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Parishes, schools and other Catholic groups are taking full advantage of the beautiful weekend weather in Arizona. This weekend’s calendar is jam-packed. Take a look:

Activities/Entertainment —

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  Link here to the video preview.

  Nun Run — Here’s the complete schedule for tomorrow’s race. It’s at Victory Lane Sports Park, 22603 N. 43rd Ave. in Glendale. Proceeds help build a Poor Clare monastery in Tonopah.

• Vienna Boys Choir Concert — 7 p.m., March 19, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Avondale. Tickets: $40 general admission, $100 Prime Preferred, $150 Gold Circle and $15 student. Info: call (623) 935-2151
• “Into the Woods” performance at Bourgade Catholic High School — 7 p.m. today and tomorrow, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $10 adults, $7 students. Children 5 & under are free.
• Faith and Family 5k/Picnic — 8 a.m., March 20, Tumbleweed Park, Chandler. 5K Run is a timed event for runners of all levels. Cost: $20 per person and includes a souvenir water bottle, BBQ Picnic and live music. Info: call Kathey at (480)-899-1990 ext. 136, or kathey.osenbau@standrewcfc.org
• Parishioners of Good Shepherd Mission in New River are cleaning a portion of New River Road beginning at 7:30 a.m. March 20.

There’s also rummage sales and spiritual enrichment options. Read the end of this entry …

Learn more about this soon-to-be saint on her new Web site.

Catholic News Service posted a short article yesterday announcing that the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart launched a new Web site reportedly revealing never-before-seen images of their co-founder, Blessed Mary MacKillop among other things.

The soon-to-be-saint — canonization is set for October — was among several key figures during World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia where countless pilgrims viewed an exhibition of her life.

“This Web site gives anyone interested in the story of Mary MacKillop an intimate and personal understanding of her life and the contributions she made to Australia,” Sister Annette Arnold, who helped develop the site, said in the CNS article.

Visitors can read her final letters and see virtual tours of her tomb and her last home, in South Australia.

Archbishop Romero (CNS)

St. Agnes Parish will be marking the 30th anniversary of the murder of Salvadorian Archbishop Oscar Romero March 24 with a 7 p.m. Mass.

About five years ago, I got a chance to interview the archbishop’s youngest brother, Santos Gaspar Romero, right here in my cubicle. I’d been working for The Catholic Sun for less than a year, but even today, the interview stands out.

He was candid and related some personal stories of his older brother. The archbishop would give them advice growing up and he’d scold them “when he thought we weren’t living up to the Commandments of the Church.”

The story only ran in Spanish, but I thought I’d share the English translation with you here:

Archbishop Romero’s brother visits the Valley

By J.D. Long-García, The Catholic Sun, April 7, 2005

A single bullet fired from a red four-door Volkswagen stationed outside the Chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence in San Salvador killed Archbishop Oscar Romero 25 years ago.

The Salvadorian archbishop was shot during the eucharistic prayer and bled to death from the wound.

Speaking out against oppression, the archbishop was killed during a time of civil war in the 1970s after calling the Salvadorian military to peace.

“He wasn’t not of any political party,” the archbishop’s brother Santos Gaspar Romero said. “He did not have any political commitments or any political inclinations.” Read the end of this entry …

Fr. Michael Reinhardt, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glendale, concelebrates Mass with Benedictine Father Noel Mueller March 17, 2009 to mark the beginning of perpetual adoration at the parish.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glendale is marking a year of perpetual adoration with a 6 p.m. Mass today. Mass will be followed by a visit at the perpetual adoration chapel and refreshments.

The Catholic Sun covered the happy event — which coincided with St. Patrick’s Day — in both print and with video.

“So many families want to be with our Lord in this intimate time of prayer. Many of our families are suffering and dealing with problems of uncertainty,” Fr. Michael Reinhardt, the parish pastor,  said last year.

“Their struggles are very real and a daily part of their lives,” he added. “Bringing such pains and suffering before the Lord gives promise of new birth and hope, in knowing that He is physically with us every step of the way.”

More than 800 people turned out to March 17, 2009 for the official beginning of perpetual adoration. Fr. Reinhardt led a procession from the church to the chapel after concelebrating Mass with Benedictine Father Noel Mueller, visiting from St. Meinrad Seminary.

To mark the anniversary, we’re posting the video below. Read the end of this entry …

Loreto Sister Raphael Quinn, principal of Ss. Simon and Jude School was this year's grand marshal.

Are you wearing green as you read this? Do you remember or know why? St. Patrick Parish in Scottsdale tipped me off to some articles to brush up on its patron saint.

One reports on a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in North Carolina and some Catholic efforts to keep the saint’s name and bio alive. Another is a column written by an Irish Jesuit about the countless Catholics Patrick converted and served.

xt3.com posted a video performance of “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” a prayer the legendary saint reportedly wrote in preparation for his victory over paganism. You even have the option of hearing it in Gaelic, a language the saint reportedly perfected while in captivity.

As for the Phoenix Diocese, parishes and schools have come up with their own ways to celebrate today and all week. Some had Corned Beef and Cabbage dinners over the weekend. Several schools managed to secure space in Phoenix’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Check out the highlights:

I took a bunch of photos while I was there too. I hope to have them on our photos page soon.