Pentecost Sunday close to 150 people gathered in the Social Hall after the 9:30 AM Mass for our annual Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast hosted by the Knights of Columbus!
We celebrated our volunteers and their gifts of time, talent, and treasure. We asked those not currently serving to join us in the many faith, fellowship and outreach activities happening on our campus. Our parish thanked volunteers and parishioners in attendance too covering the cost of every breakfast after morning masses and offering every family a lovely gift. The parish also arranged for an inspiring speaker at the program. Sr. Betty Banja, SHS (Order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), shared her incredible life story of serving in war-torn Sudan and four other Muslim countries before arriving in the U.S. to serve the most vulnerable persons in the community with the Catholic Charities Parish and Community Engagement team.
Thanks to our cherished volunteers, this year our community brought back a return to all our pre-Covid traditional parish activities, with the weekly Lenten Fish Fry one of the many highlights. We were also able to add our first ever Labor Day BBQ; created a new logo for our 50th Jubilee year; promoted our parish with an Advent Doorknob Hanger as a gift at our first Christmas Market; presented new movies like the Star of Bethlehem and an edited version of Father Stu; hosted an Epiphany Car Blessing; conducted a 50th Jubilee Parish Engagement Study; and introduced a new Mental Health Ministry called Whole Hearted.
Sister Betty Banja, SHS Biography
Sr. Betty Banja, SHS is a Catholic-Nun from the order of The Sacred Heart of Jesus, an order dedicated to pastoral evangelization and education among the neediest. She arrived in the United States on July 4, 2016.
Sr. Betty is one of three Catholic nuns invited to Arizona by Bishop Olmsted to serve the most vulnerable persons in the community. She joined Catholic Charities Parish and Community Engagement philanthropy team in the fall of 2017.
Sr. Betty has spent most of her adult life working in Sudan. Her mission has been to work with individuals, families, and communities as they recover from war, violence, and other serious traumas, by promoting reconciliation, compassion, and love. These people have suffered greatly in the past and continue to struggle from the effects of the devastating events that they endured. She believes that Christ’s message must not only be taught, but it must also be lived and learned. This is why she negotiated the release of the man who had been sentenced to death for killing her bother during horrific war times. Sr. Betty often tells this story and more when speaking to groups. Her compelling message of love and compassion and the role that each of us can play in improving our world through service to our fellow man is inspiring to all who have the opportunity to hear her tell her story.
Born in Uganda, to parents who had to flee Sudan during the First Sudanese War of 1955, she knows the challenges refugees face when they are forced to leave their homes & families behind. This is why she heeded God’s Call, when a new mission to serve the needy in the Phoenix Diocese arrived. Sr. Betty’s role here is to help Catholic Charites “Welcome the Stranger” program by promoting our faith-based mission emphasizing life affirming values and an authentic commitment to all the vulnerable clients we serve. Sr. Betty’s Christ-centered message and vast experience as a community and faith builder makes her the perfect person to help Catholic Charities engage the faith-based community to become the “Good Samaritans” we are called to be. Sr. Betty regularly speaks at churches and to other groups to help spread the Christian message of hope & hospitality with a focus on inspiring all of us to “Help the community’s most vulnerable with a solution that can permanently improve lives.”
