My Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you this holy season of Easter. Imagine the smallness of the group of those who had walked with Jesus, followed him on the Way of the Cross, and was one of the “500 or more (1 Cor 15:6)” who witnessed Him glorified! This small group of followers, even under the threat of persecution and death, continued to stay faithful to Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. They spoke about Him as they gathered and shared the Good News with one another. From that group, the Word spread through all the earth and today we also bear the treasure of the Gospel.
How did you learn of God’s Presence in your life? Perhaps your parents, grandparents or guardians handed on the faith to you. Maybe it was a teacher. Or a friend. Or a spouse. To whom have you flourished the Word of God? You also, by your faithful living through, with and in God bring His Presence to one another. Many express the desire, the yearning of the heart, the inner attitude to search for Jesus. It is you who bring Jesus to each one!
†Pope Francis, in his Easter homily, wrote, “We must look for Him without ceasing. Because if He has risen from the dead, then He is present everywhere; He dwells among us; He hides Himself and reveals Himself even today in the sisters and brothers we meet along the way, in the most ordinary and unpredictable situations of our lives. He is alive and is with us always, shedding the tears of those who suffer and adding to the beauty of life through the small acts of love carried out by each of us.”
This Jubilee Year, we journey as pilgrims of hope. On this journey, we find our faith leads us to go another way, to travel the path of heaven and to carry our brothers and sisters with us. Pope Francis also wrote, “The Jubilee invites us to renew the gift of hope within us, to surrender our sufferings and our concerns to hope, to share it with those whom we meet along our journey and to entrust to hope the future of our lives and the destiny of the human family.”
Jesus asks Peter, as He asks each one of us, “Do you love Me?” Our immediate response to Jesus, I imagine, is “Yes!” Jesus then asks Peter as He asks each one of us to feed his sheep. He asks each one of us to follow Him. With Easter joy, are you ready to begin anew? Are you prepared to love Jesus as He loves each one? Is the center of your life the heart of God?
During the month of May, we pray joyfully for our First Communicants, who will receive the gift of Jesus the Eucharist where Real Presence reigns the heart holy. We pray for those who will soon graduate, that their next steps will be imbued with Peace of the Lord. We pray with profound gratitude for our teachers, whether clergy, religious or lay, because their own faithfulness to God delivers His message to each one of us so that we might remain true to Him.
This May we also honor our Blessed Mother, the first disciple whose fiat brought forth the Son of God that we might have everlasting life. She is tireless in leading us to her Son, she a participant in salvation history, God’s advocate for redemption. Our Blessed Mother loves us as she loves her Son. “She advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and loyally persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross (LG 58).” Our Blessed Mother is a sign of sure hope and solace for the pilgrim People of God. We pray, “Loving Mother of the Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the sea, assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again. To the wonderment of nature, you bore your Creator!”