Dear Parishioners,

The Easter Season is one of celebrating the Sacramental life of the Church. We have been blessed with eleven Baptisms, seven Confirmations and Holy Communions at the Easter Vigil. This weekend we celebrate with Fr. Don Kline, the Dean of our Vicariate, over fifty Confirmations and Holy Communions. What a gift it is to share in God’s graces.

Dear Parishioners,

Today, April 7th we complete the Octave of Easter. Eight days of an intense celebration of the Risen Lord, but not still in the fifty days of Easter. Called as a people to continue to celebrate that we are an Easter People. That Jesus is risen from the dead. We live with new hope, joy and peace in Him.

I found this beautiful Easter prayer from our patron, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux:

Dear Parishioners and Easter visitors,

He is Risen, Alleluia, Alleluia. The word Alleluia translates to “praise God” and indeed we praise God on Easter Sunday morning for His Son has Risen. He has conquered sin and death. It is a day of great celebration for Christians because this real human event has changed the course of history and we have a Savior. The world has a savior.

Dear Parishioners,

We enter into Holy Week with the reading of the Passion of our Lord. It begins on Palm Sunday with a reminder of the triumphant entrance of Jesus into the Holy City of Jerusalem that quickly turns into His trial, suffering and death on a cross. But not to be the end, rather a new beginning as He conquers sin, evil, death on the cross and gives us new life in the empty tomb. These are our High Holy Days because everything comes to fruition in what we call the Paschal Mystery – the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is our Holy Week!

Dear Parishioners,

As of Sunday, March 17 – we are 33 days into our Lenten journey. More than halfway to Holy Week and Easter. For those of you who have been praying the 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory it is the day we complete and make our consecration as individuals. As a parish – Fr. Ryan and I will consecrate the community on Holy Thursday in the parish Garden of Repose at 9:00pm. Everyone is welcome to join us in the garden (parish hall) as we pray and keep watch with our Lord on Holy Thursday Eve. Last year I prayed in the actual Garden of Gethsemane – it is a night I will never forget. Many of the olive trees in the garden are thought to be off shoots of the trees from the time of Jesus. To sit in that same place and soak it all in under an almost full moon was a gift.

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday is known as Laetare Sunday, which means rejoice! It helps us to remember we are half way through the season of Lent and the great feast of the Church, Easter is just three weeks away. The opening antiphon for the Mass proclaims, “Rejoice, Jerusalem and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast.” Rejoice and be joyful in Lent may seem strange but we live with the great mystery that we stand today as a people saved by the Cross of Christ. This special time of Lent is meant to deepen our joy, peace and faith in the saving love of Jesus. While every Mass puts us at the foot of Calvary it also puts at the foot of the empty tomb. So as a people of God we must not forget the love of both the cross and the empty tomb. For this we can rejoice even in Lent.

Dear Parishioners,

We begin our third week of Lent this weekend. I pray it has been a journey of spiritual renewal and growth so far. After Stations of the Cross a few weeks ago the muscles in my legs were sore from being stretched and used in ways that I am not used to – 14 times up and down kneeling on the floor. It made me think that in the same way the Lord wants to stretch our hearts and minds to His love and mercy during Lent through the spiritual exercises we take on during this special season.