Once I was invited to a group meeting with Pope Francis. Entering the room, I paused, eyeing the seats next to the Pope’s fancy chair. Someone saw my paralysis and invited me to sit in the seat farthest from what I wanted. Hiding my disappointment, I sat. We waited. To our surprise, an aid pointed out that those seats were still empty and invited me and another to have them. We calmly but gleefully strode across the room and sat. Pope Francis entered, and we enjoyed two hours of amazingly uplifting conversation.

In the First Reading, Isaiah claims that the time has come to bring together the people of every language and nation and to show them God’s glory. And in today's Gospel, Christ proclaims that “people will come from all the nations to feast in God’s kingdom.” It is very clear from the New Testament that Christ came for the salvation of all people. In Matthew 24:31, Jesus speaks of the “chosen from all over the earth.” In his final prayer to His Father at the Last Supper, Jesus asks His Father to grant unity to all his followers, saying “I want my followers to be one with each other, just as I am one with You, and You are one with Me.” (John 17:21) In his final mandate to His disciples just before His Ascension, Jesus ordered His disciples to “baptize the entire world.” (Matthew 28:19) It is clear that Jesus wanted unity in His Church, based on the unity of the Father and Himself. Or as St. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:5, "one Lord, one faith, one baptism."

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we reflect on the challenges that we face in our present day and age: natural disasters, immigration concerns, political divisions, global unrest, war, uncertainties in the area of economics, health care, homelessness, etc., thank God, that within our Diocese of Stockton, we are blessed to have events that invite us to stop and reflect upon these concerns which impact us and our society. Our liturgical year provides us with a setting that enables us to turn to God for His grace and mercy in order to empower us to face the spiritual confrontations that the enemy lays before us on our pilgrim way.

There was a young mother in my parish community who was depressed due to financial strain. She prayed for help. One morning before Mass, she placed on the counter a zip-lock bag filled with jewelry and old coins. Smiling, she explained she had been fixing an old cabinet and found the items hidden deep within the walls of her home. One particular coin could be worth as much as $900,000. The contents of the bag–previously unknown to them–were now their prized possession. Their plans changed that week. They had to learn how much it was worth.

Welcome to the 2025-26 school year!

We are just a few days away until school is back in session! We are so excited to welcome the many new students and their families to the St. Stanislaus community!

Once I went to a hospice facility to celebrate Last Rites for an elderly dying man. His family had told me that he had been uncommunicative for days. At the conclusion of the ritual, we began to recite the Our Father prayer. To everyone’s surprise, his lips moved, clearly mouthing the words to the Lord’s prayer. Stripped of most of his faculties, the man could still pray those precious God-given petitions. A lifetime of prayer had planted the words even deeper than his failing consciousness.

Teach us to pray. Jesus prayed often. Sometimes he went to a private place to be alone and pray. But he also prayed in the presence of his disciples. Imagine what kind of experience that must have been! As they heard Jesus pray, there must have wondered why he prayed for some things and not for others. Probably they wondered which of their own concerns and questions were acceptable subjects in prayer. To their credit, they did not ask Jesus if they could pray for this or for that, as we might have done, but they asked him to teach them to pray. The reference to John the Baptist teaching his disciples to pray may refer to a specific form of prayer that was an identifying mark of this group. The rabbis often taught specific prayers, so that prayer was a learned discipline and not simply a release of feelings.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

With this month of July, the Confirmation “season” is basically behind me. Thanks be to God, the Confirmation celebrations have been well attended with large crowds throughout our Diocese of Stockton. The Jubilee Year has truly reflected a sense of hope for the Church as our youth, young adults, and adults have stepped forward to “be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.” For the rest of us who were confirmed many years ago, let us allow each celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation to offer us the opportunity to reflect on how we have allowed the Spirit to lead us in our everyday lives.

(Luke 10:1-12, 17-20) The Gospel we hear this Sunday, which presents the Liturgy of the Word, shows Jesus sending his disciples on missionary work, giving them instructions, including bringing the greeting of Peace: "...Let peace reign in this house..."

The disciples also bring a wonderful and life-changing message to the places where Jesus planned to go: "The Kingdom of God is at hand."

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, though their personalities and missions were so different. This Solemnity commemorates the martyrdom of two great Apostles assigned to the same day on June 29. There must be a reason why we celebrate both the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. It is because we already have Feasts in honor of the Chair of Peter and of the Conversion of St. Paul. Peter and Paul, did not work so closely together. And so, why do we celebrate this Solemnity to honor them both? How can we compare these two super apostles?

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ; it is the Catholic celebration of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Jesus instructed the apostles to consecrate the bread and wine to become His true body and blood as the Holy Sacrifice in the Mass. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, as the catholic faithful participate in his one sacrifice, represented at Calvary, continuously, every hour at all Masses throughout the world. This has always been the teaching of the Catholic Church, though its understanding had become less known in recent generations.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This year continues to live up to its reputation as a Year of Jubilee, a year of joyful celebration and gratitude to God for his grace and mercy. Here are a few things that are contributing to our celebration of this Jubilee Year: We, as the Universal Church, have been blessed with a new Successor of St. Peter, Pope Leo XIV. We, as the local church, have prayed, and patiently waited, six years for the ordination of a priest, and our Lord Jesus has graced us with Fr. Akbar Saul Perez.

Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

You have probably heard this as a prayer or heard it as the gospel antiphon this weekend. This is a popular prayer to the Holy Spirit, and this weekend we celebrate Pentecost-fifty days after Easter and the end of the Easter season.

Jesus has completed his earthly mission, and this signifies his enthronement as heavenly king. Jesus has also completed his Father’s mission and he now rules with all authority and intercedes with all sympathy as our mediator and high priest. There are four main implications of this for our lives today. First, Jesus is presently reigning as king and remains active and engaged in our world and our lives. Second, we therefore need to live boldly, confidently and strategically as servants of the exalted king of heaven. Know that your labors in the Lord Jesus are not in vain (1 Cor 15: 58).