This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.” (Psalm 118:24)
For us who have a personal faith in Jesus Christ, the season of Lent has great meaning in the life of Jesus but also in the life of the Jewish people and their forty years of wandering in the desert. As we conclude the liturgical season of Lent with the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of the Triduum and the greatest feast of all, the Easter Event, I offer a word of appreciation to all who have helped make this Lent so spiritually significant. I acknowledge the many of you who made such efforts to come to daily Mass and to the many who were ministers at the Masses: those who served, who were Lectors, who were Ministers of the Eucharist and who were sacristans. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper at daily Mass and at Sunday Mass enables us as a community of faith here at St. Elizabeth Seton Church to share together the awesome gift of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. To share as a community of believers in the Lord’s divine presence in the bread of Communion and in the Word of the Holy Scriptures is such an honor, a privilege and among the greatest blessings of the practice of our Catholic Faith. Your participation at the Masses of Lent was a source of encouragement, faith, hope and community. I also thank all who were involved in the Holy Week Services, especially those who were the Twelve Apostles at the Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday and the adults who were received into the Church at the Easter Vigil as part of the RCIA Program. As your pastor and as a fellow disciple of the Lord Jesus, I am very grateful and I appreciate all of you and your personal participation in the entire Lenten season and Holy Week.
Lent usually begins with great promise. I pray that your season of Lent was spiritually renewing for you as you followed through with your chosen penances, devotions and sacrifices. The Stations of the Cross prayed on Wednesday morning at 10am and after the 5:30pm Mass were so touching for all who shared in remembering the passion and the sufferings of Jesus Christ and how his Cross is part of our journey of faith. The Way of the Cross booklet we use, Everyone’s Way of the Cross, by Clarence Enzler is one of the most effective to help us see how the cross is real and part of our lives. The annual food drive at the Feast of St. Joseph was so successful as was the Morning of Recollection on the morning of Saturday, March 18, sponsored by the Stewardship Committee. I applaud the wonderful efforts of the Committee for all they do to promote Stewardship as a Way of Life.
Our parish Lenten Mission this year was exceptional. Father Ron Hoye, a Vincentian Priest of the order of St. Vincent de Paul, preached our Mission over the weekend of March 18-19 and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, March 20-22. He was an excellent preacher and an effective presenter. Father Ron is an extraordinary speaker, very humorous, easy to listen to, very enjoyable and motivational. We thank Father Ron for sharing his gifts, his faith and his love of the Lord with us. May the Lord continue to bless, inspire and sustain him in his preaching ministry.
In my name, in the names of our Deacons: Nelson Schexnayder, Michael Morrison and Ron Chauvin, and in the name of the Staff of St. Elizabeth Seton Church, I extend to you and to your loved ones our best wishes for a joyful, peaceful and holy Easter. May the love of God, the grace of the Risen Savior and the hope that is ours as we celebrate the rising of Jesus from the dead fill your hearts and your minds on this most holy day of the year. For us who have faith in Christ, the reality of the Easter Event frees us from all the fear and the anxiety that is ours because of our humanity and mortality. Human death is not the final chapter of our lives but an opening into the fullness of life when we enter eternity in the presence of the Lord Jesus. St. Francis of Assisi gives us the hope of Easter in the last words of his Prayer: ‘it is in dying that we are born into eternal life.’
My best wishes, love, prayers and gratitude to you and to your loved ones, for who you are, for all you do for the Lord and for all you do for the good of St. Elizabeth Seton Church Parish. May the hope, the joy, the life, the peace and the power of the Easter Event fill our hearts and nurture all our relationships of family, friends and community. A holy, peaceful, happy and a life-giving Easter to you all!! Joyeux Paques!
SHALOM! Fr. Gary
Homework for the week of April 16 – April 22
John 13: 1-17
