One important message that we hear in today’s Scripture Readings is that God created all things for good. Still, we cannot deny that there is evil in the world. Illness, poverty, injustice, and war are frequently in the news, but these things do not come from God. Pain, violence, and death came into the world as a result of sin – of man’s disobedience and belief in the lies of the devil.
The Parish Office will be closed on Monday, July 5, 2021, for the Independence Day holiday. Daily Mass will be held at the normal times of 6:30 AM and 8:15 AM.
We want to welcome a newly assigned Deacon to Our Lady of Fatima parish, Deacon Charles “Chuck” Navarrete, Jr. and his wife Rebecca. Deacon Navarrete served in the U.S. Navy for 12 years as a Religious Program Specialist and was tasked with supporting clergy of all faiths in their pastoral activities as well as providing physical security for them in combat environments. We are grateful that he has been assigned to Our Lady of Fatima Parish.
Deacon Timoteo Lujan is a native New Mexican and has been ordained as a deacon in the Diocese of Gallup for almost 30 years. Since his ordination in November of 1994, Deacon “Timo” has been involved in many areas of ministry. He was canonically assigned to pastoral ministry to the four Catholic Parishes of the Cibola Deanery where he developed and provided learning to adolescents and adults in Catholic Bible Study, Catholic spirituality, morality, theology and liturgy. He has served as Chancellor of the Diocese of Gallup and functioned as the chief operating officer. He holds the canonical office of Defender of the Bond for the marriage tribunal of the Diocese of Gallup. We are grateful that he has been assigned to Our Lady of Fatima parish.
“Quiet! Be still!” With these words, Jesus calmed the storm that was threatening the Apostles as their boats were being tossed about and filled with water in today’s Gospel (Mark 4:35-41). It must have been a fierce storm indeed to have frightened these men, several of whom were seasoned fishermen who had made their living on the sea before becoming disciples of Jesus. They were so frightened that they woke up Jesus who was asleep in the boat. They needed him to be present to them in their panic and fear.
Today’s First Reading (Ezekiel 17:22-24) presents the image of the growth of plants. It is God who regulates what will prosper and what will not. This image will be used in the Gospel where Jesus applies it to the question of how faith grows. God will bring down the mighty and arrogant and will lift up the lowly and the humble. This is a theme we hear in the hymn sung by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Magnificat, found at the Visitation in the Gospel according to Luke. In Ezekiel’s day, the mighty and arrogant were represented both by those who refused to repent of their evil ways in Judah and by the nation of Babylon, which had conquered the kingdom if Judah and sent its leading citizens into exile.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). The Catholic Church has consistently taught from Apostolic times that during a valid celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is what is meant by the “True Presence” or “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist. Although the elements still have the appearance of bread and wine, they have – through the power of the Holy Spirit – been changed into Jesus’ Body and Blood, just as they did at the Last Supper. Tragically, a large number of Catholics have not been catechized well with regard to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. They have come to see the Eucharist simply as the symbolic presence of Christ rather than his Real Presence.