FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:

Easter Day always brings a flood of memories. When I was young, going to Easter Sunday Mass was non-negotiable, even though at the time my family was just nominally Catholic. Coming from a Filipino background, the vast majority of us that you meet are Catholic, or at the very least, culturally so. We had to go to Mass, no matter the excuse. However, as an eight-year-old kid, Easter Sunday seemed torturously long. I was one of those kids that could not keep still no matter how hard I tried. My mom would always ask me if I had “ants in my pants.” She’d stealthily pinch me like a ninja, when I started to embarrass her.

Now it’s all changed. I can’t live without the Holy Mass. The key to living our Catholic faith with the pasion of a thousand suns is to embrace the centrality of the person at the center of each celebration. It’s not I, as the priest. It is the Risen Jesus Christ! Behold at each Mass, the great mysteries of the Christian faith unfold in all its splendor before our very eyes. Jesus is made substantially present. The same Jesus that died, rose again, and now sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father, comes to us again and again. Each Easter Sunday, we renew the vows of our own baptism in order to reignite the flame of love that can sometimes grow cold over time. The Christian faith is like a fire that needs constant attention, otherwise it will slowly wither into lifeless charred coals.

A life lived in Christ, is the truest of lives. Without him, we are slaves to the whims and changes of our circumstances. Without him my value depends on the approval and affirmation of others. Without him, death itself will devour me, no matter how much vegetables I eat. Not anymore! The resurrected Jesus changes everything. If Jesus is alive as we Christians joyfully affirm, it means that Jesus is truly who he claimed to be – God in the flesh. The words he told Martha in the Gospel of John during the infamous account of the death of her brother Lazarus, can suddenly takes on new power: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’  She said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’” (Cf. John 11:25-27).

And now I ask you, my dear Christian, the same Christian asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” Do you? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that he has been raised from the dead? Do you believe that he has opened the gates of Heaven for us through the pouring of his precious blood upon the cross? Do you believe that we shall join him in Heaven, as long as we stay faithful to his commandments, even if the world mocks us for our love? How we answer these critical questions will change how we live Easter Sunday.

A Servant of Jesus Christ,

Fr. Brian J. Soliven