Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Blessed Easter Sunday! Alleluia! Resurrexit Sicut Dixit: He Is Risen as He Said! Every Sunday we celebrate the reality that Jesus, Our Lord, has risen from the dead, but on Easter Sunday the Church sends a proclamation of the Risen Lord that resounds throughout the world. Beginning with the Easter Vigil, and the lighting of the Paschal Candle from the Easter fire, Christ the Light of the world shines brightly for all to see. On this night, the family of God grows as we welcome our newest Catholics into the Church. Despite the presence of violence, war, division, and death, the resurrection of the Messiah, Our Savior, brings hope and joy to the world and scatters the darkness.

The Church has joyfully proclaimed that Christ is the Lord of life. Jesus has conquered death and truly is the resurrection and the life of the world. Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again! For 2,000 years, the Church has been celebrating the Paschal Mystery - Christ's journey from death to life and our journey from sin to grace, from fear to trust, from isolation to communion.

Every Easter we celebrate the fact that Christ's love cannot be contained. Love must be shared. This Easter joy is to be reflected in one's commitment to faith. Our daily prayer can strengthen our love for the Risen Lord. The Church and the Sacraments are meant to help you fall deeper in love with Our Lord, our parish family and all those you meet. Every Easter, we renew the promises made at our baptism. As we reflect on our baptismal promises, we restate and affirm our belief in God and what it means to live our Catholic faith in concrete ways.

As you embrace the faith and fall deeper in love with Our Lord, it is natural to want to foster active participation in parish ministries. Living one's faith includes serving others. You see this living faith expressed in spouses who seek to live sacrificial love. You see living faith expressed in parents who love their children enough to teach them the faith. In the life of the parish, you see our faith lived in real ways as lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to the homebound, and ushers, just to name a few. All these ways and more are signs of sharing Easter joy. We must rise with Our Lord by living our faith in meaningful ways. Let your selfish ways die and be raised to new life in Christ!

I give thanks to God for all our volunteers: ushers, lectors, sacristans, Knights of the Altar, musicians, cantors, those who make meals for families in need, as well as the Knights of Columbus, who, in communion with members of our staff, make such willing sacrifices to ensure that Sacred Liturgies are always reverent, beautiful, and organized with great dignity. The selfless members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, who serve our vulnerable brothers and sisters in need.

The servants of the Gospel of life from our Culture of Life committee, who reach out to pregnant women and families through our care portal, remind us all of the preciousness of every life, born and unborn. The members of the Legion of Mary, who faithfully serve the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of our Lord through adoration, Marian devotion, and the promulgation of the Enthronement to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We are so blessed at our parish to be able to have perpetual Adoration and this is only possible because of the dedicated and prayerful hours that our adorers spend before the Lord. Thank you for your generous hearts that mirror that of our Savior. Your dedication and hard work have not gone unnoticed. I am sure you realize that behind every Sacred Liturgy, there is a lot of work and organization; many have worked hard to ensure this is carried out with order and decorum. Dear volunteers and staff members, thank you so much for your help. You are very important to me and hold a special place in my heart.

I want to invite you to come next weekend to the celebrate the Divine Mercy devotion beginning at 2:00PM as we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with Our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament. Confessions will also be offered during this time. We will begin Mass at 3pm in the church. Please come and pray with us to close the Octave of Easter!

Happy Easter!

God Bless,

Fr. Don Kline

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