A Letter from Fr. Paul - April 15, 2018

This is the time of year when our children are in the final preparations to receive sacraments. Please keep those who will receive First Communion on April 29 and Confirmation on April 30 in your prayers.
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Thank you to those who nominated people for leadership positions. Those nominated will be invited to a discernment process during the May meeting of the Pastoral Council, after which the Pastoral Council will select the new members. Please continue to keep this process in your prayers.

Congratulations to our principal, Heidi Hernandez, who was featured in the April 5th edition of The Catholic Herald.

For the 2018 Catholic Stewardship appeal, we are at 1/3 of our goal of $20,000. The programs that are supported by this appeal deserve our support. If you have not yet contributed, please do so.

This weekend is the last for 2018 that I am in Racine with our two Salvatorian candidates for a workshop/retreat with directors and candidates from other religious communities of women and men. Thank you for your understanding and for accompanying us in prayer.

As I read our Gospel for this weekend, I was touched by the efforts Jesus made to help his disciples wrap their minds around the reality that He was risen from the dead. First, He asked them to touch His wounds: ghosts do not have flesh. Then He deliberately ate a piece of fish in front of them: ghosts do not eat fish. He wanted them to believe and have faith.

I asked myself what the Lord has done to help me wrap my mind around the truth that He has risen and wants me to be His disciple of mercy and forgiveness to others.

One was the example of my mother, a woman of strong faith, who demonstrated for her seven sons how to live as Jesus did.

A second was a Salvatorian priest that I cared for in the last months of his life, a person who trusted in the Lord, accepted his pain and suffering, and never complained or allowed himself to be down.

Another was the example of the poor but faith-filled communities in the mountains of the state of Querétaro in México, who live as did the first Christian communities, full of joy and hope as they shared the very little they had with each other.

Who (or what experiences) has the Lord sent to you to strengthen your belief and hope? I invite each of us to reflect this week, listing at least two or three examples and thanking the Risen Lord for coming to us in these special ways. Do we live in a way to be that special example for others? And as we reflect, let us support each other in prayer.

-- Paul James Portland, SDS