The Wednesday Update

Palm Sunday is April 5. There will be no palm distribution at parishes within the Diocese. Instead, please consider participating in Mass online with Bishop Weisenburger at diocesetucson.org, then reciting the prayer within this Update before a crucifix with your family.

“I invite all the Heads of Churches and the leaders of all the Christian Communities, together with all the Christians of the various Confessions, to invoke the Most High, Almighty God, reciting contemporaneously the prayer that Jesus Our Lord taught us. I invite all, therefore, to do so several times a day, but, all together, to recite the Our Father today, March 25, at midday – all together.” I am suggesting that we pray the prayer at noon, local time, but the prayer also can be said at noon Rome time, or at any other time of the day.”

Please note: Due to potential exposure of an employee at the Pastoral Center, the Diocese of Tucson and St. Augustine Cathedral Parish offices are closed until April 1. While our offices are closed, Pastoral Center employees are checking email messages and voice mail hourly. When you call a Pastoral Center employee, please leave a message with your phone number so your call can be returned. For the general delivery message box, dial 0.

An Act of Charity Follow diocesan Liturgical Protocols and common sense to help prevent spreading illnesses Last Thursday, I published our diocesan protocols to help prevent the spread of illnesses in our diocese. My hope is that by now you have read our protocols or have had the protocols read to you. As you may also know, many dioceses and archdioceses nationwide, and churches and governments in other countries have put similar guidelines into practice.

The following is a blog from Franciscan Media, posted by Diane M. Houdek , who is the Director of Content for the organization. Reprinted with permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved. We might think that the hope of Lent has to do with our hope that we will get through it, that we will come to the end of it. We see Lent as an obstacle course

Lent begins Dear Friends, Today is Ash Wednesday and with the smear of ash on our heads and a penitential practice in our hearts the great Season of Lent begins. Below are two very brief quotes pertaining to Lent from Pope Francis and below those is a slightly longer quotation from The Imitation of Christ, at one time the most published religious work, second only to the Bible and a timeless treasure. With a hopeful heart I kindly invite you to set off with me on this spiritual journey.

The ad limina visit As many are aware, the U.S. bishops have been going to Rome in groups since last November for our ad limina meeting with the Holy Father and the various offices of the Vatican. The ad limina experience has a rich history. Typically, it was meant to be every five years but with the numbers of dioceses and bishops increasing it now seems closer to an every seven- or eight-year experience.

Prayer & Action Summer may seem a long time away, but we all know how time flies. I am encouraging young people ages 14 (ninth grade in the fall of 2020) to 19 years old, to consider a new summer experience. We call it Prayer & Action, and it is a week-long camp that includes service work for others, prayer and fun.

Catholic Schools Day About 150 students and parents from Catholic schools in the Diocese of Tucson attended the annual day at the state Capitol. Members of the Arizona Catholic Conference were meeting yesterday and today, and we bishops all were able to celebrate morning Mass at SS. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix in support of our students and teachers and all those who volunteer or work closely with the schools, including pastors with parishes that also have schools.

Welcome Southwest Liturgical Conference!  As many of you may know the 58th Annual Southwest Liturgical Conference Study Week begins here in our diocese this evening with a keynote presentation by Father Paul Turner on the topic of “Meet Yourself: Coming and Going.”

Happy New Year, again This is my first Update for 2020.  Most Catholics, I hope, remember that while Jan. 1 marks the beginning of a new  calendar year, liturgically, our new year began with the first week of Advent on Dec. 1. I hope both New Year occasions were happy for you all.

The Wednesday Update took a short break. It will return Aug. 21. Please note that the Diocese of Tucson offices will be closed on Thursday, Aug. 15 in observance of the Feast Day of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary, a Holy Day of Obligation.

Update: Transforming a juvenile facility On Monday (July 22), the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 3 - 2 in favor of allowing Catholic Community Services to move asylum-seekers temporarily housed at the former Benedictine Monastery in Tucson to vacant sections

Update: New home for asylum-seekers This afternoon, diocese and Catholic Community Services representatives met with officials from the city county, three consulates, religious leaders and leaders from other organizations working with migrants. The meeting was to discuss and bring greater understanding among the group members about the decisions made by CCS to continue efforts to move asylum seekers from the former Benedictine Monastery in Tucson  into an unused part of a county juvenile detention center.

Troubling allegations require thorough review   The media is reporting alarming allegations of sexual misconduct against minors, inhumane conditions, and improper retaliatory actions on the part of certain Customs and Border Patrol agents at the Yuma, Arizona holding facilities.  These deeply troubling allegations have been made public by Department of Health and Human Services workers.  

Prayer for the Fourth of July Below is a prayer written by George Washington, our nation’s first president.  See how the words of the past still resonate with us as they reflect on the need for justice, respect and the inclusion of God in our work.

U.S. Bishops decry horrific death of father and daughter at the border and the appalling conditions for children June 26, 2019 WASHINGTON—The cry of a father and his baby daughter who drowned crossing the Rio Grande reaches heaven itself. This unspeakable consequence of a failed immigration system, together with growing reports of inhumane conditions for children in the custody of the federal government at the border, shock the conscience and demand immediate action. Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joins Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, in calling on the federal government to hear the cry of the poor and vulnerable.

Great strides by US Bishops in Baltimore The USCCB meeting exceeded my expectations. We overwhelmingly approved three crucial documents which will guide the Church forward in relation to bishop accountability.