This past week, from Monday to Wednesday, we were blessed by the presence of Bishop James S. Wall of the Diocese of Gallup, who lead our Lenten Parish Mission for this year. Over the three days, Bishop Wall gave three talks focusing on the Cross, Reconciliation, and the Holy Eucharist. I booked Bishop Wall a couple of years ago to speak at our parish mission for Lent this year when I was overseeing the Porta Fidei Adult Faith Formation program at Saint Mary Magdalene.

Bishop Wall is no stranger to the Diocese of Phoenix since he once was a priest of the diocese before being elevated to the episcopate. He is also no stranger to the parish of St. Mary Magdalene. For many years, while a priest in the diocese, he often came to the parish on the weekends to say Mass when one of his fellow priests and good friend was Pastor.

Bishop Wall is a good Bishop and incredibly orthodox in his theology. He is also a loyal mentor and good friend.  I met Bishop Wall years ago when he was Fr. Jim Wall. He was my spiritual director for some time in the late 90’s to early 2000’s. He was my boss from 2003-2007 when I worked at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church as the Junior High Coordinator. It was he who encouraged me to discern the priesthood back in 2006. Although I did not enter seminary, the process and application was well worth the experience. He is a vocations magnet. Many of the young priests in this diocese attribute him to assisting them in finding their priestly vocation.

Below are the three talks from each of the three nights from this year’s Lenten Parish Mission at our parish. I hope that you will take the time to listen to them.  I would say that the second night was my favorite talk of the three, however, all three are fantastic.

Talk #1 (March 11, 2019) 

Talk #2 (March 12, 2019)

Talk #3 (March 13, 2019) 

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