On this second Sunday after Easter, we are on the last day of what the Church calls the “Octave” of Easter, meaning the eight days when we celebrate Easter each day as if it were Easter Day itself. This is because we cannot limit our rejoicing to just one day...it must be spread out, as it were, over a period of eight days in order for us to fully reflect on what it means that Christ has been raised from the dead. Easter is not just about what happened to Jesus but about what happens to all of us now that he has shown us in a way no one else could, the love and mercy of our heavenly Father. It means that we have hope. We have a future to look forward to. We have the promise that we will not die in our sins. For “if we believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, so too will God raise us from death by the same Spirit that raised up Jesus.” This is why we sing Alleluia during this time.
While I’m glad that we were able to post a YouTube video of the Mass on Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday & Easter Sunday, and of the Service on Good Friday, I apologize that we weren’t able to see you on the days of Holy Week following Palm Sunday as planned. While the passing out of palms went well, and so many of you showed up for that, things didn’t work out as well on Good Friday. I put the cross with red draping on it outside a little before noon, but it was so windy that the cross kept falling over even though I leaned it up against the stained glass window of the church. It was also very cold so I thought instead of handing out the cross pins as we hoped, I put them in a basket & placed that on a table, only to have the wind knock it down & cause all the pins to go flying out on the parking lot! I thought it might cause someone to get a flat tire so I went scurrying about trying to pick them all up before they flew too far away. You would have probably laughed at the sight, but I can assure you I wasn’t laughing when it happened! The weather didn’t look good for the following two days either so I thought I better cancel the food blessing & book give-away on Easter before it was too late. So I’m sorry if anyone came driving by before you read about the cancellation on our website, but know that you still get God’s blessings for your effort. I will continue to post videos on our website of the Mass during this time of lockdown as many of you seem to find that worthwhile. I just hope I can get better used to preaching to a camera instead of to human beings. It takes a lot of imagination to believe that I’m not just talking to an inanimate object. If you can think of any other ways that we can reach out to you during this time, please let me know. I’m glad that we at least have the technology of the internet to communicate with you through our website.
As I continue to celebrate a private Mass every day, please know you are foremost in my prayers during that time. I look forward to the day when we can celebrate our faith together again. Until then, let us pray for one another.