Dear Parishioners,

With the Solemnity of Pentecost, we have completed the Easter Season and are now in Ordinary time. It is a time for us to practice good, Godly order in our lives. This Sunday is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity and provides us with the opportunity to ponder the mystery of the way God reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit... One God, three persons. Much has been written about the Holy Trinity and about each of the persons of the Trinity. What I f ind most intriguing is that God is a relationship of persons. It reveals to me that God, by His very nature, desires relationship in creating us in His own image. We are created for a relationship with God and with one another.

Dear Parishioners,

We celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost this weekend. This Feast Day is often referred to as the birthday of the Church because, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the disciples are emboldened and empowered to go out and share the Good News. They are transformed from confused and afraid to courageous and spirited people of God. The Church grows from that moment and we, here at Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, are a fruit of that first Pentecost.

Dear Parishioners,

This week we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus – the prayer of Mass reminds us, “He ascended, not to distance Himself from our lowly state but that we, His members, might be confident of following where He, our Head and Founder, has gone before.” It is an invitation to a deeper understanding that we are living in a different state of being with Christ as our head, not separated but living as people on a journey focused on living His truth and love in our lives each day. Of course, it is through the gift of the Holy Spirit, which we celebrate next week on the Feast of Pentecost, that we find power and grace to love like Jesus.

Dear Parishioners,

The month of May is one dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. At our parish, we have a special dedication to the Memorare prayer. It is a prayer linked to Saint Bernard of Claivaux and is the mosaic that wraps the upper walls of the main aisle of our Church. To honor Our Lady and to be in solidarity with one another as fellow parishioners, I invite you to pray the Memorare every day in May for peace in our families, community, country and world. We trust in the intercession of our Blessed Mother and the gift of peace, which is her Son. We have printed the prayer in the centerfold of the bulletin. Let us unite as the people of Saint Bernard of Clarivaux in this common prayer.

Dear Parishioners,

This week we hear Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” This is a reminder that Jesus desires to be connected to us – to be in a relationship. He invites us to remain in him so that he might remain in us. So what does that mean? How do we stay connected to Jesus? To his peace, truth and goodness?

Dear Parishioners,

Last weekend was a great celebration for the parish as over 50 young people were confirmed and received First Holy Communion. The Church rejoices in God’s saving love. Congratulations to these young people.

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.