Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Happy Easter! With joy we continue our Easter celebrations for 50 days, culminating in the Solemnity of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after Jesus ascended into Heaven. I hope you were all able to enjoy at least a little bit of an Easter break and that we are able to soak in the grace and joy of these days, not moving too quickly back into the busyness of life so that we forget the Church is still celebrating. Today, the 2nd Sunday of Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday, when we celebrate the gift of Mercy won for us by the Lord Jesus by His Passion, Death and Resurrection, and then entrusted to His Church after the Lord was raised from the dead.
I hope you might join us today for our 2nd Annual Easter Walk on Divine Mercy Sunday sponsored by our John Paul II Hiking Club, It will be in the Pataspco Valley State Park on the paved trail from 1-4pm – all are welcome! This easy walk on the paved path along the river is geared for families and hikers of all abilities; wheelchair participants are welcome too! Please gather today in the church parking lot at 12:30 pm. We plan to be back to the church by 4 pm.
During this Easter season our parish has two very celebrations approaching:
- On Saturday, April 28, Bishop Rozanski will be with us to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with our 8th graders. We will have two Masses on that day, the first at 12:30pm and the second at 4:30pm, which will take place in our regular 4:30pm Vigil Mass. As always, you are invited to come to the 4:30pm Mass but please know that we will be reserving the majority of pews for the families of our Confirmandi.
- On Saturday, May 5, we will celebrate our First Communion Masses with our 2nd graders. This has been a big year for them as they received the gift of mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation this past Fall, and now are looking forward to receiving the Lord Jesus for the first time in the gift of the Eucharist. Please pray for both our 8th graders and 2nd graders as they get ready for these wonderful celebrations!
God bless you!
