Dearest Friends in Christ,
Christ is risen! He is truly risen! Alleluia!
What a glorious and wonderful Easter! As always there are so many to thank. First and foremost, we give our thanks and praise to Almighty God for the gift of His Son, Jesus, risen from the dead! He is our hope and our salvation!
We thank God for our wonderful staff, our volunteers, and so many parishioners who spend countless hours throughout the year in preparation for the beautiful and reverent liturgies of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. This year we were truly blessed with such a large number of people entering the Church. This is the largest number that I have ever seen here at SJV! We thank all of those dedicated to walking with these sisters and brothers in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA). We are grateful for the many people who came and worshipped with us on Easter. I think the crowds at the Easter Masses this year may have been the largest ever! Hopefully, these are signs of many more good things to come. We pray that many of those who joined us on Easter will continue to turn to God and follow Him.
Because our paschal joy cannot be contained in a mere twenty-four hours we continue our joy throughout the fifty days of the Easter Season, culminating in the beautiful Solemnity of Pentecost. During the weeks ahead, we will also rejoice for the young children who will celebrate their First Holy Communion, the adults who will be Confirmed on Pentecost, the couples celebrating their nuptials and, of course, the ordination of Deacon Josh Svajda to the priesthood. Josh will be the third young man from our parish ordained in the last three years! Please pray that many more men from our parish will consider the priesthood and enter the seminary.
On a slightly different note, I have been especially impressed by the fervor and devotion that I have witnessed in so many of our young adults. There is definitely something wonderful happening. The number of young adults going to Eucharistic Adoration, the growing number who come to weekday Mass and to Confession is inspiring. There are also many young adults participating in our bible studies, socials, and service events. There have also been a number of young adult couples in the parish who have met one another, fallen in love, and have married! What a beautiful gift and witness of faith and love!
Have a blessed and joyful Easter Season!