EASTER IS NOT THE END BUT THE BEGINNING
Easter greetings to all—to our parishioners, extended families, neighbors and visitors who are with us. We have real cause for rejoicing in the fact that Jesus is not in the stone tomb where His body was laid on Good Friday. All that the Lord has suffered has not been for naught, but it has been efficacious for our redemption. Christ is Risen and the tomb is now empty!
As the forty days of Lent have now come to an end, we might be tempted to see Easter as a kind of end-point of our Lenten disciplines that might allow us to ‘go back to normal’. The relief felt in arriving at Easter might be thought of as a kind of permission to indulge, to veg out and even to take for granted the victory of Christ over the grave. But this attitude does not sufficiently understand that the empty tomb of Easter is not a point of arrival, but a true point of departure, a proper season of its own. The fifty days of Easter which stretch before us are a standing invitation to take seriously where we have come from and where we are going. After all, Jesus’ apostles did just that as they went forth from the tomb and we can follow their lead. What would it be like to live this Easter season as a real summons to new life?
What would it be like to maintain the momentum that was begun in Lent for our ongoing conversion of heart? What would it be like if we believed with Mary, Peter, John and the other earliest disciples of the Lord that His resurrection changes absolutely everything about our life? Let’s allow Eastertide to be a time to venture into that glorious newness like never before.
Among those for whom Easter brings new life are those from our Discovering Catholicism-RCIA cohort who have encountered the Risen Lord in the Sacraments of the Easter Vigil. We welcome these newest members of the Church and promise our prayers for them that they may persevere in the newness of life that they have found. Thanks are due to their catechists, especially Nate Whipple, as well as their sponsors, friends and family. This group will continue to gather in the coming weeks during a period known as mystagogy that invites them to live their lives in Christ and His Church. The Sacraments of Initiation are not the end of a path, but indeed the beginning of a rich Sacramental Life! This is true for each of us, no matter how long ago our Baptism, Confirmation or First Communion may have taken place.
The Lenten Season has included many occasions of hospitality and service. I would like to thank those who assisted with the Solemn Closing of Forty Hours, Fish Frys, Soup Suppers, Holy Thursday reception, the Palm Sunday bake sale and craft fair and Easter basket blessings! Thanks also to our church decorators at all our campuses who worked to prepare for this glorious Easter season. Gratitude is due to our clergy and the countless individuals and families who assisted with our Holy Week liturgies and those who worked behind the scenes to prepare for such wonderful festivities. I would especially note the hard work of our parish staff, our liturgical volunteers and musicians who helped make our liturgies and all the offerings of Lent and Holy Week moving and profound. Our parish is truly blessed by your generosity of heart! As we go forth from our encounter with the Risen Eucharistic Lord, may our joy be like the joy of the apostles overflowing this day and throughout Eastertide!
Chrystus zmartwychwstał! Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał!
Christ is risen, alleluia! He is risen indeed, alleluia!
-Fr. Howe