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April 15, 2022Happy Easter! The joy of this day is all the greater because of your presence in Church today. Today is the most important celebration of our church year. Today we celebrate the victory of life over death and goodness over the forces of evil. I welcome all who are visiting. I hope you will enjoy spending this special day with your family and friends. I pray that this day will be filled with many graces for you and your entire family. With the presence of my brother Mike and his family during this Holy Week, God has blessed me beyond measure.
I pray that we will be renewed by God’s mercy, that we will allow the power of Christ’s sacrificial love to transform our lives; so that we will be agents of God’s love to anyone who is hurting. And so, we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world, especially peace for Ukraine.
Easter is the very heart of who we are as a Catholic people. Almost ten years ago with my brother, Mike, at my side, I was blessed to celebrate Mass in the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem. I look forward to returning to the empty tomb next January with a group of Pilgrims from here on Tybee. Come join us. To experience the presence of the Risen Christ in the very place of his resurrection is emotional and joyful, but here in this Church we experience the very same presence of our Risen Lord every time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist.
We are all blessed to be here and rejoice in the Lord. We rejoice especially today in the girls and women who we welcome into our Faith Community this weekend in and through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. At the Easter Vigil Alexandra Marie Claire Keel and Isabelle Mary Elizabeth Keel come to the life-giving waters of Baptism. Also, Angela Marie Keel and Vickie Dianne Berry will be received into full Communion with us at the Easter Vigil. And on Easter morning, we receive Dr, Amelia Sheehan Bostwick and Lawanna Ricks Tsoulos in full Communion with us. We are grateful for the “new life” they bring to our faith community.
Finally, I like the custom that some Catholics have of taken some of the Easter water from the Baptismal font that was blessed at the Easter Vigil and blessing their homes with it. You can do this even if it has been officially blessed before. We cannot ask God and his angels often enough to bless and protect our home and all who live in it. And if you have recently joined our faith community, know that I’d be more than happy to come and bless your home.
To keep the focus of this day, pray the following blessing before you share your Easter dinner or pray it at any other suitable time.
Lord,
We rejoice in the victory of your Son over death:
By rising from the tomb to new life
He gives us new hope and promise.
Bless all the members of this household
And surround us with your protection,
That we may find comfort and peace
In Jesus Christ, the paschal lamb,
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever. Amen
Now sprinkle the rooms of the house with holy water and then say:
Let this water call to mind our baptism in Christ,
Who by his death and resurrection has redeemed us. Amen
