April 3-4, 2021

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Regularly my nephews and niece send pictures and videos of the babies in our family.  The little ones are at that point now when they start to babble, it’s as if they are trying to speak, but their “words” are incoherent.  Nonetheless there is something being conveyed, mysterious though it be.  Trying to convey the same enthusiasm regarding the Resurrection of Our Lord leaves us somewhat speechless or perhaps wordless.  We rejoice in, we believe in, we ponder a mystery that is difficult to explain, yet absolutely true.  Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death and fulfilled the promise that eternal life is our destiny.  The fulfillment of that destiny can only be arrived at when we join our individual Passover with the Passover of Christ.

In his mercy and love for us, Christ gives us every necessary help (grace), most especially through the Sacraments, to complete the journey to our real homeland.  The living waters of Baptism following from His wounded heart set us on a course destined for that eternal shore.  Sometimes those waters may be rough and perilous, but the Savior is always within us.  He unburdens us just as He unburdened the frightening disciples on that first Easter Sunday night as he breathed the Holy Spirit upon them and forgave them their sins.  He nourishes weary spirits, and because of the pandemic this past year, there are indeed many weary spirits.  There is a famine in the land and across the globe since innumerable souls have not been fed with He Who is the Bread of Life.  Sadly, people do not even realize they are starving.  I don’t mean physically, but spiritually.  At least, because of our ability to livestream the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, there is some nourishment for souls in the hearing of the Word of God.  But Christ has given us more, much more in the Holy Eucharist, for as He said: “Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you will have no life within you”.

May the power of Our Lord’s Resurrection conquer the evil of the pandemic, restore our parish family life with the return to Holy Mass of our fellow parishioners and once again and always renew the life of all who proclaim:  Jesus Christ is Lord!

A Blessed Easter to all,

Father Langan