Sisters and brothers,

So far we have had a very busy Easter Season. We held our latest Giving from the Heart drive, which collected more than $7,000 worth of items for Foundations of Life pregnancy center, as well as needed items for Hands of Hope. We welcomed Abbot Isaac Camacho, O.S.B., from St Leo’s, who confirmed 30 of our parish youth. Our annual parish gala was a success, with the event raising more than $78,000 for the renovation of the kitchen at the North Campus. Let’s not forget we celebrated Fr Zack’s birthday as well!

That high level of activity continues this weekend across many of our Masses, with 28 of our parish’s children receiving their First Communion. Over this past year, it has been a pleasure working with the children and their families as they prepared for their sacraments. We should be proud of all of our children. All of this activity certainly shows the parish is thriving and growing.

Conversely, this last month has also seen a decision made by our  Sacred Heart Catholic Conference of Women for their group to disband. Their membership, comprised of several selfless and active parishioners, has seen a decline in recent years that has been mirrored on the state and national level. I will be meeting with their current council to develop a Mass/prayer service and social to celebrate the past and current women of the SHCCW, and recognize their years of service to Sacred Heart. The mission of the Sacred Heart Council of Catholic Women has been to assist the pastor and the parish community in charitable, educational, social and spiritual undertakings. Throughout the 55 years of their ministry, the SHCCW certainly have been a key part of our parish life. The majority of their works have gone undetected as these women volunteered and worked for the betterment of the parish and not their own glory, always helping when and where there were needs, for events large and small. They have served in many additional roles in our parish, including leadership.

Our thanks and gratitude go out to all of the past and current members of the SHCCW. In Mark and Matthew’s Gospels, we hear, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” For me, the SHCCW did not exist to be served, but to serve our parish. Truly, these women are a wonderful example of how we can live out our faith. Over the next month I would ask that each of us say this prayer for the transition of their group:

Peace and All Good,
Fr. Mike

Sisters and brothers,

On Easter Sunday we heard a passage from the Gospel of Mark (16:2-4), stating “Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large.”

Pope Francis in his Easter Vigil address this year talked about the stone. He stated:

• “There are times when we may feel that a great stone blocks the door of our hearts, stifling life, extinguishing hope, imprisoning us in the tomb of our fears and regrets, and standing in the way of joy and hope. We encounter such “tombstones” on our journey through life in all the experiences and situations that rob us of enthusiasm and of the strength to persevere. We encounter them at times of sorrow: in the emptiness left by the death of our loved ones, in the failures and fears that hold us back from accomplishing the good we mean to do. We encounter them in all the forms of self-absorption that stifle our impulses to generosity and sincere love, in the rubber walls of selfishness and indifference that hold us back in the effort to build more just and humane cities and societies, in all our aspirations for peace that are shattered by cruel hatred and the brutality of war. When we experience these disappointments, do we also have the sensation that all these dreams are doomed to failure, and that we too should ask ourselves in anguish: “Who will roll away the stone from the tomb?”
  
  Yet the same women who bore this darkness in their hearts tell us something quite extraordinary. When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. This is the Pasch of Christ, the revelation of God’s power: the victory of life over death, the triumph of light over darkness, the rebirth of hope amid the ruins of failure. It is the Lord, the God of the impossible, who rolled away the stone forever. Even now, he opens our tombs, so that hope may be born ever anew. We too, then, should “look up” to him.”

Last weekend we saw the evidence of that stone rolled back for us in our celebration of the Triduum and Easter Sunday. Many ministries came together to help with the planning and organization of these celebrations alongside those who volunteered and served at all the services. A lot of that heavy lifting was accomplished by our Liturgical Advisory Committee, our Faith Formation staff and catechists, the Environment Committee, our altar servers, ushers, readers, Eucharistic Ministers, cantors, and choir. It’s also important to recognize the ministries we don’t always see in action, that play a pivotal roll in the background, including those who clean the altar linens, the money counters, and the parish staff who go above and beyond to ensure the success of these liturgies. Our parish’s outreach and social ministries also played a role in the Triduum. At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, members from the Open Doors ministry prepared the altar. The basket of food presented during the Preparation of the Gifts was collected by our St. Vincent de Paul Society volunteers in March.

We often focus on being “trapped in the tomb.” That wasn’t the case this Easter. A group of twelve came into the Church at the Vigil. Over the past year they each shared their story of how the stone was rolled away for them as they came into their faith in Christ. On Easter Sunday, nearly 4,000 came to our parish to celebrate their faith in the Risen Lord. It is the witness of all these people who encourage all of us to continue on in our own faith.

I want to thank everyone who assisted us over these past weeks in creating these prayerful and faith-filled celebrations. Pope Francis at the Easter Vigil this year concluded by saying, “In the darkness, let an unexpected shout of joy resound: He is alive; he is risen! And you, my brothers and sisters, small and great … you who are weary of life, who feel unworthy to sing… let a new flame be kindled in your heart, let new vitality be heard in your voice. It is the Pasch of the Lord; it is the feast of the living.” Our parish is alive with the faith of the Risen Lord.

Peace and All Good,
Fr. Mike