St. Michael and All Angels Liberal Catholic Mission

06/08/2026

Adolpho Jr. Davila
NOVEMBER 21, 1995 – MAY 27, 2026

Adolpho Davila Jr., lovingly, known as “AJ” of Casa Grande, Arizona was born on November 21, 1995, and was welcomed into heaven on May 27, 2026. AJ was born in Casa Grande, Arizona, and spent most of his life growing up in Stanfield before recently making his home in Casa Grande. He was a loving son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, godfather, and friend whose kind heart, generous spirit, and unforgettable smile will be cherished forever.

AJ touched the lives of so many with his warmth, laughter, and unconditional love. His memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved him. His presence brought comfort, happiness, and joy to family and friends alike and his absence leaves a space that could never truly be filled.

AJ is survived by his loving parents, Adolph and Rebecca Davila of Stanfield; his sister, Noelia Davila of Casa grande, and his beloved niece, Zaida Davila, who proudly gave him his treasured title, “Tio AJ.” He also leaves behind his cherished godchildren Sienna Andujo and Rose Gamez, his significant other, Giovanni Reyes, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and dear friends, who will forever hold his memory close.

AJ found happiness in life and was truly the life of the party. He took great pride in his work and accomplishments and treasured every moment spent with family and friends. He enjoyed traveling, creating memories with loved ones, embracing life with enthusiasm and joy. His kindness, strength, devotion, and passion brought endless laughter and happiness to everyone fortunate enough to know him.

AJ will be remembered with deep respect, admiration, and enduring affection. Though his time here was far too short, the love he gave and received will continue to live on. He leaves behind an everlasting imprint on his family, friends and community. While he will be deeply missed, his beautiful spirit will remain forever in the hearts of those who loved him.

Visitation will be held at The United Methodist Church of Casa Grande, 1428 N. Pueblo Drive Casa Grande, Arizona

Friday, June 12, 2026
11:00 AM to 12:00 PM - friends and community visitation

A religious ceremony will immediately follow the visitation. The officiant will be The Most Reverend Maria Celia Jose, Presiding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church International, of which the family are members. We give thanks to the UMCCG for allowing us the use of their beautiful sanctuary.

A committal private burial service will be held at a later date at the family’s request.

06/03/2026

Bennett Burke wrote:
In 28 C.E., Jesus was at the Sea of Galilee talking with fishermen. One of his most famous lines comes from those conversations, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

The meaning of that, as the vast majority of Christians of all denominations have been told over the centuries, was that he was enlisting others to help him create converts to his movement. But what was that movement? The teaching of the Church has implied that he was gathering a religious following of people who would eventually be called "Christians."

But like many things we've been told by churches and religious leaders - all of which are of course fallible institutions and humans - that falls apart once we know the real context, specifically why Jesus went to the Sea of Galilee at that particular time.

Here's why.

Herod Antipas, the ruler of that region, was privatizing all fishing on the lake, meaning he would henceforth own all the fish in the lake, which he renamed the Lake of Tiberius, the current emperor, to curry favor with him. That included sending to Tiberius a huge portion of the money he would now be stealing from the people, for whom the lake had always before been a commons, from which all fishermen could feed their families. Now, they would still have to fish, but it would be forced labor under the new and brutal law, perhaps the most instant massive upward transfer of wealth ever seen at that time. This, of course, would further impoverish people who were already living at a very basic subsistence level.

Into the uproar over this came a Middle Eastern Jewish peasant, who was also a healer and what we today call a social justice activist. Like all good and successful activists, he would of course be found where the action was at a given moment. Think Martin Luther King, Jr. in Montgomery organizing a bus boycott. Gandhi and his followers "illegally" making their own salt, rather than being forced to buy it from the British.

Soon after that his organizing in Galilee, Jesus went to Jerusalem for Passover. While there, he mocked the Roman emperor and his triumphal processions by riding into Jerusalem on a mule. Then he disrupted the business dealings in the Temple, calling out the wicked system of oppression by the collaboration of savage political power with accommidationist religious authority.

