Dear friends,

This weekend, we celebrate the feast of the Divine Mercy. The devotion to the Divine Mercy has its roots in the visions and writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who lived in the early 20th century. This is how it happened: In 1931, Saint Faustina began experiencing visions of Jesus Christ, which she recorded in her diary. These visions revealed the infinite mercy of God and the need for humanity to trust in His goodness. Jesus asked Saint Faustina to spread the message of Divine Mercy and to establish a feast day in honor of His mercy.

The Paschal Candle represents Christ, the Light of the World. It is blessed and solemnly processed into a darkened church at the Easter Vigil, bringing the Light of the Risen Christ into the church. The beeswax of which the candle is made represents the sinless Christ who was formed in the womb of His Mother, as is paralleled in the Exsultet, a proclamation chanted at the Easter Vigil: "a fire into many flames divided, yet never dimmed by sharing of its light, for it is fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious."

Dear friends,

I want to wish you all a Happy and Blessed Easter! As we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on this glorious Easter Sunday, let us rejoice in the profound truth that shapes our faith: He is Risen!

In the darkness of the tomb, Jesus Christ conquered death and sin, emerging victorious in the light of eternal life. This triumph is not just a historical event but a living reality that not only transforms our lives today but forever.

Dear friends,

Before Vatican II, the reading of the Passion, which we hear today, was greeted with absolute silence. No homily. Even the concluding acclamation: “The gospel of the Lord,” was omitted. So, on a day like this Palm Sunday, I sometimes feel that the most eloquent response to the word of God we have is silence because even the best of homilies could be a distraction from the deep meditation in which many of us find ourselves at the end of the story of the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. But then also, I am aware that a good homily might be useful to direct and focus our meditation in the right direction.

Coming up in 6 days, we arrive at the most important Mass of the entire church year, a beautiful and majestic hours-long tapestry of symbolism, poetry, and powerful scripture recounting the story of Salvation History. This is the Easter Vigil. This Mass is also when the Church grows since the Easter Vigil is the night when catechumens can receive the Catholic sacrament of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion on the same night. The Easter Vigil is a one-of-akind Mass, more different than a regular Sunday liturgy than any other Mass of the year.

Dear friends,

Last week's blessing of our Perpetual Adoration Chapel was a momentous occasion for our parish. It was a special day filled with joy, gratitude, and a deep sense of reverence that radiated throughout the entire liturgy. I have heard so many testimonies to this fact from many of you who attended the blessing Mass led by bishop Nevares.

The most sacred three days of the entire year in the Church is the Sacred Triduum, encompassing Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. The liturgy, and yes, it is a single liturgy that spans the course of three days, is a tapestry of symbolism, poetry, and sublime beauty.

Today, March 30th, our new Divine Mercy Adoration Chapel is being blessed by Bishop Nevares, before it opens to our community later in April.

The Chapel will, through your help, become a Perpetual Adoration Chapel, where members of our community unite by spending an hour to adore Jesus truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament, during the day and throughout the night, seven days a week, so that every hour of every day, someone is there with our Lord.

It has been nearly 800 years since perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament began in Avignon, France, a practice that has now spread throughout the world. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, perpetual adoration refers to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament without interruption or with pauses for only short periods of time.

We are only about halfway through Lent, but I wish to look forward to what awaits us at the close of this season: Holy Week and Easter. Holy Week begins on April 13 with Palm Sunday and continues to Holy Saturday, when we celebrate the most important, elaborate, and beautiful Mass of the year: the Easter Vigil. Beginning with the first day of Holy Week, Palm Sunday is when we remember Christ’s entrance into the Holy City of Jerusalem, days before His crucifixion, with people greeting him with palm fronds as may be custom for a victorious king. Later in that same Mass, we recount our Lord’s Passion on the Cross during the Gospel.

Dear friends,

“If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.” (African Proverb)

This month of March is dedicated to women all over the world in recognition of their invaluable contribution to the upholding and liberation of society. The official celebration of this day began on March 8th with the celebration of International Women’s Day. That day got me still in Uganda, and I was struck by how, with great excitement and fanfare, the day was celebrated. Men took turns cooking food, washing dishes, and generally spoiling their wives and mothers to commemorate that day. Not to be outdone, politicians and religious leaders made great but generally hollow speeches about women's emancipation at rallies.

During this season of Lent, we are asking everyone to depart the church after our Masses in silence, to better contemplate the mystery of the Mass and understand the sacredness of the action we just partook in.

Dear friends,

In the midst of this rich season of remembrance, repentance, and preparation it is providential that we also anticipate the opening of our perpetual adoration chapel. Lent offers us a time to slow down and spend time with the Lord in the desert, and nothing facilitates this better than time spent before the blessed sacrament.

“The main current of Lent must flow through the interior man, through hearts and consciences. The essential effort of repentance consists in this. In this effort, the human determination to be converted to God is invested with the predisposing grace of conversion and, at the same time, of forgiveness and of spiritual liberation… Penance is not just an effort, a weight, but it is also a joy. Sometimes, it is a great joy of the human spirit, a delight that other sources cannot bring forth.

Dear friends,

Whether you grew up with the practices of faith or came into the Church later in life, it can be easy to take things for granted or overlook the deeper meanings of the Church’s practices and devotions. This applies to Lent, a season of repentance, penance, and preparation. We may be familiar with the annual 40 days of fasting but not question or understand the core practices of Lent. Considering this, I would like to share a few interesting facts and insights about Lent that may be helpful as we partake in this purpled time of penance.

In just a few days, we will enter into the Liturgical Season of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It calls us to reflect on the blessings God has given us and how we should journey to be more united with Him. Below are two perspectives on how to encounter God during Lent: one from Pope Francis and another from Pope Benedict XVI.

Dear friends,

There is a strange phenomenon that occurs at the beginning of Lent every year. Seemingly out of nowhere occurs a sudden spike of mass attendance and a fervent display of devotion as many Catholics and, in some cases, non-Catholics attend the Ash Wednesday masses and word services. It is strange since the celebration of Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our season of repentance and serves as a reminder of our sinfulness and our absolute need for the love and mercy of God.