Peace and all Good! And a continued Happy Easter!

Today is the Octave Day of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday—a continuing celebration of God’s mercy during Easter. The first eight days of the Easter Season from Easter Sunday up to and including this Second Sunday of Easter are celebrated as solemnities of the Lord. Then, the fifty days from the Sunday of the Resurrection to Pentecost Sunday are celebrated in joy and exultation as one feast day, indeed as one ‘great Sunday’. (Universal Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar)

During this Easter Time, we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection and also the growth of the Church. We will be hearing about the trials of the early Church and also about healing and forgiveness. Indeed, Christ’s death and Resurrection inaugurated a new era and a new way of living in Christ. All during this Season we will renew our baptismal promises and reflect on what it means to live in this new way and with this new vision of Jesus! And so, we can truly say “Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! Alleluia!”

It has been a tradition in the Franciscan Order that each year on April 16—the day on which Francis made his profession into the hands of Pope Innocent III, for the friars to gather and renew our commitment. This week, your Franciscan brothers will again make this annual renewal of vows. We are asked to renew our own fervor as we began this way of life and resolve to rededicate ourselves to living out the ideals of Francis and Clare. Please pray for us! Thank you!

As we “stay in place”, we will continue to live stream and record the Sunday Masses at 10:00 a.m. in English and Noon in Spanish. I have heard many favorable comments from parishioners who have found this opportunity to celebrate the Sunday Liturgy from home very rewarding. If you can, please print the Worship Aid which is provided for you and participate as you would if you were physically present in the church. God willing in the not too distant future we will be able to celebrate all together again. And boy will that day be a celebration! Take care of one another!

Love, tiFr. Vince