  I was so moved during the service that I openly wept several times.  Very unlike me.

In God’s Own Time Are you patient when praying to our Lord about a request? Normally, I am not and want an answer as soon as possible! But Psalm 37:7 tells us:  Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.  REST!!!?? My friend from church, Judy Verbosky and I were in northern Kenya this fall and the village we were visiting, Gem, has suffered through a three-year drought. Their crops and livestock are dying, and they have no

When Do We See God? When do we see God, when is God available and we don’t see him.  This is my second or third reflection I have written for the newsletter, and perhaps I am seeing God working in my life a little more as time goes by. I think the first year I wrote was about fishing in remote Alaska.  Seeing God there was easy:  snowcapped mountains, picturesque river, big bears, eagles, and the pronounced cycle of

I am married to my wife Sylvia, and we have been married for 32 years.  We have a blended family of seven children, twenty grandchildren and four great grandchildren.  I am a retired firefighter and worked with the Mesa Fire Department for 31 years and had a successful career.  I have attended church at the Praise and Worship Center since we have been in our current building. I have two important ministries as a deacon.  One, I am one

Recently at the Praise and Worship Center (PWC) there was a continuing spiritual education program offered, called the School of Prayer. I was privileged and honored to attend all five sessions. It was especially meaningful because my focus word for the year 2021 was “prayer”. In a prior reflection (May 2022) I shared that in 2020 I began having a focus word and that the first one was “transformation”; but back to prayer. When I was led to choose

  C.S. Lewis told the story about his brother overhearing a woman on a bus.  As they drove by a church, which had a nativity in front of it, the woman on the bus said, “Oh My!  They bring religion into everything.  Look-they are even dragging it into Christmas.” This story is almost funny.  It’s a great reminder to us, as Christians, that we let Chrsitmas slip away from us.  Christmas now seems to belong to the stores, the