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It’s a delight to be in Mexico City again. I’m touring Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca thanks to Regina Tours and the Mexican Tourism Board. I’ll be sharing what I see with readers through this blog and through videos — found here, on Facebook.com/thecatholicsun, and on our YourTube channel, youtube.com/thecatholicsun.

Mexico City airport.

Most folks I spoke with before I left were terrified. Most of what you hear about Mexico is the ongoing violence. That’s real, of course. But something that really rang clear today, my first day in Mexico City, is that the tourist locations, including the Catholic tourist and pilgrimage sites, are safe. The Mexican government has a special division of law enforcement charged with keeping tourists safe, and they’re concentrated in tourist locations. That just makes sense. They want to keep tourists coming to their country.

Seeing all of Mexico as a dangerous place is an easy trap to fall into — just like believing you have a 50/50 chance of getting mugged walking down the street in New York. But New York is big, and not every neighborhood is as dangerous as the next. A lot of New York is pretty safe.

Well, Mexico is even bigger. Imagine if someone judged all of the United States by the crime in Washington. It’s just not accurate.

Tomorrow, the tour really begins. We’ll be hitting Tlatelolco, the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, the Church of St. James — where St. Juan Diego was baptized — and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We’ll also be stopping at Teotihuacan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the pyramids of the Sun, Moon and Temple of Quetzal.

It promises to be an amazing day, and I hope to share as much of it as I can.

I’m on a familiarization trip for members of the Catholic Press Association, organized through Regina Tours and the Mexico Tourism Board. I’m planning on posting video blogs throughout my visit of Catholic sites in Mexico, to help readers experience what I’m experiencing, and to encourage them to have an experience of their own. Going on pilgrimage is more than just sightseeing. It’s a way to grow closer to Christ.

A busy weekend if you’re Catholic . . . papal biographer in Phoenix, men’s hike/outdoor Mass, Catholic school open houses today and Sunday, book and storewide sales, deacon convocation and, of course, Mass.

Preschool/Kindergarten open house — 10-11:30 a.m. Jan. 27 at Most Holy Trinity (7th Street south of Dunlap). Details and registration.

Jan. 27-29

Book sale — 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Jan. 27-28 at Diocesan Pastoral Center, 400 E. Monroe St. Catholic books by the bag are $3-$5. Details. Hosted by Kino Institute which trains catechists and deacon candidates in the ways of the Church.

Visitation/rosary for Coach Scot Bemis — 5-8 p.m. Jan. 27 at St. Anne Parish in Gilbert. Details and obituary.
Funeral for Coach Scot Bemis — 10 a.m. Jan. 28 at St. Anne Parish in Gilbert. Details. Details. Wine4Wellness benefit 6-9 p.m. at Press Coffee Wine in Phoenix. Details.

Late Nite Catechism — 8 p.m Jan. 27 at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. The original, interactive production returns to the theater tonight and runs Fridays through March 23. Details.

Late Nite Catechsim III: ‘Til Death Do Us Part — 8 p.m. Jan. 28 at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. The follow-up, interactive production about love and marriage returns to the theater tomorrow and runs Saturdays through March 24. Details.

Men’s hike/Mass — 10:30 a.m. Jan. 28 at St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Chandler. Meet the men’s ministry then carpool to Superstition mountains for 3-mile hike (round trip). Mass will be in desert before hiking back. Details: Patrick Mooney, patrick.mooney@standrew-cfc.org or (480) 899-1990 ext.110.

Half-off sale — 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 28 at Maggie’s Thrift. Half off everything plus parking lot furniture sale and $5 bags of clothing on the porch. Proceeds benefit Maggie’s Place which provides a network of homes for pregnant moms who have no system of support. Details and location.

Catholic Schools Night w/Sun Devil Men’s Basketball — 3 p.m. Jan. 28 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. Catholic school family and friends are invited to take advantage of specially priced tickets for an ASU game against Washington State. Details: Matt Crawford at (480) 727-3531 or email matt.crawford@asu.edu

JPII and the Dark Side — 7 p.m. Jan. 28 at Xavier College Preparatory. George Weigel, international speaker and foremost JPII papal biographer to speak at annual celebration of heroic love and life. Proceeds benefit the diocesan JPII Resource Center for Theology of the Body and Culture. Tickets online until 5 p.m. or by cash/check at the door. Details.

Preschool/Elementary school open houses — after most Sunday morning liturgies Jan. 29. Event kicks off nationwide Catholic Schools Week celebration. Download brochure/guide on choosing the right elementary/high school.

10th anniversary of perpetual adoration — 10 a.m. English Mass, noon Spanish mass Jan. 29 with Bishop Olmsted at St. Germaine Parish in Prescott Valley.

After a 10-and-a-half hour flight from New York City, our group of Catholic journalists and media specialists from around the United States arrived in Tel Aviv.

We were definitely in the minority on the plane. All around us were people speaking in Hebrew. Many of the men wore the big black hats, white dress shirts and black jackets. I slept for much of the flight, but at one point, the man in front of us donned his blue-and-white-striped prayer shawl, stood and prayed. It was sunset, the time for evening prayer. So, I took out my book of Christian prayer and said my own set of prayers, psalms and hymns. Very cool.,

Our tour bus took us from the airport to the bustling downtown of Tel Aviv where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Meatos. It’s an upscale, urban restaurant where people come to enjoy the delicious fare and it’s also a place to see and be seen. Our host, an Israeli official from the Ministry of Tourism, pointed out a well-known Israeli vocalist sitting at the next table.

Tomorrow we will leave our hotel beside the Mediterranean and travel to Nazareth.

Image from CakeCentral.com.

Eight parishes celebrate a birthday this month, including a set of triplets. One birthday is today. Is your parish one of them? Know anyone who shares a birthday?

One of them shares a birthday with Mel Gibson. Another shares a birthday with “7th Heaven” star Beverly Mitchell, who studied at Loyola Marymount.

• Jan. 1, 1995     St. Bernadette (60th Street south of Bell in Scottsdale)
  1,507 families
• Jan. 3, 1943     St. Anthony (First Ave. north of Buckeye Road in Phoenix)
  366 families.    Shares a birthday with Mel Gibson.
• Jan. 15, 1985   St. Luke (7th Avenue south of 101 in Phoenix). One of parishes established that year.
  1,100 families
• Jan. 16, 1979   Our Lady of Lourdes (128th Ave. southwest of Grand and Meeker in Sun City West)
  3,150 families among two churches that form one parish
• Jan. 22, 1968   Holy Family (24th Street south of Southern in Phoenix)
  350 families.   Shares a birthday with Beverly Mitchell.
• Jan. 22, 1968   Santa Teresita (in El Mirage)
  1,300 families
• Jan. 22, 1968   St. Charles Borromeo (in Peoria)
  1,000 families
• Jan. 26, 1957   St. Vincent de Paul (Phoenix)
  2,167 families