Pastor’s Weekly Letter: Easter 2023

Pastor’s Weekly Letter: Easter 2023

6 Apr 2023 | Posted by: chadmin

The Easter bulletin is now available online.

Dear friend,

Happy Easter! May the Risen Lord continue to guide us to new life! Easter provides us the opportunity to celebrate every aspect of our Christian faith. All of the Biblical Old Testament history is one way or another related to the Paschal mystery and the Easter Resurrection. Easter also represents the culmination of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in its fullness. Certainly, we are in joy this day and it is important to reflect on why. Christmas and Easter provide us the opportunity to celebrate with family and loved ones, which can produce a feeling of joy in itself. But the joy of this day revolves around the freedom that God only can give. As Americans, we often look to freedom as one of our great societal gifts. But the freedom that God offers is something much deeper. As individuals, created in the image and likeness of God, we are called to see freedom as the gift to love as God loves. To its negative side, cultural freedom can be an invitation to do what one wants, when and how one wants it. The freedom of Christ is the fulfillment of our nature. When we sit and pray quietly and think of times when we have truly loved someone, we get a taste of the freedom of God. God invites every person to live freely in order to guide others into their personal potential. True love results in gift of self. When one truly gives to us we experience the call to love in return. Every true human success is connected directly to the love present in the mind and heart of God.

Next Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday, the 2^nd Sunday of Easter. We will host a Divine Mercy Celebration and Holy Hour in church at 3pm. The Divine Mercy Image will be on display and the Divine Mercy Chaplet will be sung. Several priests will be present to hear confessions and offer sacramental absolution. The message of Divine Mercy is a reminder of the depth of love in the Heart of Jesus and the invitation for us to trust in His Merciful love. I hope you have the time to join us for the celebration. Please join us for Adoration of the Eucharist, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the opportunity to ask the Lord for the gift of Easter forgiveness through Confession.

On Saturday, April 8 at the Easter Vigil, new Catholics receive the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation at St. Philomena Church. Accompanying these individuals on their faith discovery is one of the great joys of the priesthood. The Church is constantly talking about the importance of evangelizing the culture. This is something we all have a role in. I certainly wouldn’t be a priest if I didn’t believe in the truth of the Bible and our Church Tradition, guided by the Holy Spirit. The process of walking with new Catholics as they discover a personal relationship with Jesus and the truth of the Sacraments is a very humbling experience. Please continue to pray for our new church members and their ongoing discovery of the Catholic Christian faith. The strength of our St. Philomena community is one of the main reasons people discover Christ here and decide to become Catholic. May we all keep it going by generosity, friendship, embracing truth and a true welcoming presence at St. Philomena.

God bless,

Father David