Pastor’s Letter: Easter Sunday

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On behalf of Fr Reiser, Fr Bauwens and myself, we would  like to wish all of you a Blessed Easter.

At the Easter Vigil, we received eleven members into our Church from our RCIA program.  We welcome them into our community with the joy and peace of Christ.

The Easter Vigil, while is the longest service of the year for our Church, is the most Holy of all solemnities in our Church. It celebrates the Resurrection of our Lord.  Easter Vigil begins with the Blessing of the Fire with the words “May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds” as we light the Paschal Candle.  The Light of Christ is then presented to us with the Easter Proclamation made.  The service then proceeds to the Liturgy of the Word where we are invited to hear readings from the Old and New Testament that speak of our Salvation History.  After the Gospel and homily, the next part of the service involves the Baptism Liturgy. This is where we receive the new members into our Church with the Sacraments of Initiation.  In this part of the Liturgy, we are also invited to renew our Baptismal Promises.  The Fourth Part of the service is the Liturgy of the Eucharist with the conclusion of the service marking the end of the Easter Tridium.  The Easter Tridium began with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.  This is why there was no conclusion at the end of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and our Good Friday service.

In the following two weekends, we will be celebrating First Holy  Communion with the Second Graders in our Family of Parishes.  Please keep them in your prayers.

I would like to take the time to thank all our RCIA facilitators who journeyed with our now new members of our Church and shared the gift of faith with them.

I would also like to thank all who made all the Liturgies throughout Holy Week a Blessed occasion, especially those who made time to coordinate our Liturgical Environment – making our Church a prayerful environment. And all those who served in our Holy Week and Easter Liturgies.

Please note that the offices in both our Family of Parishes are closed on Monday.

A Blessed Easter to all of you.

Fr Marc