Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed, Alleluia!
On behalf of the Friars and Lay Staff of St. Patrick-St. Anthony, I wish you all a very happy Easter! Today we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord who has redeemed us and given us the hope and assurance of eternal life with him. Our lives as Christians depend completely on this reality – it is the center of our faith. Over the next 50 days the Church celebrates and reflects on the great mystery of our Redemption, so let us rejoice and be glad!
On Sunday, April 3rd, we signed the renewal of our covenant with our Sister Parish of St. Geneviève in Haiti, and the following day I took the documents to the Post Office and sent them on their way. Fr. Dominique Regis, the Pastor of St. Geneviève, is eagerly awaiting their arrival. In the meantime, he sent us this Easter greeting:
Dear Brothers and Sisters of St. Patrick and St. Anthony,
In Jesus, Easter goes through death and all its corollaries: sufferings, trials, failures, injustices. With the risen Jesus, no one can remain without a horizon for his life, without love in his sufferings, without support in his difficulties. May the Risen Christ bring comfort to the peoples who are victims of war and may he make his strength of life, peace and freedom felt everywhere! May his Spirit give impetus today to our trust in life and love!
Fr. Dominique Regis
Perhaps you are wondering about the image on the cover of today’s bulletin because it isn’t the typical image we would expect to see for Easter Sunday. But for me, this image by the Swiss artist Eugène Burnand is one of the most powerful and evocative ways of portraying the effect that the Resurrection had on the people who knew and loved Jesus.
The Catholic blogger Bill Donaghy calls the painting “the visual equivalent of Lectio Divina.” As Donaghy notes, “This Resurrection scene does not put us before still figures near a stagnant stone, or figures standing with stony faces in a contrived, plastic posture, pointing to an empty tomb. This scene is dynamic; we are in motion.”
Burnand sought to blend the emerging art of photography with oil painting by capturing a “you-are-there” moment much the same way that sports photographers capture the split-second drama of a race. In fact, the Gospel tells us that John won the race to the tomb, but was a gracious winner by allowing Peter to go into the tomb first. From the look on his face in the painting, we might assume that Peter needed a few moments to catch his breath!
Apart from his own mother, the three people who represent Jesus’ intimacy with our flawed human nature are Mary Magdalene, who had run to tell Peter and John the incredible news that she had just met the Risen Lord, as well as the two disciples themselves. This scene represents just a split second of their story, but it also portrays their fears and hopes – the same emotions we all feel at different moments in our own lives.
While the events of the recent past, including the Covid pandemic as well as the horrific siege of Ukraine by Russia, have caused much fear and anguish, our belief in the Resurrection under-girds all our hopes and dreams for a better future. As the cross led to an empty grave, so the sufferings of the present can, if we allow them, become a bridge to a deeper faith in a God who will never abandon us.
May the Lord’s resurrection bring you an abiding sense of his closeness, especially in moments of doubt, and confusion. May he, who wished peace upon his frightened followers on that first evening, bestow that same peace and assurance that he is with us always!
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M.Pastor