Easter
Blessings!
A Message from Fr. Peter
​Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!
Happy Easter to everyone, and especially to the 21 brothers and sisters that were received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. And a special thanks to everyone who helped make our celebration here at Ss. Peter and Paul special this year!
​
Today we join our Mother the Church in celebrating with great joy the Resurrection of our Lord. After living through the Season of Lent and meditating on the suffering and death of her Lord during Holy Week, the Church is today bathed in glory as She celebrates the event which makes it possible for Her to exist, and which She has never ceased to announce throughout the last two millenia. Through the power of the Resurrection, our own lives acquire meaning, and the joy that it brings perdures way beyond this glorious day.
​
The joy of Easter will be celebrated for the next fifty days (till Pentecost Sunday, May 24th). And since the enormity of Easter Sunday cannot fit in one day, the Church celebrates the first eight days of Easter (called the Octave, spanning from today till next Sunday) as one long day of celebration. I encourage all of us to live this time of Easter as a time of rejoicing, feasting, and exultation.
​
When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and found the stone rolled back she thought someone had taken Him away, and filled with great sadness she wept outside the tomb. The risen Lord appeared to her, and changed her sorrow into great joy. The same can happen for us. If we let him, the risen Christ can change our hearts so that we, too, will never be the same again. The risen Lord wishes to draw our eyes and our attention to heaven, that we might seek and think of what is above. Just as God rolled the stone away from the tomb and called his Son to new life, the risen Lord Jesus is seeking to roll the stone away from our tombs as well, calling us forth to live our faith more deeply.
​
Take Courage! Christ is Risen indeed!
​
God Bless You,
Fr. Peter Volz
​​
