I am happy to report together that, with your support, we have accomplished many great things here at St. Thomas More in the past year. With the Church and Parish Office nearing 17 years old, many repairs and improvements are now necessary to keep the parish operating.

This past year, improvements to our facilities include the following:

• Extensive repair to the Church Air Conditioning and controls
• New Roof on the Parish Hall
• Major repairs to Hall and Church doors
• Major upgrade and improvements to lighting in the courtyard and parking lot
• Finalized the building and opening of the Pope Francis Center
• Complete overhaul to the irrigation of the existing landscape
• Purchase of a new Rectory
• Resealing of all skylights and windows in the Church

Dear St. Thomas More Parishioners:

I would like to give you an update on our finances and progress in reducing our debt. It continues to be encouraging to witness the consistent generosity of our parishioners.

For the first quarter of this fiscal year our regular collection is on track of meeting our budgeted amount. We are averaging about $34,000 weekly. We have, however, seen an increase in our building fund collection. Our monthly mortgage payment is $8,000 and we have been averaging around $30,000 in collections. Thanks to your generosity we will be making an additional principal payment. As Fr John had stated, we had a 1.1 million dollar debt. After this payment our debt will be at $900,000.

Fr. John Ehrich relates the ideas of Sunday’s first reading and Gospel passage, drawing attention to the parallels of gratitude and healing. The outcasts depicted in the scriptures, (such as lepers, or non-Jews) display this gratitude to Christ; the ones who are least expected to show gratitude, do. They not only recognize the immensity of God within their midst, but respond with earnest and honest graciousness.

How often do we take Christ’s love and presence for granted in our lives? He explains his own experiences with this question. Certain moments remind him of this present-day goodness of God. Whether at a beautiful wedding or at the bedside for a dying young woman, Fr. Ehrich has recently experienced true gratitude among his community. He calls all of us, with full awareness of our human sufferings and frustrations, to be brought back to Christ in all that he offers. We are asked to continue to acknowledge our own blessings or circumstances and ultimately respond with gratitude.

Rev. John Ehrich, STL, was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Phoenix in 2000.He earned his M.A. from St. Meinrad Seminary in 1998 and his MDiv in 2000.After five years of parish ministry, he studied at the Accademia Alfonsiana inRome where he earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (Moral Theology) in2007. Fr. Ehrich currently serves at St. Thomas More in Glendale.

Hello and Greetings in Christ!

My name is Ivan Garcia and I am the new Coordinator of Youth Ministry here at St. Thomas More. I am beyond excited and blessed to be able to serve this community and I look forward to getting to know the teens, families and parishioners of this great community. I have been involved in youth ministry for over 10 years and I have been a youth minister for the Diocese of Phoenix for over six years. Most recently, I was at St. Joan of Arc which is: 1) my home parish for over 24 years and 2) where I met and worked alongside Fr. John Ehrich. I love youth ministry. It is my passion to help teens get closer to Christ and I believe with great humility that it is Our Lord's ministry and I'm just here to help. I am married to my beautiful wife Nayeli, we have a very energetic, and sassy (takes it after her mom...) 8-month-old daughter named Lily Therese. I love baseball and football (as in soccer. You know, the real football) and I am a HUGE Los Angeles Dodgers fan (I can already hear the boo's...). I have the heart of a servant and I want to serve you in any and all the ways I can. I can't wait to meet you and I pray the Lord continues to bless you and your families!

Dear Parishioners,

It's now been about four months since I arrived at St. Thomas More. I began about the second week of June and, officially, the first of July.

From my perspective things seem to be going very well. I am grateful for your hospitality and for accepting me as your new priest. As we know, any time there is a change in leadership there is going to be growing pains. People have to get used to me and I have to get used to all of you. The best way to do this, it seems to me, is to honor each other and try to presume the good in all that we do.