Saturday, April 30, 2011

Divine Mercy Sunday

God’s mercy is abundant. When he appears to his disciples in the evening of the first day of the week, Jesus gives them the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. But Thomas needs to see Jesus to believe that he is truly risen. Some people have a difficult time believing in God’s merciful love. But the promise that God gives through the risen Christ is that his love is without end. We don’t need to see Jesus to believe it. Expressions of God’s mercy and love can be found each day in the community of faith.

This Sunday, 48 of our young people will receive Jesus in Holy Communion for the first time. This is a special time of grace, a special time for the child, a special time for the family and a special time for our parish. This time is special because Holy Communion is Jesus’ sign of love for us. Jesus was willing to give his life on the cross and he was willing to give his very self in Holy Communion for us. Jesus is truly merciful. We are called to follow Jesus’ example by being merciful to one another. To recite Jesus’ law of love means nothing; to live it is everything. What sacrifice of love are we willing to show one another?

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter Sunday

Alleluia! Christ is risen! A blessed Easter to all. With Christians everywhere we rejoice in the resurrection of Christ. On behalf of Fr. Russell, myself, and the staff of St. Malachy Parish we wish all of you a very blessed Easter. We also rejoice with the newly baptized who have plunged into the waters of rebirth and have risen to new life in Christ. As we renew our own baptism we recommit ourselves to the faith that unites us to dying to sin and rising to life in Christ Jesus. In the fifty days of Easter we will celebrate that new life, shedding our Lenten practices and rejoicing that we are freed from sin and death through the power of the risen Lord. Alleluia!

We also welcome to our parish community Anthony Lance. He was baptized, confirmed and received Jesus in the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. May God bless him and may he be assured that our continued prayers are with him.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Palm Sunday

Our high holy days are upon us! Our Palm Sunday celebration today begins Holy Week. You will find a complete schedule of events leading us to the Holy Triduum - Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil and Easter liturgies in the bulletin and on the web site.

The Easter Vigil is the focal point of the entire Church year. In remembering the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, we proclaim our death to sin and our rising to new life in Jesus. Plunged into the waters of baptism, we emerge refreshed and enlivened to help God do the work of the Church. The best gift we can give our families and ourselves is a prayerful participation in the liturgies of the Holy Triduum. Let us walk with and pray with Jesus as we celebrate the events marking the beginning of our salvation. Let us ask God to strengthen us so we can continue the work begun by Jesus our Savior.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Lent 5

When a loved one dies, we could all wish that Jesus would be around to raise them again to life just as he raised Lazarus from the tomb. But today’s Gospel is not about Jesus granting wishes like some magical genie. In the course of his conversations with Martha and Mary, Jesus is actually revealing to his followers core truths about the resurrection. Because those who believe in him will never die, the resurrection is more than just walking around on this earth. It is a completely new kind of life – a life that will never end.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Lent 4

The journey from darkness to light, from blindness to sight, is found in all our readings this weekend. Samuel learns that even prophets need to have their eyesight checked. A man born blind comes to sight twice when Jesus lays hands on him. And a community is told that, though they were once darkness, now they are light in the Lord.

We walk in darkness, blind to our own shortcomings and the needs of others. We are called to move from darkness to sight. Jesus lights up our way, curing our blindness and leading us to his kingdom. He desires us to leave our blindness and receive sight. He sees the truth about who we are and asks us to live in that truth. This season of Lent is the perfect time to ask our Lord to help us to move from the comfort of darkness into his wonderful light.