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From the Pastor
From the Pastor
Pastor's Corner
Pastor's Corner
April 12, 2026
April 12, 2026
What a wonderful end to Lent and beginning to the Easter season we celebrated last week! Our churches were filled, the services where moving, and we welcomed into our Church 11 new members of the faith!
Christ is Risen! He is truly risen!
And, as I have written many times before, today, Divine Mercy Sunday, is traditionally known as the “Second Sunday of Easter.” In other words, the Church considers this Sunday to be still Easter Sunday. Easter is the “feast of feasts.” It is so powerful, that it takes 8 days to truly celebrate. So Happy Easter - still!
In the year 2000, St. John Paul II officially established the Feast of Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter.
The good news revealed through Jesus Christ is that God’s love for each person knows no bounds, and no sin or infidelity, no matter how horrible, will separate us from God and His love when we turn to Him in confidence and seek his mercy.
God’s will is our salvation. He has done all on our behalf, but since He made us free, He invites us to choose Him and partake of His divine life. We become partakers of His divine life when we believe in His revealed truth and trust Him, when we love Him and remain true to His word, when we honor Him and seek His Kingdom, when we receive Him in Communion and turn away from sin; when we are mutually caring and forgiving.
It is fitting that we celebrate God’s Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter since Easter is all about the mercy of God. His love for us – his creation – is constant. He longs for us to be one with him in the joy of his Kingdom.
It was out of God’s infinite Mercy that Christ became flesh and dwelt among us. It was because of his mercy that he united himself with our suffering so that we could be united with his joy.
It was because of his merciful love that he endured betrayal, denial, beatings, humiliation, torture, crucifixion, and death so that we might be united in his resurrection.
As we continue to celebrate Easter, it is right that we contemplate the mercy of God in our lives and the need for that mercy. But especially now, as we continue to celebrate Easter Sunday, it is fitting that we celebrate that mercy and what it means for us.
Where have you experienced God’s mercy in your life? It is when we recognize our need for God’s mercy and understand it that we can then be that mercy for one another.
We prayed throughout Lent, “Lord, empty me. Lord, fill me. Lord, use me.” This is the day for the Lord to use us. Emptied of self-importance, we can be filled with the risen presence of Christ – the mercy of God. And now the Lord can use us to spread his message of mercy and salvation.
As we enter the next 40+ days of the Easter season, let us be ever mindful of what God has done for us. Understanding that, we seek to wash one another’s feet, to love one another in extravagant ways – maybe including even a crucifixion!
And in so doing, we share the mercy of God that brings life – life in the Kingdom of Heaven!
He is Risen! He has truly risen!
Faith Like a Child
If you Google Search recommendations on how to raise generous children, almost every list of ideas begins with — or at least contains — the directive for adults to be good models of generosity themselves. Our children learn from our actions much more than from our words. Of course, when I think back over the years while my children were growing up, I think I may have learned as much from them as they learned from me. There is a time between early childhood and middle school where a child seems to be freer to give and share than at any other time in life. It is around the age of First Communion when the cries of “mine” turn to laughter and smiles, and the urge to be a part of something bigger than oneself leads to sharing. Before you know it, the child hits the pre-teen years, and once again, he or she becomes the center of the universe. I believe that the previous paragraph is all true, however, the stages described seem to repeat themselves throughout adulthood. Don’t you agree? Sometimes we fall into seeing ourselves as the center of the universe, or we become consumed by our state in life or with what we have acquired. Also, we at times are generous and loving people. It is sin that draws us back into ourselves and away from any meaningful life of stewardship and generosity. In order to be freed for love, we need role models to help us see what really matters. We need to reflect on the example of many of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And, yes, we need to look to children who may be at the point in their lives where sharing is fun, and love is something in abundance.
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