Pastor’s Letter: Easter 2024

Pastor’s Letter: Easter 2024

29 Mar 2024 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friend,

Happy Easter! Easter is the culmination of the life and death of Jesus. We celebrate these days as God’s love for us and the promise of eternal life. It is so important for us to put ourselves in the mind of the Apostles in those post-resurrection days. They were bewildered, scared, confused, lost, tired, and afraid of the future. Certainly, we can all have these reactions to life experiences; but, we are called to follow the Apostles through the New Testament Scriptures. As they witnessed and spoke to the risen Christ, they were able to understand and make sense of the Old Testament Scriptures and the promise of the Messiah. Jesus inspired them to allow the truth and the effects of the resurrection to take root in their hearts that they might live and preach in the name of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are called to allow the Holy Spirit to confirm within us the ramifications of the resurrection. As we celebrate this season each year, we are called to transformation, to renewal, to understanding and to clarity. This Easter Season, with the Apostles, let us allow the Holy Spirit to dispel any doubt in our hearts and give us the apostolic zeal to live in union with God.

Next Sunday, the 2^nd Sunday of Easter, is known as Divine Mercy Sunday. In the early 1900s, Jesus appeared to a Polish woman named Sister Faustina. Jesus entrusted to her an image and a chaplet that called on his Divine Mercy. He talked with Faustina about her own spiritual journey and about His desire for the world to be saved. If you are interested in these apparitions, they are recorded in Divine Mercy in My Soul: The Diary of St. Faustina. While there are many elements and levels to the visions, the main aspect of the message from Jesus is for the world to “trust” in His Divine Mercy. Jesus appeared to St. Faustina and He asked that an image be painted that resembled His image. A picture of this hangs in our vestibule all year long. If you look at the picture, you will see Jesus touching his heart with two rays, one white and one pale, flowing from his heart to the world. The rays denote blood and water that came forth from the side of Jesus when the soldier pierced his side on the Cross. The water makes our souls righteous and the blood is the life of our souls. They symbolize the tender mercy of the heart of Jesus. While the whole message is too much to recall here, the image and the chaplet prayer call us to trust Jesus and embrace his mercy by living a holy life. We will have a Divine Mercy hour of prayer at 3 pm on Sunday April 7, 2024. Please join us for Adoration of the Eucharist, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the opportunity to go to confession.

God bless,

Father David