Letter from the Pastor
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April 4, 2024I hope you had a very prayerful and beautiful Holy Week and Easter Sunday. It was heart-warming to see so many of our parishioners attend the Holy Week Services and Masses this year, pre-Covid numbers. It also was good to see so many of our young adults, teens and our young families attending.
Remember, the Easter Season lasts for 50 days, 10 days more than Lent, all the way to Pentecost, the 50th day, on May 19th.
We welcome into God’s Family and our parish Ronald Bolte who was fully initiated into the Catholic Faith and received his First Communion and Confirmation. And we congratulate the following who received Confirmation in the Catholic Faith at the Great Vigil of Easter: Kevin Cabrejo, Nicholas Capote, Rudy Groenewegan, Valentina Herrera, Jonathan Dinner, Yesly Morales, Adalina Ramunno.
We congratulate them; we welcome them, and thank them for inspiring us with their faith in Jesus as Lord.
After celebrating Holy Week and Easter Sunday, today, the Second Sunday of Easter, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. On May 23, 2000, Pope St. John Paul II made it known that this Sunday, a day when the Gospel readings concern Christ's merciful institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation will also be known as "Divine Mercy Sunday." This devotion is based on the 1930 writings of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, canonized in AD 2000. The point of the devotion is mercy -- begging God’s mercy, trusting in His mercy, and showing mercy to those around us.
Today at 3:00 PM, we will pray a Holy Hour of Mercy, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. We will pray the Divine Mercy chaplet and Novena, concluding with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Bring the children.
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Just a reminder of your Easter Duty: Every Catholic is obliged to receive Holy Communion at least once a year and the sacrament of Penance, if needed. It is an obligation that must be fulfilled by Trinity Sunday, May 26, 2024.
+++++++++++I would like to thank all those who made the ceremonies of Holy Week so beautiful and most importantly, prayerful.
❖ Special and personal thanks to Fr. Clarke
❖ Those who were responsible for the beautiful liturgies: the Altar Servers, our Lectors, Ministers of Communion, our Ushers, and Mr. Mark LaRosa and our Choir, our guest cantors and musicians. The music was particularly inspiring and uplifting to God. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful Sacred Music program. Thank you to all who contribute to the music program.
❖ Also, a very grateful and enthusiastic Thank You for all who contributed to our very important Easter collection. The Easter collection, like the Christmas collection, is vital for the works of the Parish. If you haven’t contributed to the Easter collection, there is still time to show your gratitude to God for all He has given you and your family.
We can never forget how crucial the Resurrection is to our lives and let our hearts be filled with a renewed faith, joy, and gratitude for the gift of God’s love.Let us continue to bask in the beauty and the light of Easter.