Christ the King, Bread Sunday, SOS Sunday, Bake Sale Sunday

This was a very busy weekend at our parish. We celebrated the Feast of Christ the King and the last time of saying the Mass the way it began after Vatican II in 1967-a historical moment for the Church today.

Besides this our parish celebrated Bread Sunday. At each Mass different types of bread were brought up at the intercession time. It was said what kind of bread and what country or nationality it represented and then to pray for this country. For Africa an empty basket was brought up because most people in Africa have no bread and we are to be bread to them. We need to nourish them.

This was also the 3rd Sunday of the month and SOS-Save Our School was started. I went to all 5 Masses this weekend and had students at each of the Masses to be the ushers to take up the 2nd collection for our school. Our school choir also sang for the first time at the Sunday Mass at 9:30am. One older woman told me that it brought tears to her eyes to hear and see the children sing as they did.

Because of the Feast of  Christ the King, our pastor, Fahter Ariel had exposition of the Blessed Sacrament before each Mass and invited people to stay after Mass or come early for the next Mass to spend time in adoration. I set a record for myself-4 expostions and mini-benediction in one weekend. Also, I had to get my choir to sing O Salutaris in Latin when the Blessed Sacrament was exposed at the end of the 9:30am Mass. We did not practice this as we did not know this was happening. Thank goodness, the parishioners chimed in and helped carry it.

The people have been very generous with their money and their comments about hearing the children and seeing them.

After each of the Masses was also the parish bake sale. Everyone was to bake something and then buy something. I baked chocolate chip cookies and they were gone right away.

Now I don't think we could have added one more thing to this weekend of Masses!

Mountains Have Seasons

It is amazing to see how mountains change with the seasons.You would think that mass of rock would stay the same.

As we drive to and from school it surprises us to see the changes in the mountains, especially on the top of the mountains. We have seen the mountain tops go from green after the monsoons, to a patch of burnt yellow in Fall when the bushes change colors, to a white frosting on the top when we had rain down below but it was colder up there and the mountains were frosted with snow.

The wildlife continues to surprise me here.Saturday I was walking behind school when right in front of me were 2 deer and 2 baby fawns. They stared at me and I back. But they did not look like Wisconsin deer-there were too much of a dark gray color and they looked different. I thought perhaps they might be antelope but no they didn't look like antelope. I was disappointed I didn't have my camera with me to catch their surprise look at me. I was as surprised as they were.

That night I was reading the AZ Highway Magazine that our maintenance man shares with me and there I found my answer-AZ has mule deer. Called so because of their tall ears that are shaped like mules. That is what I saw then-a family of mule deer. I hope to get their family photo soon for all of you to see as I will be taking my camera with me from now on when I take a walk in our school neighborhood.

All Saints Day Celebration at All Saints

When your school is named All Saints you have to celebrate all day this holy day. We started our celebration first thing in the moring. Almost all the students and teachers came dressed as saints. Seeing that the day before they were all in their Halloween costumes and ate lots of candy that day and night I wondered if we would have much of a turn out for the Saints Celebration. I was shocked to see such beautiful, original costumes and the studnents knew their saints. All students lined up outside of church and processed in singing-"When the Saints Go Marching In". The church was full of parents and parishioners. In Fr. Ariel's homily he had the students talk about the saints. It was fascinating and heart warming to hear the first graders and Kindergarteners name their saint and the older students too weren't afraid to dress up.

It was a great family affair as many grandparents helped to make the costumes and were proud to do so. I believe the best was a 3rd grade girl who came dressed as St. Philomena with a crown of flowers on her head and an arrow since she was shot 3 times with it and then drowned with an anchor and her grandfather made her a very authentic anchor. My favorite though was 3 year old Carlos who came dressed as St. Joseph; he carried a white gladiola and a baby Jesus. He had the biggest smile.

Pope John Paul II even came for the celebration and he wore his white robe and skull cap all day. He was missing the red Pope shoes, however.

In the afternoon all students in the cafeteria gathered in the cafeteria to play bingo and get a delicious homemade sundae with all the  toppings. Many students took their bingo cards up with them to get the ice cream so they wouldn't miss a number.

We had lots of thank yous from parishioners for the beautiful display of saints. They said next year to let them know and they can come to school and help make the saints costumes. I already made a note of that.  Enjoy the saints as they were so proud to get their picture taken.

Happy All Saints' Day!

Pope John Paul II

St. Barbara is in red, Mary in blue-twin St. Mary's.

A proud St. Philomena

St. Joseph & Our Lady of Guadalupe

Pope John Paul trying to help 4 year old Martin who was not winning.

St. Therese of the Little Flower is thrilled to be out of the cloister to try her hand at bingo & she did win!

Our Lady of Fatima 94th Anniversary Celebration

Our Lady of the Mountains Parish along with students from All Saints Catholic School celebrated the anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima. It began in church with the ringing of the bells and the angelus and then the full church processed outside through the parking lot to Calle Encina Road and onto Yaqui Street. Parishioners of all ages and nationalites were present: caucasian, korean, filipino, hispanic, nigerian and german. The Knights of Columbus followed behind our pastor and the deacon as they carried the Statue of Our Lady of Fatima in processioin. We had blessed white cloths to wave as we sang Ave, Ave, Ave Maria, as the hispanics played their guitars.

We arrived back in church from our lengthy procession and then the history of Fatima was read followed by the recitation of the rosary led by the children of Fatima and assisted by Fr. Ariel. The Knights of Columbus stood guard by the statue and changed guards at the beginning of each decade. The rosary was recited in English and Spanish.

