Pastor's Corner

My dear Parishioners,

Blessings of Easter Love and Joy!

Today, let us renew our dependence on God; let us renew our confidence in Him. One way to do this is by renewing our commitment to God's favorite channel of grace: the Eucharist. The Eucharist reminds us that we cannot live our Christian life only by our own strength. In the Eucharist, God himself becomes our strength and nourishment.

When we adore the Blessed Sacrament or receive Holy Communion, we are filling our souls with supernatural vitamins - God's grace. Receiving Holy Communion is receiving God Himself into our very lives! How can we begin to live this more deeply? Well, in the first place, we can look forward to it during the week. We can also be sure to repent our sins and selfishness before receiving Communion. And if we have fallen into mortal sin, we have to give our souls a power-wash by going to confession before receiving Communion.

And then, we can dress in a special way for Mass, using our best clothes to express our awareness of the special, supernatural encounter that happens every time we receive Communion. We can come a few minutes early to Mass, so as to take some time to pray in the silence of our hearts. And we can even try to come to Holy Communion once or twice during the week.

When an important visitor comes over to our house, we spend time getting the house ready for the visit.

In every Holy Communion, the most important visitor comes into the house of our soul. From now on, let us make a point of getting ready, so that we can show true Christian hospitality to the love of God that wants to come in and transform our lives.

As we continue celebrating the joy of this Easter Season let me share with you St. Augustine’s discourse on the Easter Alleluia!

Our thoughts in this present life should turn on the praise of God, because it is in praising God that we shall rejoice forever in the life to come; and no one can be ready for the next life unless he trains himself for it now. So, we praise God during our earthly life, and at the same time we make our petitions to him. Our praise is expressed with joy, our petitions with yearning. We have been promised something we do not yet possess, and because the promise was made by one who keeps his word, we trust him and are glad; but insofar as possession is delayed, we can only long and yearn for it. It is good for us to persevere in longing until we receive what was promised, and yearning is over; then praise alone will remain.

Because there are these two periods of time—the one that now is, beset with the trials and troubles of this life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy—we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Easter and the other after. The season before Easter signifies the troubles in which we live here and now, while the time after Easter which we are celebrating at present signifies the happiness that will be ours in the future. What we commemorate before Easter is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Easter points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer; but now the fast is over and we devote the present season to praise. Such is the meaning of the Alleluia we sing.

Both these periods are represented and demonstrated for us in Christ our head. The Lord’s passion depicts for us our present life of trial—shows how we must suffer and be afflicted and finally die. The Lord’s resurrection and glorification show us the life that will be given to us in the future.

Now therefore, brethren, we urge you to praise God. That is what we are all telling each other when we say Alleluia. You say to your neighbor, “Praise the Lord!” and he says the same to you. We are all urging one another to praise the Lord, and all thereby doing what each of us urges the other to do. But see that your praise comes from your whole being; in other words, see that you praise God not with your lips and voices alone, but with your minds, your lives and all your actions.

Praying for all of you that God may fill your hearts with joy knowing that we all are people of hope and yes, we are Alleluia people!

Peace,

Fr. Riz