Following is the prepared text from Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted’s homily for Honor Your Mother and the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary Year of the Diocese of Phoenix

“Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous deeds” (Psalm 98).

These words of Psalm 98 eloquently express what is in our hearts as we initiate the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary Year of the Diocese of Phoenix. We begin a jubilee year of remembering the fidelity of Jesus throughout the past half-century, giving thanks and praise to the Lord for remaining faithful to us even when we were not. In fact, confessing our many shortcomings and sins does not diminish our gratitude to God but rather deepens our praise of Him for His fidelity. Our sins and failings of the past have this great benefit: they remind us of our absolute need for a Savior. We know, in the very marrow of our bones, that without Him we are bound to fail. But, as St. Paul never ceased to proclaim, “If Christ is for us who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).

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