After the rosary we all recited the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, Memorare, Litany of the Blessed Virgin May, The Divine Praises and ended with the final blessing from Fr.Ariel. I was amazed at the children. They knelt on the hard floor for the whole rosary.

A reception followed afterwards in the church hall.  This parish really celebrates all the traditional rituals of our Faith. Our Lady of the Mountains Parish is truly a witness of the universality of the Catholic Church.

                                           Can you see the sun dancing in the sky as we begin this day?

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St.Jacinta leading the Rosary!

All had a part in the celebration!

 As Fr. Ariel said, " It is great to see the children leading us in prayer."





Week of God's Creatures

Fire Drill-all did Great! Quiet and under a minute! Even the pastor came out for the drill and a new prospective parent and child. Also, there was a large red ant that found its way somehow to my knee and BIT!  These desert red ants are ferocious!  An ice pack later and it finally took the sting away but not the red spot. Today it is itching like all get out!

Now-this morning my secretary arrives and says in a panic, "Where is the janitor? There is a snake in the parking lot and all the kids are going to see it and freak out!"  I went looking but of course when one needs the janitor one can not find him. So I took care of the snake myself. After being in Mississippi where we had plenty of snakes also, I thought, give it a try. Got the broom, dustpan and the snake stick with a clamp on the end of it.

The snake was large. It was black with greenish-yellow stripes. It was dead and from the looks of it some hawk got it and not too long ago. The 3rd/4th grade teacher, ( a man), arrived at that time and said, "Should I get a camera and take your picture?"  I pushed it several times with the snake stick to be sure it was dead and then I proceeded to sweep it on to the dustpan. By this time several car loads of students had arrived and looked out the windows of their cars at me with all kinds of sounds.

New resting spot was across the road  under a cacti!

Let's see what creature of God crosses my path tomorrow!!!

AZ Rosary Day

Saturday, October 15 was AZ Rosary Day for the Diocese of Tucson. All parishes were invited to come to St. Augustine's Cathedral in Tucson. Our parish planned for this event for a couple months. Some parishioners made a banner for the event and a tshirt was also designed for this special day. We had the largest representation at the celebration. We took a bus and many car pooled.

It was an awesome event to be at to witness the great love for Mother Mary from Catholics of all ages. There were about 140 altar servers who processed in after the Bishop. All groups were lined up outside and processed in under the Knights of Columbus Honor Guard.

The choir sang songs in Latin, Spanish and English. It was great to hear a pipe organ. We also had drums as some of the Native Americans danced down the aisle in tribute to Mary.

The guest speaker was Rev. John Phalen, C.S.C, President of Holy Cross Family Ministries, furthering the work begun in 1942 by Father Peyton, CSC, the "Rosary Priest". How many of you remember the saying-"The family that prays together stays together.".

Benediction concluded this special prayer experience.Fellowship was offered in the courtyard outside the cathedral where mariachiis played away for all to hear. Bishop Kicannis passed on the "silver rose" to the squires, (young Knights of Columbus) who will take it to Phoenix where their Rosary Day is Sunday, the 16th.

HIKING

We are winding up Fall Break! I took advantage of this week to go hiking with some friends from the parish. Now, they are experts at hiking as they hike down into the Grand Canyon every year. I learned alot the 2.5 hours I was with them. We went hiking at Coronado National Park and in particular Montezuma Point. As we hiked the mountain that overlooks Mexico we chatted. They told me the noise alerts the animals that we are here and also any undocumented that might be passing through.

We have alot of international soldiers at the Army Fort here-Fort Huachuca. They are being trained to fight as NATO soldiers. My friends often take these soldiers hiking as it is one way for them to get off the Fort and to see part of AZ and these soldiers love hiking.

We saw the black fence that the U.S. put up between Mexico and U.S to keep undocumented out and when the fence hits the mountains it turns into a barb wire fence.  The international soldiers laugh at this fence because " you are the most powerful nation on earth, and you have to put up a fence to keep out people?"

I learned that before the fence was put up 1,000 people a day came across the Mexican border but now it is only about 600. Also, it isn't just Mexicans coming across the border now but Chinese, Somalians and many other countries.

They pointed out to me the "legal" hiking trail, that we stayed on and the "illegal" trails that those who cross the border take.

Many volunteers take time to pick up all the trash in the mountains left behind by hikers and the undocumented coming through.

When hiking at these high elevations-we were at  6, 755 feet, and with the very dry air, one needs to stop and hydrate every 15 minutes.

I saw where the summer fires burned and new life is beginning to come.  They told me the fire moved like a "fire devil". It spun like a tornado and that is why some houses got burnt and the one across the road didn't.

I saw four deer traveling down to the water hole and I finally asked, "What are these animal droppings I keep seeing?" They told me "bear", but not to worry because he had bear spray and as long as we keep talking the bear will hear us and stay away.

Black straight line is the border fence.

Border patrol vehicles were all over the area. We were leaving at dusk with a full moon when the shift of border patrol was changing. There was a bright light by the black fence so we knew there was activity down there and border vehicles were moving fast. Each vehicle has a spot to stay by themselves to monitor the foot traffic. At night they wear night goggles. When we met them we turned our lights off so as not to ruin their night vision. The couple always stopped to talk to the border patrol and thanked them for what they were doing.

Hiking trail

Full Moon to the East

And at the same time the glow of the setting sun in the West! What a contrast we saw from 6,500 feet!

Next week we are back in school and shortly my students should be hearing a presentation from the Jesuit Fathers who have a mission at Nogales, AZ and in Nogales, Mexico. They help the undocumented families who are being deported to Mexico. It will be interesting to hear how they view the  border and the black fence.