Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy Easter! I hope everyone is still enjoying our celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection. We are so filled with joy that our feasting overflows into eight days, which we call the Octave of Easter. While God created the world in seven days, on the eighth Christ rose to recreate it. The number eight has become symbolic of fullness and recreation because of this, and many baptisteries and fonts (including our own) are eight sided to show the new life which springs from the sacrament. Now, this eighth day is also called Divine Mercy Sunday, and we recognize that the great gift of Easter is our rebirth to new life through God’s mercy. We will be celebrating a special Holy Hour with the Divine Mercy chaplet at 3PM today to recognize this feast.
In terms of our Easter services here at the Church, I again want to thank everyone who was a part of making them so beautiful. The music, servers, all the clergy, staff, and volunteers – everyone was so generous with their time and showed their commitment to giving God glory through these celebrations. I would also like to thank so many generous parishioners who made donations for flowers, as well as those who donated to upgrade certain ornaments in the Church. I heard many comments about how beautiful the Church looked and this is thanks to them. When I announced that the tabernacle was reparable and that we did not need the large number of donations we first expected – many still came forward with the desire to offer a gift to God and the Church. And of those who were so quick to donate to repair the tabernacle, it was beautiful to hear how much they valued the upkeep of the Church. One young boy heard his parents talking about how the Church needed a new tabernacle. They explained it was Jesus’ home, so the boy ran to his piggy bank, pulled out ten dollars and said he wanted to help buy Jesus a new one. He certainly inspired me! When the Church is a beautiful place, we give glory to God and we create a place where all people, whatever state in life, can encounter the loving God – and that’s a great gift give.
I would also like to ask everyone to please save an upcoming date for town hall meetings – Tuesday, May 21st, at 9AM and 7:30PM. As I mentioned with the survey last month, we are looking for feedback in continuing to strengthen our parish. In particular, it looks like we might have some difficult decisions to make in the upcoming months, and I would like to be sure we make them together as a community. I hope with two meetings we will be able to hear from both those who work during the day as well as those who are unable to come out in the evenings. Let’s continue to pray for our parish that it be a thriving center of faith, community, and service.
Yours in Christ,
Father Scolaro
