A Very Blessed Easter

On behalf of Msgr. Bolger, Fr. Connors, Msgr. McCoy, myself, and all those who minister and work here at St. Joseph parish I want to wish all of you and your loved ones a very Blessed Easter. We know that Jesus is risen. We have faith that He is alive and with us. So I invite you to rejoice and to live in the real hope that He gives all of us. Thank you for your presence, your perseverance, and prayers as we celebrate this special feast.

We rejoice that Jesus Christ is risen, and that we are also invited to participate in His resurrection through His Church and the Holy Spirit. Jesus remained faithful to God the Father, even when things were at their bleakest. He believed what God had promised, and God found a way to save Him and all of us. Today we rejoice because Jesus is the way that God found to bring us back from the death our

sins cause us. We have hope because of Him. So we can truly rejoice that Jesus is alive and that He has forever changed our future. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, has conquered sin and death and everything that diminishes the Divine life in us and among us. His resurrection from the dead is not simply a fact of history to be retold at Easter. It is a mystery to be lived every day. As Christians, we are just as inspired by the presence of Jesus among us as those who first saw the empty tomb. HAPPY EASTER!

On a personal note I am grateful to all those who made our celebration of Holy Week, including the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the Solemn Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion, the Easter Vigil, morning prayer for the entire Triduum, and all the Easter Sunday Masses, so beautiful including the various Liturgical Ministers, Musicians, Cantors, Choirs, Lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Ushers, Sacristans, Altar Servers, and of course the Church Decorators. Special thanks to those who contributed to our Easter Flower collection and our team for arranging them so beautifully.

We also ask the Holy Spirit to renew us as well. When we participate in the Easter sacraments we are reminded of our need to accept God’s call and also to respond to it. We pray also for all those who have moved away from God and or the Church. We ask God to touch them in a special way that they might be moved to return to Him. This is the season for bringing things back to life, even if it is our faith life.

If you have not yet returned your Rice Bowls, please deposit them in the bins in the back hallway. We will be forwarding those donations to Catholic Relief Services.

Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to you, the people of St. Joseph parish. I am most grateful for your prayers and support. I hope that you and your families experience the renewal of grace offered in Jesus’ saving sacrifice.

God Bless you,
Fr. Bordonaro