Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

HAPPY EASTER!!! Welcome to our celebration of the greatest Christian Feast of the Year! In a special way, we welcome all of our visitors, family members, and friends, who join us for this happy day. It is indeed good to have you with us.

In a special way, we welcome our brothers and sisters from the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and the Rite of Christian Initiation for Children (RCIC) into full-communion with the Church. This weekend, St. Maria Goretti gets a wonderful group of new folks who join us in the Faith. We are so proud of each one of you. This is not only a big weekend for you and your families, but your coming into the Church has great importance for all of us here at St. Maria Goretti. Welcome! This is a great day! My sincerest thanks go to Jeanne Derksen and Joan Scimeca who facilitate our RCIA process, and also to Windi Krok and Rhonda O’Malley who run our RCIC formation program for the kids. You guys are the best! Thanks for all you do for the Church. This weekend, you can see the fruit of your hard work and commitment. Thanks also to everyone from the Parish who either served as a sponsor or who was willing to give a presentation to our new brothers and sisters during their formation. It takes an army of people to do RCIA and RCIC the right way. I have to tell you, and I know that I have said this before, that of all the excellent programs and opportunities to learn, and to serve, and to pray, that we have here at St. Maria Goretti, I think that I am most proud of our RCIA formation program. We do this very, very well. If I had a friend or a family member that was thinking about joining the Catholic Church, I would most definitely want them to go through the process here at St. Maria Goretti. I mention this to you now, because August and the start of next year’s RCIA is not that far away. It is not too soon for those among us who are not Catholic to start thinking about RCIA for next year. Let me be the first to plant the seed. Think about it. Pray about it.

I would also like to thank all of those involved in our music ministry for all of their hard work this past week. As always, our music was beautiful. We are so blessed with so many talented musicians who generously share their gifts and talents with us each week. I know that you guys have been in over-drive this past week, providing the beautiful music for all our liturgical celebrations for Holy Week. Thank You!

Thanks also once again to Jolene McCann and Carla Erickson and the entire decorating committee of our Parish. The new church looks even more beautiful with your Easter decorations. It even smells good! The Garden of Eden could not have looked more beautiful or smelled better!

Thanks also to Frank Cockman and the entire Holy Name Society for sponsoring and putting on yesterday’s Easter Egg Hunt for our children. It was a lot of fun. It is always a blast to see our youngest “angels” looking so intently to find Easter “eggs”. We also thank the Holy Name Society for the awesome Lenten dinners that we enjoyed these last few weeks. The fish fries were great, and who knew you guys could do pasta so well! Thank you!

Next Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. This relatively new Feast Day coincides with the end of the Octave of Easter. Jesus asked St. Maria Faustina to set aside this day as the Feast of Mercy. In 1935, our Lord taught the Saint the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Jesus told her to “Encourage souls to pray the Chaplet… Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy.” At 3:00 PM next Sunday, we will pray the Chaplet together in church. We will have Eucharistic Adoration next Sunday from after the 10:00 AM Mass until 4:30 PM in the main sanctuary. It is my hope that all of us will be able to find some time next Sunday afternoon to come in and show our gratitude and love to Jesus for all that He did for us in His life, His death, and His resurrection.

Next weekend, we are going to be short a priest. Fr. Dale will be taking a well-deserved break. So there will not be a Saturday morning 8:00 AM Mass or Saturday morning confessions next Saturday. Let us continue to pray for more priests, especially for our Diocese. God bless! Have a great Easter!

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

Life is like tennis; the one who serves the most seldom loses.