Dear Friends,
The Lord is Risen! “Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.” (Revelation 1: 18). Yes, the Lord is Risen. Alleluia! During the Lenten Season we had been deprived of singing that wondrous song: Alleluia. What a joy and what a relief to be able to sing our hearts out now. From today we will hear scripture passages that vividly describe the several stories of faith lived out in varying intensities, stories of faith that move from doubt to faith; grief to consolation; timidity to temerity; reluctance to courage; despair to hope; unbelief to belief. Yes, the Lord is truly Risen! Let us Rejoice!
Today we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Easter which is now known also as the Divine Mercy Sunday. We are now blessed with the image of Divine Mercy in the church. We shall spend an hour in Adoration of this Divine Mercy from 3 to 4 p.m. This is time again to renew our love for the Lord visibly present to us in the Eucharist. On this Sunday one of the prominent faith statements to hit our ears and sensibilities is: My Lord, My God! It is one of the most touching expressions of faith in the Risen Lord and it comes from the mouth of none other than Thomas who famously earned a moniker as doubting! It is no doubt a stunning statement of belief and a model for all of us to emulate. Let us too join with Thomas and proclaim: “My Lord and my God!” For the next 50 days we shall be basking in the mystery of the Risen Lord and His many surprising ways in which He goes about touching the people’s lives. The Divine Mercy of the Lord continues to manifest itself even today in numerous ways.
You have been so faithful to your Lenten journey and now we have reaped the harvest of our commitment. How do we then keep the momentum of our spiritual energy going? No doubt for us Catholics one of the main focuses is to stay connected to the Lord in the Eucharist which is the source and summit of our Christian life. This is done primarily by attending the Mass and also by nurturing a deeper love for the Blessed Sacrament by committing to spending time in Adoration. Hence I once again appeal to you to make it possible to spend at least an hour in Adoration. I thank those who have already signed up and are committed to spending an hour in Adoration. Your prayers are very important for the health of our parish.
On behalf of Fr. John Patrick and the clergy and the staff I take this moment to thank all of you for making our Holy Week and the Triduum celebrations a memorable and touching experience for those who came to worship with us. I have personally had several people who visited us saying that they were moved by the worship experience we had provided. Thanks are in place for various people who worked very hard and behind the scene to get everything going. The season of Lent and especially the Holy Week could be a very laborious time of the year. My sincere thanks goes to all the members in the Liturgical ministries: The Art and Environment Committee; the Extra Ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, the Sacristans, the Lectors, the Altar Servers; the Ushers; the Greeters; the Hospitality Ministers; the Media Personnel; the Cleaning Crew; the Maintenance Crew; the CCW members; the Brother Knights and above all to Heidi, our Music Director and the forever faithful Choir members from different Masses. Thanks to every one of you for expanding your heart and your schedule to accommodate the changes that were demanded by the rigors of the Holy Week and Easter. Needless to say that our staff has been working tirelessly to materialize all the works needed for the occasion.
Thanks to all of you for bringing your friends and family to worship on Easter day. It was a remarkable experience of faith and joy. Thanks to all of you dear parishioners for doing your part to proclaim the Good News that the Lord is truly Risen. Alleluia!
Have a Blessed Week ahead!
With love,
Fr. John