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Pastor's Note - April 19, 2009

Previous Pastor's Notes

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

        Happy Easter be to you as we conclude our Octave of Easter today and continue to celebrate our Season of Easter!  This Second Sunday of Easter is now more commonly referred to as Divine Mercy Sunday.  Today we celebrate in a special way, God’s great love and mercy poured out upon His people through His Son, Jesus Christ, and through what Jesus did for us in dying and rising from the dead.  God offers all of us the chance to be rid of our sins and our sinful way of life, and the great opportunity to live the new life in Christ, and then to get to live forever with Him in His Kingdom!  This is a Great Feast Day! The devotion to the Divine Mercy was first promoted by Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish religious sister who was canonized on April 30^th, 2000 by Pope John Paul II.  Then, on May 23rd, 2000, the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome decreed that the second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, “a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine benevolence, the difficulties and trials that humankind will experience in the years to come”.   We will celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday here at St. Maria Goretti, with a special Eucharistic procession after the 10:00 AM Mass today, followed by Eucharistic Adoration in the main sanctuary from after 10:00 AM Mass until 4:00 PM.  The Divine Mercy Chaplet will be prayed at 3:00 PM in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  Every member of our Parish family is invited and encouraged to come and spend some time today with Jesus Who is the Divine Mercy Himself.  Please make some time in your schedule today to stop by church for this special event.

        I’d like to thank every one for all that was done to make our celebration of Easter such an amazing experience for all of us.  The flowers and decoration were once again incredible.  The music was beautiful and inspiring.  The Temple Knights of the Holy Eucharist were at their best, serving at all the services and helping out with our liturgies.  It was great to have all three of our Parish Diocesan seminarians home for Holy Week.  Those three guys, Josh Bennett, Clayton Thompson, and Jason LaPaglia, were an amazing amount of help to Fr. Dale, Deacon Steve, and myself.  The Lectors, the Ministers of Welcome, and the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion were all doing extra duty last week.  It was awesome.  Thanks to our high school students from TRUTH, who read the meditations on Holy Thursday night.  Thanks to our Boy Scouts who prepared our Easter fire for the Easter Vigil.  And thanks to our Holy Name Society and all of their helpers who organized and put on last weekend’s Easter Egg Hunt for our younger angels.  Thanks, guys! 

         Our 2009 Spring Fling Dinner, Dance, and Auction is THIS Friday, April 24^th, beginning at 6:00 PM at the Ritz-Charles.  We’d still love to have everybody come out and join us for this very important night for our Parish family.  It’s still not too late if you call or register on-line right away, today or tomorrow.  The details are listed inside this bulletin.  Raffle tickets continue to be sold after all Masses in the Church Narthex.  Please help us to support this event.  This is a very tough year.  And we all know how important this fundraising event is, really the only true “fundraiser” of the year for our Parish.  Let’s work together to support this year’s event.  I hope to see you there on Friday night 

          The ladies are getting their chance to experience the Christ Renews His Parish weekend today.  Women’s Team #18 is making the weekend.  Let’s keep all of them in our prayers.  Both yesterday and next Saturday, our First Communion candidates are making their retreats, in preparation for receiving their First Holy Communions on Saturday, May 2^nd.  We keep our children preparing for First Communion in our prayers also, as they make their final preparations to receive this Sacrament.

         These are great days with many Baptisms, weddings, and we’ve even got Confirmation coming up on May 14^th.   It’s Springtime at St. Maria Goretti!  Let us enjoy it all!  God is doing so many great things right here in our midst. 

          Have a great week! 

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

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