He was crucified for that, like a common criminal.

But here's the most important lesson in this story, and it aligns with everything else we know through scholarship about the historical Jesus: he wasn't building a church, he was building a peoples' movement of resistance to Empire and its ever-worsening ruination of the poorest classes.

The context always matters. Jesus was a brilliant orator, and he was organizing the poor and destitute to follow him into the lair of the Beast, Jerusalem during Passover.

It was always a potential powder keg and target for other rebel movements. "Other," I say, because Jesus himself was, most certainly, a revolutionary. That's why he was excuted, not to "fulfill a prophecy." All of that stuff was retrojected onto him and his movement as the story began to be written and rewritten and as history became apologetics, often completely leaving behind the real, living, flesh-and-blood Jesus and how he asked us to live, and for whom to give ourselves in service. Those, of course, were and still are, the least, the vulnerable, the marginalized.

Now read again the words of Jesus, knowing the necessary historical and politcal background, and you'll see one of the greatest activists of all time speaking, organizing people to fight for their basic human rights, and indeed their lives.
"Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

05/13/2026

05/12/2026

Celia Jose with Matthew 25:34

05/08/2026

Celia Jose

05/07/2026

We add opinions.
We add preferences.
We add conditions.

But He made it clear:

👉Love God fully.
👉Love people well.

Everything else flows from that.💯

“‘Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 📖

You can know scripture and still miss the point. Because if it doesn’t lead to love - it’s not being lived out the way Jesus intended.🙏🤎✝️

05/05/2026

May the peace of our Lord be with you always.

04/30/2026

In Luke 8:1–3, we are given a quiet but powerful picture of what the grace of Jesus actually produces. It says that Jesus went from city to city proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God, and with Him were the twelve and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others. And out of their own means, they provided for Him.

This moment is easy to overlook, but it carries deep meaning. These were not random followers. These were people who had been touched by Jesus in real, personal ways. Delivered. Restored. Made whole. They were not walking with Him to earn something. They were walking with Him because something had already happened in them.

That is the pattern of grace. Jesus moves first. He heals first. He restores first. And then people respond. Not out of pressure, not out of obligation, but out of a heart that has been changed by what it has received.

Mary Magdalene is mentioned as someone from whom seven demons had gone out. That is not a small detail. That is a life that was completely turned around. A person who once lived in darkness now walking closely with Jesus. Not at a distance. Not trying to prove herself. But right there, included, present, valued.

Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, represents a completely different background. Influence. Status. Access. And yet she is there too, walking with Jesus. Grace does not just reach one type of person. It reaches all. Different stories, same Savior.

What unites them is not their past. It is what Jesus has done for them. And that becomes the foundation of their response. They begin to support His ministry, not because they are trying to gain favor, but because they have already experienced it.

Worried hearts often think that following Jesus means giving more, doing more, proving more. But Luke 8 shows the opposite flow. These women were not trying to secure their place. Their place was already secure, and from that place, they responded.

The finished work of Jesus helps you see this even more clearly. Everything you give to God, whether it is your time, your worship, your service, does not come from a place of lack. It comes from a place of fullness. You are not pouring out to be filled. You are pouring out because you already have been.

There is peace in that. You do not have to strive to stay close to Jesus. You do not have to earn your spot among His people. You are already brought near through Him. And as that truth settles in, your life begins to move in response, not in pressure.

Notice also that Jesus allowed them to walk with Him. He did not push them away because of their past. He did not create distance because of their story. He welcomed them into proximity. Into relationship. Into purpose.

That means your past does not disqualify you from walking closely with Jesus. The very places where He has healed you become the places where you walk with Him. The areas where you once felt broken become the testimony of His grace in your life.

Luke 8:1–3 is not just a list of names. It is a picture of what grace does. It takes people who were once bound, once distant, once defined by their past, and brings them into a close, personal, ongoing relationship with Jesus.

And from that place, everything flows. Not to earn His love, but because you already live in it.