The Church has three Sacraments of Initiation—Baptism, Confirmation, and Communion—that confer on the recipient full membership in the community. The process begins, of course, with Baptism. The historical roots of baptism can be found to a small degree in the purification rite ancient Judaism had for those gentiles wishing to convert. To a greater degree, the Christian idea of baptism finds its beginnings in the ministry of John the Baptist, especially in his baptism of Jesus.

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix celebrated a special Mass on October 17th at Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Phoenix and shared it via live-stream to begin the synodal process within our diocese in union with the whole Catholic Church.

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Do you know how your neighbors are doing? Have you checked on the wellness of people that previously sat near you in church? Are you one of the people reading this who still has not returned to church?

Christians carry the burden of caring for one another. Thank God our churches have more people now inside for Mass, but we are still way down from normal attendance. Our priests, deacons and lay staff members have tried over the past two years, especially to call upon parishioners to see how they are doing.

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This summary of my announcement at all Masses last weekend is especially for those who could not hear the livestream or may have been away.

I am speaking to everyone at all the Masses this weekend to share some wonderful news! I am extremely delighted to report that we paid off the church building loan completely a week ago on September 27th. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

Our Parish has come a very long way. We accomplished a lot together since July 2000 when the diocese established Saint Clare of Assisi Parish. We have grown a lot and worked hard. We had several capital campaigns to build our new church. And we moved in on Christmas 2008.

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October is Right to Life Month. Once again we see how much work lies ahead for those who believe in the sanctity of every human life from the moment of conception through natural death. Thou Shalt Not Kill.

Fri, Sep 24, just two weeks after remembering 9/11 with great sadness for all the innocent people who died that day from terrorist attacks, House Democrats passed a sweeping pro-abortion bill which they masked with the misleading title: “Women’s Health Protection Act,” voting 218-211.

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