Dear Parishioners,

Early this past Easter Monday, I woke up and discovered almost immediately that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, had passed into eternal life. I was both surprised and not surprised at this news. I was surprised because, even though the pope did not preside at any of the Holy Week Liturgies, the Vatican media seemed to intimate that his health was stable and that he was conserving his energy for upcoming papal tasks by not acting as celebrant for these sacred rites.

Dear Parishioners,

Happy Easter!

Who doesn’t love Easter? It comes in the springtime of the year and heralds the imminent return of warm weather, colorful flora, rejuvenated trees, and meaningful rites of passage like First Communions, Confirmations, graduations, and weddings. Easter day typically brings families and friends together (without the gift-giving agenda as at Christmas) for light-hearted laughter, elaborate feasting, and heart-warming recollections of loved ones who have since gone home to God. Regardless of how strictly one may or may not have observed the disciplines of Lent, Easter Sunday is a day of conscious excess for everyone with the universal call to REJOICE. This call is the human response to the divine action of the Resurrection—the action by which God the Father vindicated the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. Without this action, there could be no Christianity. Our faith would be empty and, in the words of Saint Paul, we would be the most foolish of people (1 Cor. 15:14).

Dear Parishioners,

Today we begin that week which every year we call Holy. In the purest understanding, we believe that all time is holy. Time cannot be considered “profane” since all time is consecrated by the Grace of the Incarnation. Thus every moment in this human construct that we label “time” is sacramental and capable of revealing some aspect of divinity. But by annually designating this one week as Holy, we are able to re-discover the root of that holiness in what we call Pascha. This allows us to deepen our appreciation for the Christian faith and helps us continue the work of Jesus in a more credible manner.

Dear Parishioners,

With Holy Week and Thursday’s Celebration of the Lord’s Supper fast approaching, I thought it beneficial to offer some REFLECTIONS and REMINDERS that pertain to the Holy Eucharist – that great mystery that Christ gave us at the Last Supper. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharistein, which means “thanksgiving.” It is one of the church’s seven Sacraments and, like each of them, can be broadly defined as a visible sign of an invisible grace. In other words, the Eucharist makes visible that invisible presence of Christ which manifests itself in four distinct ways: the gathered assembly, the minister of the priest, the proclamation of the Scriptures, and most especially in the consecrated elements of bread and wine—Christ’s Body and Blood.