A Word from Your Pastor - March 27 Easter Sunday

Dear Parishioners:

Alleluia!  Easter opens with this joyful shout, acknowledging that the bonds of death have been broken.  Jesus Christ gave His life for us, suffering a cruel death on the Cross, and He rose again to give us hope.  Jesus is Lord.  He is our Savior.  He opens for us the path to Eternal Life.  This is THE Truth. 

Whatever else may be in our world, the Gift of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central event of human history.  This is not a myth.  It is not a story invented by clever fishermen and tax collectors.  It is a Reality that occurred in our human history and added a dimension never dreamed of in our philosophies.

From this central Truth flows the call given to us to make disciples and to go out to all the world to reveal the Love and Mercy of the Living God.  Our lives have been claimed by Jesus Christ and He is deserving of all that we have and are.

Easter is a Feast that fills churches.  In Rome, the Holy Father celebrates the Liturgies of Easter in ways that gather together people of every nation and culture.  The Pope is most “Pope” in his proclamation of Easter.  Sitting on the Chair of Peter, Pope Francis does what St. Peter himself did on Pentecost morning in Jerusalem: he announces the Good News of Salvation offered to us in the Risen Lord.

How do you understand the meaning of Easter?  Has it yet dawned on you how central this Truth is to your life?  Have you truly acknowledge the power of God at work in Jesus for you?  If so, have you accepted your own responsibility to enter into a living relationship with Jesus in a way that makes all the difference?

We are living in a time of history where human beings are trying to go it alone.  Faith is marginalized.  In many parts of the world, people of Faith are being persecuted and driven out of their own homes because they are people of Faith.  How will you respond when you are asked to give your own witness to Jesus Christ?  Now is the time to answer this once and for all.  Give Jesus your heart and join in the acclamation: Jesus Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!

This week, I will be away on Retreat with priests who are involved with the Focolare Movement, an ecclesial movement whose charism is to promote Unity.  Please keep us in your prayers.  Pray that the Holy Spirit may bring us all to the Unity Jesus Himself prayed for the night before He died: That all may be One. (John 17:21)