Happy Easter! I have to say it was wonderful to see all the Masses full over the Easter weekend and indeed throughout all the Triduum celebrations. Thank you for coming in person. It was most definitely good for my soul to see a full church and I hope it was good for your soul too. We would love to see you all again soon.

 

This weekend we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday and celebrate the gift of God’s love pouring forth from the heart of Jesus to us. The Gospel on Sunday is always about the appearance of the Risen Jesus to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. Last October, I led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with fifty of our parishioners and one of the most powerful Masses we celebrated was in the Church of the Cenacle (Upper Room). It is a beautiful Church but simply being in that building and praying for peace throughout the world was truly a mesmerizing experience.

 

Reading this gospel again leaves me feeling the same it did that day in Jerusalem, somewhat troubled because the risen Jesus appears to those who betrayed him, those who ran away. Remember, these men were his closest friends, who had walked with him for three years of his life and knew him intimately. At his weakest moment, they walked away! Yikes! That must have been painful for Jesus and yet now he appears to them!

 

If I had been betrayed by friends or loved ones, my first response might not be what Jesus said because Jesus’ first words were, “Peace be with you.” He didn’t scold them. He didn’t harangue them to say, “Where were you at my weakest moment? How could you have abandoned me?” He didn’t question them. He didn’t grill them. He just says, “Peace be with you.” And then he gives them the mandate, which is our mandate: go and forgive others; to the extent that you forgive others, their sins will be forgiven; to the extent you retain them, they will be retained. Of course, in doing that, he is saying “I have forgiven you,” because he starts out with “Peace.”

 

Here is another model for us—we are called to be forgivers of others. Jesus’ total message that day in the Upper Room was to notice how his wounds were transformed and how our wounds will be transformed too by God’s grace of love and divine mercy. He will always forgive us our sins and thus the love that others share with us will heal our wounds. AND we are called then to forgive others and bring peace to our world.

 

We participate in the resurrection when we come to the Eucharist, and we promise to do exactly what Jesus said in today’s reading – to forgive the sins of others; forgive the ordinary weaknesses and idiosyncratic behavior of those who are closest to us.

 

Today, may we celebrate God’s Divine Mercy and his willingness to always forgive us by forgiving each other and accepting that the only way for our wounds to heal is by forgiveness and love.

 

Before I finish this message, I want to express my gratitude to all the staff and ministers who made all the Holy Week celebrations possible. Thank you to Fr. Thuc and the whole Liturgy team and especially to:

  • Clare D’Agostino and the Art & Environment team who did a stunning job with the environment this year, changing it multiple times with the help of Victor Ramirez and Baldemar Rosales, our Facilities & Maintenance Staff.
  • David Mendenhall and the Lector team who did an outstanding job with all the other lectoring responsibilities. A special shout-out to Joan Morris for her leadership with the Good Friday reenactment. It was powerful yet again.
  • Margo Isola and the Eucharistic Ministers as well as Julie Ramirez, Carol Karer and the Altar Servers who did a great job in getting us back to near normal at all Masses.
  • Jurgen Krehnke and Tim Peterson and the Liturgy Tech team for their hard work ensuring all our services were live-streamed and the audio-visual was good for all.
  • Tamami Honma and her many cantors, choirs, and musicians for their fantastic music at all liturgies.
  • Most importantly, to Erika Ibarra and the several Mass Coordinators who did a brilliant job in coordinating all the many moving parts with great precision and finesse. A special mention to Tina Lipscomb and her volunteers for the coordination of the Foot Washing on Holy Thursday.
  • Fr. Chris and the RCIA team for the work they did preparing  those receiving the sacrament of initiation and to Joan Mibach for coordinating the beautiful reception.
  • The staff in the background making it all look easy such as Joan, Donna, Madelyn, Clare and Rachel.

 

I look forward to seeing you again soon and invite you, your family and friends to our “Songs for the Soul, Hear God’s Voice” Concert on April 28 at 7:00pm with Francesca LaRosa & John Angotti. We will have fellowship beforehand at 6:00pm with good food and drinks. Please RSVP for fellowship event here. I encourage our music ministers to attend the “Psalms for the Soul” Workshop on Saturday, April 29 at 9:30am-12:00pm. Please register for workshop here. Please join us, I promise you it will be good for your soul!

 

God Bless,

 

Fr. Brendan