Happy Easter! Our Holy Week liturgies were truly beautiful, culminating in the joy of the Easter Vigil where we welcomed new Catholics into the fullness of the Church. This year we had two new members join the Church and make their sacraments… Congratulations to both of you.
On Easter Sunday I referenced a painting of a game of chess between the devil and a man. Supposedly they were playing for the man’s soul and the devil appears on the verge of victory. While on a museum tour a chess master studied the painting and noticed that the man still had one move left with his King and when he makes that move control of the board switches, giving the man the victory in just a few moves. The Easter Resurrection is the King of King’s victorious move. When Satan appeared to have won the battle for souls, our King made the move from the cross to His throne and eternal life. He opened the gates of heaven for us with that move! CHECKMATE! The game is over. Victory is the Lord’s! A print of the painting is on the bulletin board in the foyer of the Church. As you look at the image, recall Jesus Christ’s wonderful move to save you and me. His love is infinite and His power unlimited. May we share in His victory and with Jesus as King, confidently declare Checkmate on the evil one.
This month we have many exciting events taking place. Our Second Graders have just made their First Holy Communion. Please keep them in your prayers as they begin to grow in their relationship with the Lord. May all of us grow in love for our Savior in the Blessed Sacrament and only receive Him worthily in the state of grace.
Beginning this month on the Second and Fourth Sunday each month we will have our family Mass at the 11:00am and we will invite the children up to the sanctuary for the homily. I want to invite all families, especially those with young children, to attend these Masses. On the fourth Sunday of the month we will have some light refreshments in the cafeteria for us to get to know each other a little better.
In May we also honor our mothers and we also remember our Blessed Mother. Today (Sunday) as we celebrate Mother’s Day we also have our May Crowning of the Blessed Mother to remind us of her motherly protection and intercession for us, her children. We continue to pray for all the mothers in our Mother’s Day Novena and we remember all the moms whose names are placed on the altar for all Masses this month.
Looking forward in a few weeks we will celebrate adult confirmation on Pentecost Sunday and then two weeks later have our Corpus Christi procession to celebrate and honor the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. These are beautiful traditions and a way to acknowledge and grow in our faith as we publicly witness what we profess.