Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord

Alleluia! Christ is risen! A blessed Easter to all. With Christians everywhere we rejoice in the resurrection of Christ. On behalf of Fr. Russell, Fr. Malcolm and the entire staff of St. Malachy Parish we wish all of you a very blessed Easter.

On this Easter Day, we rejoice because the Lord is risen from the dead. But it is much more than that. Not only has Christ conquered death, but he has also broken apart the chains of death that bound us all.  We, who are baptized in his name, have the promise of eternal life. While humankind was created in the image and likeness of God, we stained that image by our original sin. By the power of the Resurrection we have been recreated in the likeness of Christ and share his new life. Alleluia!

We also welcome to our parish community Dawn Elliott and Nicoletta Stangl. They were baptized, confirmed and received Jesus in the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. May God bless them and may they be assured that our prayers are with them.

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

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 this bulletin.

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 the 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.

I wish to thank Fr. Scott Seethaler for a wonderful mission. His message was excellent, especially for us to make Lent a time for awakening to God's presence in our lives. I also wish to thank all who attended the evening conferences and the morning Masses. Everyone definitely received a blessing as well as our parish.

5th Sunday of Lent

We all know that we are sinners. At the beginning of each liturgy we acknowledge our failings and ask for forgiveness. "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa" is easy to say aloud when everyone else is saying the same thing. And in a couple of weeks we will be singing, "O happy fault!" that brought Jesus into our world. But now, after five weeks of Lent, have we really examined our lives, looked closely at our actions and attitudes, and resolved to change? When we confess to Almighty God and to our brothers and sisters, we stand alone with our poor decisions written across our face, waiting for the weight of judgement to fall upon us. But we are not alone. Jesus stands with us.

4th Sunday of Lent

The main idea in this Sunday's Gospel, the parable of the prodigal son, is of family - a generous and forgiving father, a willful son, a jealous brother. Their relationships and conflicts could be recognizable to almost anyone, and these characters would not be out of place today on the couch with "Dr. Phil". But there is also another important thread that ties all the characters together: the idea of home. A place of departure and returning. A place of love and support, of safety and security. Ultimately, a place of welcome.

As we consider this familiar story once again, let us consider, too, the notion of home and homecoming. Some of those we know might be estranged from the church. Lent is a good opportunity to try to heal whatever may be dividing us as members of the Christian family.

With this parable on our minds, now is a good time to work on opening our arms and opening our hearts, to remind ourselves that there really is "no place like home."

3rd Sunday of Lent

Repentance and reconciliation are frequent themes in St. Luke's gospel. Today we hear Jesus' warning that people will perish badly if they do not repent. His parable of the fig tree speaks about being unfruitful. God is very patient with us sinners and he is willing to give us a chance to reform our lives by seeking reconciliation. God will give us a change to produce good fruit. Good preparation is to repent daily for our sins. If we are not producing good fruit maybe we need to realize that the season of Lent is our fertilizer for a fruitful preparation for Easter.