Easter 2013
 
My dear parish family,
 
A glorious Easter to you all!  Easter – it doesn’t get any better than this.  The resurrection of Jesus is our hope, our joy, our destiny.  We are an Easter people, alive with faith in the Risen Lord, and bearing fruit in authentic lives of love and compassion.
 
As you and the whole world well know, the Risen Lord has given us a new Holy Father for this Easter Season.  Pope Francis I embodies so many firsts.  He is the first Pope from Latin America, the first Jesuit to be elected Pope, and the first Holy Father to take the name of St. Francis of Assisi.  He seems to me to be a beautiful combination of the great learning and spirituality of the Jesuits with the commitment to poverty of the Franciscans.  St. Francis was so devoted to the poverty of Jesus and the poor that he personified the object of this devotion as “Lady Poverty”.  I am confident that the gentleness and strength of our new Easter Pope will inspire us to live the simplicity and poverty of the Gospel in a new and gracious way.  Our Heavenly Father is speaking to the Church and the world in luminous ways for our troubled times.  May we who believe in the Risen Christ never lose hope but be lifted up in Easter joy.  The Scriptures urge us to never surrender our confidence, for it will have great reward.
 
“Be brave and steadfast; do not fear or be dismayed; the Lord is with you wherever you go; he will never fail you nor forsake you.”
 
I look forward to seeing all of you during the 50 days of the Easter Season.  And please pray for Pope Francis I, Cardinal DiNardo and your local pastor.
 
In the love of our Risen Lord,
 
Fr. Drew Wood, Pastor

Held in the Church, unless specified CHAPEL.