News - April 2023 RSS Feed

Today is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. While we pray for the encouragement of all vocations – including those of married life and single life, this day is particularly set aside to pray for those whom God calls to religious life – as priests and deacons, religious sisters and brothers – to serve God’s people.

Our First Reading today (Acts 2:14, 22-33) is a presentation of the “kerygma,” this being the preaching that St. Peter gave to the pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Remember that Pentecost was a Jewish feast celebrated 50 days after Passover before it became a Christian feast celebrated 50 days after Easter and marking the coming of the Holy Spirit. Many of the important themes of the writings of Saint Luke are contained in this reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

Today the Church observes Divine Mercy Sunday. The central focus is our celebration of the Resurrection of Christ and the floodgates of God’s mercy being opened upon us, and is based both on Scripture and the revelations made to Saint Faustina Kowalska.  

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Indeed He has Risen! Alleluia! This proclamation, spoken since the first Easter, reminds us of what this day—the Feast of the Resurrection—is truly all about. In our modern world, Easter is often seen as a one-day event of bunnies, candy, pastel colored eggs, and a sumptuous family meal. But these things alone really miss the significance that this day truly holds. 

It is with profound sadness in our hearts, tempered by the promise of eternal life, that we announce the passing of Rev. Edward Okpu on April 4, 2023. Read more..

A Children’s Easter Egg Hunt, hosted by the Holy Name Society, will take place after the 10:00 AM Mass on Easter Sunday. ​​​​​​​Children ages 15 meet on the West side of the church near the water fountain in the St. Anthony Meditation Garden, and children ages 6-10 meet on the East side of the church at the grotto of Our Lady of Fatima.

How quickly things can change! The Mass for Palm Sunday (also known as "Passion Sunday”) begins with the Processional Gospel (Matthew 21:1-11) that recalls the joyous arrival of Jesus in the holy city of Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey with crowds of people waving palm branches and shouting: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The Scripture Readings for Mass later end with a reading of the Passion of the Lord, as Jesus is   betrayed and tortured, denied, mocked and crucified. The very crowds who had welcomed him to shouts of “Hosanna!” later shouted “Crucify him! Crucify him!” as our Lord stood before Pontius Pilate.    

The Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday, April 7, and ends on April 15. The novena will be prayed in the Church at 3:00 PM each day during this period.