THE LORD IS RISEN AS HE SAID, ALLELUIA! HE IS TRULY RISEN, ALLELUIA!
Dearest All Saints Parish Family,
Let the Alleluias ring as we declare with the greatest of joys that Our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered the kingdoms of Sin and Death. By His wounds, we have been healed; by His rising, we are given New Life!
As we begin today this Holy Season of Easter, I pray for the grace that we as a parish become overwhelmed.
Being overwhelmed is usually a pretty negative experience. The imagery the word evokes is that of waves breaking over the sides of a ship, or of being so far behind that catching up seems impossible. But there is a positive context too, such as an experience of something so good, so beautiful, so wonderfully powerful that it washes over our hearts…perhaps akin to what we mean when we say we have been “swept off our feet”.
Have you ever been overwhelmed by the Resurrection?
Mary Magdalene was overwhelmed when she saw that Jesus, whom she watched die a tortuous death, was actually alive, and not just “surviving”…He was radiant and more vivacious than before. John was overwhelmed when he walked into that empty tomb and recalled Jesus saying that “on the third day [He] would rise.” Peter was overwhelmed when the Risen Jesus called to him from the shore, made him breakfast, and entrusted the care His Church to him. And imagine for just a moment what it must have been like when Jesus and His mom saw each other for the first time after the resurrection…talk about being overwhelmed!
All the Saints are people who have been overwhelmed by the Gospel, and brought to a decisive moment where they entrusted the entirety of their lives to the Risen Lord…and did so frequently.
Let’s ask the Lord for the Easter grace of being overwhelmed by what it means that He is risen from the dead, what that means in terms of the dignity to which we are called, what value the Heavenly Father places on our existence, what love with which we are enveloped.
Praised be Jesus Christ, Our Risen Lord, alleulia! Now and forever, alleluia!
All you holy saints of God, pray for us!
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Michael
Pastor