Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is risen!  Alleluia!  A blessed Easter to you and your loved ones!  We come together on Easter Sunday, and every Sunday – the Lord’s Day, to celebrate and share in Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.  We bring to the altar of God our struggles, pains, sins, hopes and joys, and let the risen Lord heal, forgive, transform, bless, and guide our daily journey of life.  Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the Feast of feasts, just as the Eucharist is the Sacrament of sacraments. In a special way we reach out and embrace our parishioners and friends who are unable to be with us here in church.  The new life of the risen Christ transcends time and physical distance and unites all of us - as Easter people who rejoice in Jesus’ victory over isolation, sickness, sin and death.  “Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over Him” (Romans 6:9). 

The Gospels do not present a detailed description of what happened to Jesus at the moment of His resurrection.  The glorious reality of resurrection cannot be described.  The “empty tomb” becomes the foundation of our Christian faith and a joyful sign of our victory in Jesus Christ.   Recall your own experience of God’s miraculous intervention in your life!  No words can adequately describe it.  But you know it was real, and from that moment your life has been transformed through the healing power of Jesus, and the steadfast intercession of Mary, the “woman standing near the Cross of Christ” (cf. John 19, 25-27).  The Easter readings recount how the disciples experienced the effects of Jesus’ resurrection, and focus on the implications of the risen Christ in the lives of His followers.  Having been raised with Christ from the dead in Baptism, we must cleanse ourselves of our “old ways” of thinking and living, and make every effort to live our baptismal commitment in the spirit of authentic freedom, real truth, compassion, peace, joy and love. Through the redeeming grace of Jesus, “Our lives and our names are inscribed in the Book of Life” (cf. Revelation 21:27).

The experience of the resurrection of Jesus is especially visible in the transformed lives of our friends who have been fully initiated into the life of Christ and the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil.  Our faith community is happy to welcome into our midst Dennis Campbell who has received the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.  Dennis and Jeannette Campbell’s daughter, Crystal, was sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation and received the Holy Eucharist. Welcome home!  We thank them for inspiring us to be open to God’s saving and transforming grace.  We are grateful to Deacon Brian and Therese Marz for providing catechetical guidance and sharing their faith.   As a church family we give thanks and praise to the Holy Spirit for bringing us together to celebrate the joy of Easter, and calling us to renew our commitment to spiritual growth and faithful involvement in various areas of parish ministry.

In Christ’s risen and abundant Life,
Fr. Stanley