What awesome weeks these last two weeks have been!

04-14-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

First, He rose from the dead after a horrible torture and death and, threw the whole world momentarily into confusion including the well-trained soldiers deployed to guard the tomb. Then, excitement and then celebration, the kind of which was never witnessed before. But, before the reality of His Resurrection began to sink in, however, He became elusive, appearing and disappearing to His disciples even through closed doors.

At a certain point He even had to prove that He was not a ghost by eating some broiled fish in the presence of His disciples after the two disciples returned and narrated their own encounter with Him at Emmaus. Then, He breathed on them thus, imparting the power of the Holy Spirit and peace upon them, which transformed their lives forever, from timidity to temerity.

Yes, His name is JESUS! He is indeed RISEN! And to this day, emboldened by the outpouring of the same Holy Spirit, His disciples have never stopped proclaiming His Resurrection and performing miracles through His name, the only name that works miracles and transforms lives. The name that has power. What awesome weeks these past weeks were, as we all reflected on these amazing events.

Then, last weekend, we celebrated the other deeper aspect of the Resurrection, His Divine Mercy. The Divine Mercy gives meaning to His Death and Resurrection because this mercy is the ultimate expression of God’s magnanimous love over all His creatures, above all, over man. And what is even more awesome is that this mercy is available to everyone; available to clear the mess and baggage in our own lives. We all need this divine mercy because our world today is becoming increasingly messy and torn apart because of the lack of mercy. For instance, look at the situation of the continuing violence in Ukraine, in Gaza and several other parts of the world including our own beautiful country. Messy! Despite the torturous ordeal of Good Friday that saw His side pierced with a lance from which issued blood and water, He rose, giving us hope that His mercy will prevail over the mess and the cynical world, we are living in. This is what we celebrated last weekend and what an awesome week that was!

This celebration of the Divine Mercy of our Lord was further spiced by our Parish Festival which was revived after several years of limbo in part, due to the COVID 19 pandemic. It was very edifying for me as I witnessed hundreds of you parishioners, both young and old, mingling freely and enjoying yourselves. It was such a pleasant sight to behold, a breath of fresh air indeed! Our Parish is indeed alive, and I can feel that this is just the beginning of bigger things. The best is yet to come as we work together to make our Parish and School what we want them to be. I want to thank Ashley, Jamon, Jenn, Kelly and the entire team and staff who worked tirelessly for the success of the day. Through your excellent efforts, the event has set the perfect tone for a better one next year. Again, I say, well done!

And finally, I also thank all of you for turning out in such a large number to celebrate and enjoy yourselves. Stay tuned for next year! And, may the Risen Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you all.

I love you and wish you a blessed Easter Season!