Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

There will always be forces against the building up of the Kingdom of God in this world. Those forces will try to misguide, deviate and deceive the disciples of Jesus. Those called by Him to build the kingdom here and now. The disciples will be faced with a hard price to pay for staying faithful to God.

Their courage comes from the sure hope that their life is in God's hands. For this reason, there is nothing to fear, not even these diabolical forces. They know that nothing happens in their life that is not controlled and permitted by God.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Jesus used the metaphor of the harvest and the laborers as a way to talk about the need to have co-workers, collaborators in the mission. It is just too much work to be done just by one person. Those available to help are few. Hence the need to recruit a group so that the harvest will not go into waste.

Applied to the disciples, this metaphor shows the importance of the mission of proclaiming the Gospel to all peoples, following Jesus' footsteps. Without the disciples it would not be possible to reach all humanity, as the Father wishes it.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ presents two essential elements for Christian discipleship. On one side it presents the faith and the reality of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species and on the other these Eucharistic species, the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, offered to the disciple as food for the journey.

Since the One Faith, One Family, One Parish Capital Campaign kicked off one month ago, our efforts have started to produce fruit. Our kick-off event and donations over that weekend produced $32,069. We have received an additional $48,500 from the initial efforts of our volunteers. Combined with $532,816 already reserved for our campaign, we have raised $613,385 towards our efforts. This means we have almost reached our goal for Phase One construction outlined in the case statement.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The Holy Spirit is the divine force (dunamis according to the Fathers of the Church) working in the life of the disciples of Jesus, in light of their mission. He manifested himself as the Spirit of courage, permitting the apostles to go forward; a Spirit of Wisdom who will empower them to speak boldly about the kingdom of God, in such a way to convince those who oppose it; a Spirit of discernment who will allow the to recognize and discern the way to go, the decision to make, and the time to act; a Spirit of Obedience, who will move them to submit to the Will of the Father, in all things and always, as Jesus, their master does, knowing that he will lead them to the Father. It all was true to them and is true to us, today's disciples.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord marks the return of Jesus to the right hand of the Father and the beginning of His disciples' mission. "Go and make disciples!" is imperative for the apostles and disciples who are sent to continue the ministry of their Master.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace!

The disciples of Jesus are never alone, especially when facing persecution.

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. In Greek "paraclete' can mean "counselor" in the context of those persecuted or afflicted by disappointment and who want to give up their call and mission. The Holy Spirit is poured out as a companion and also a strength to move the disciples forward. I'm pretty sure that is the same Holy Spirit who is pushing us as disciples of Jesus, as a parish and school to move forward.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

After finalizing all of the intensive preparation, we officially kick off our One Faith, One Family, One Parish: Building our Future in Christ Capital Campaign this weekend!

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

Jesus uses a very common scene of his time to explain his relationship with the disciples. It highlights some important topics of Christian discipleship. The disciples let Jesus guide them, with docility, for He alone knows how to lead them where there is life, life eternal. Having Jesus ahead of them, they will walk safely, not worrying about losing the way toward the goal.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace!

The journey of the disciples to Emmaus concludes with a meal shared with a stranger, at first, then no more a stranger but to their surprise, with the Risen Lord. Hospitality is common among Jews, however here it's also a sign of the interior transformation the disciples experienced and lived.

The stranger walking with them reminds them of all the prophecies about the Messiah. It seems that he was doing a liturgy of the Word or a Lectio Divina to help them to understand the Scriptures and how they have been fulfilled in the past few days. Then, his actions during the meal are very similar with Jesus' action at the last supper. This repetition was sufficient for their eyes to be open and for them to recognize the Risen Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Dear Fellow Disciples

Thomas can perfectly represent many of us, disciples who impose conditions to their faith. He demands physical contact with the Risen Lord to verify His wounds and believe. The wounds which he had no courage to share or to witness a couple of days prior.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace.

The disciples understood the resurrection of Jesus gradually. Peter saw that the tomb was empty and acknowledged the fact. The disciple whom Jesus loved, on the other hand, saw and believed. He is really risen as He promised.

The faith of the beloved disciple contrasts with the faith of Peter. A paradigm for Christian discipleship. While one is sensible to the signs of the Father’s love working in the Son, the other limits himself to the superficiality of the facts.

Dear Fellow Disciples, peace

In front of Jesus Crucified all idealizations and empty optimisms fall, when they are founded in the erroneous idea of an easy discipleship. A discipleship of glory and recognition. Only those who are capable of recognizing Jesus nailed to the Cross will be able to move forward. Jesus, the messiah of God, bearer of salvation for humanity. Those able to confess Him as the Blessed One, Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. This is the first step to christian and intentional discipleship.