From Pastor's Desk....

Week of January 12, 2020

These days, during my prayer I look back at my Advent journey as well as our Advent journey as a parish family. Twenty four days we journeyed together cultivating one or two virtues, eliminating one or two vices, repenting for the wrongs, embracing the simplicity of John the Baptist’s life and entering into an encounter with the Lord in the quietness of the desert, away from all the worldly noises. Then we celebrated Christmas. Our children came home during Christmas. People who have been away for work or any other reason came to unite with family. It was truly a joyful celebration.

I had a lovely Christmas. Thanks to Fr. McWeeney for helping us with two Christmas day Masses. After the 12:15 Mass one of our parish families took me to join their Christmas celebration. I was so blessed to be part of a family celebration where the great grandparents were married sixty four years and thirty two great grandchildren. Everyone came from all over to celebrate as a loving family. There were children running around all the time. Added to that we had two dogs who were more excited than all of us! So much food, of course! When I thought that this itself is sufficient I got to see Santa appearing on the roof top in his suit from North Pole. What can I say! I had a joyful Christmas this year that I did not miss my family in India. I had to leave them before the children’s piano recital and carol singing. I have no words to thank them. I had a good time.

Time flies. We have already entered the year 2020. New Year celebration and the Solemnity of Epiphany are behind us as we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord this weekend. My prayer is, May Jesus continue His presence with our parish family as we journey through the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year!


Week of December 22, 2019

Christmas is fast approaching. I realize that this is my last chance to write something to express my Christmas blessings to my beloved parish family. Christmas is truly a joyful season. As a child I used to look forward to Christmas season, Christmas gifts, Christmas meal and Christmas vacation. It was a season filled with expectation of all these elements not realizing much about the true significance of the season. We used to dream a lot during this season and all our dreams have to do with gifts and fun. Even now, it is not very different for children anywhere in the world.
I feel that for a priest, Christmas and Easter are the most tiresome days. After all the masses, the first thought is to lie down and rest. No more interest in eating or enjoying the company of anyone. Yet all priests are joyful to celebrate Christmas masses with their parishioners as family. It has become meaningful that God gave us the best gift at Christmas, the gift of Himself, that too completely in the way we can handle Him as a human baby. After His death and Resurrection he still gives himself to us every time we celebrate the Eucharist. Christmas is God giving Himself completely to save humanity. Are we willing to give ourselves completely to save our loved ones in our family and in our world? May this Christmas be a blessing of each of us to one another in our day to day living! I was so delighted to attend this year’s Christmas Concert last Sunday. The Adult Choir and the youth choir gave everyone present, one full hour of Christmas peace and joy. Thanks. The Church is so lovely with the manger and all the decorations. Thanks to our decoration team. May Baby Jesus bring His love, peace and joy to all! Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year
 


Weeek of December 15, 2019

This past Tuesday two of our priests Rev. Msgr. Gerardo Colacicco and Rev. Msgr. Edmund Whalen were ordained as Auxiliary Bishops for our Archdiocese. I was able to join the Ordination ceremony in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and concelebrate the Holy Eucharist. It was truly an impressive celebration and a blessing to the Archdiocese of New York. Most Rev. Gerardo Colacicco will be stationed in Dutchess County and care for faithful of parishes in our county. We welcome His Excellency and wish him all God’s Blessings in his new ministry. I have extended an invitation to him to celebrate a thanksgiving Mass with us according to his convenience. Keep praying for him.
Last week was truly a blessing for our parish family. Eighty nine of our youngsters received the Sacrament of Confirmation. His Excellency Most Rev. Peter Byrne administered the Sacrament. I would say it was absolutely a blessing. Some years ago I asked one of the parish staff to attend the parish confirmation and he told me, “Oh, my child is not making confirmation, he is in college now.” I was shocked. Many people think that it is just for those concerned youngsters and their families. That is why I invite the whole parish week after week to pray and celebrate the day as a parish family. Thanks to all of you for your prayers. The ceremony was beautiful. Thanks to all the parish clergy, past and present. Thanks to all the Religious Education Coordinators and Catechists, past, present and all others who worked hard for the celebration. Special thanks to our Music Ministry. It was amazing. Thanks to those Altar Servers who volunteered for the two special masses. Keep praying that these youngsters will constantly grow in Christ and live a life of fidelity to Him and His Church.
 


Week of December 8, 2019

I believe that all of you enjoyed thanksgiving. I had a lovely thanksgiving. Like any other day I woke up in the morning and spent time in prayer, meditation and Mass. It was during Mass that I felt how lovingly I am united with each one of you as family in the body of Christ beyond blood relation. Thanksgiving celebration brings everyone home to a lovely meal of abundance. Isn’t it what Christ has left us to celebrate every time we gather for the Eucharist? Thanks to all of you who extended invitation to me to join your families for Thanksgiving meal. I accepted the first invitation. After Mass the family waited for me to join them for the Thanksgiving in their home. It was lovely to spend time with them and enjoy what they had prepared for me knowing that I am vegetarian. It also brought the memories of my home when we all used to gather mostly during my vacation trip to India. There is nothing like mom, dad, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews and all the extended relations as family. Please do not wait for all the members to be perfect to love them and join them. No one is perfect and no family is perfect. God has placed us to become perfect in the context of our families. Love them in all the imperfections. God will do the rest.
We have begun the season of Advent. All of us know that it is a brief season of less than four weeks and we have so much Christmas shopping, mailing greetings and getting the right gifts for everyone to do. Do them with joy. But let us not forget to prepare our hearts for Christ. Even if each of us tried to get rid of one vice and grow in one virtue during this season, our Christmas would become a huge blessing this year. I am praying that you will try your best to become conscious of one vice in your life and pray every day to be free from it and become conscious of one virtue to grow in it. May the season of Advent be a blessing to all.


Week of November 3, 2019

It is good to be home from the Pastors’ conference in Spring Lake, New Jersey. Even though I was in holy company with 87 Pastors and Administrators, 3 bishops and Cardinal, I am happy to be back with my beloved Parish family. It was truly an uplifting experience. As usual I had a late start. I had a plan to leave at 12 noon and arrive at the conference for registration at 3 pm.  I forgot that I had an eye doctor appointment in Fishkill at 2 pm until my phone alarm reminded me. I decided to combine it and headed to Fishkill for the eye doctor. When I finished with him at 3:30 pm, our parish secretary texted me that I forgot sign one of the marriage licenses. So I headed back to the rectory and signed the license to be mailed the next day. I was able to leave by 4:30 pm. With the traffic and the quarrels with the GPS lady to find the best route to Spring Lake, I arrived at the conference after the dinner. I went to the room and rested for the night.
The highlights of the conference are the three days of praying together the common prayer, the celebration of the Eucharist in St. Margaret Church, the great fellowship and fraternity. Msgr. Charles Fink, the Spiritual Director of the Seminary engaged us for two days to involve ourselves in prayer, spirituality and love with the people God has entrusted to each of us. It was an amazing experience on Wednesday when we celebrated the Eucharist with the Cardinal, the chief shepherd and recited the evening prayer for the priests who went home to God this year. Seventeen of our brother priests went home to God this year. But we are looking forward to only one priestly ordination for our Archdiocese. Please pray for more vocations to priesthood in our Archdiocese.


Week of October 27, 2019

I always believe that by the Grace of God I can become better every day. Whether it is in my personal life or in my priestly ministry, there is al-ways room for growth. With this belief I search for courses and programs to enhance my knowledge and ability. After I came to our parish I have been looking into many parish development programs to train myself better. The one that really attracted me is “The Amazing Parish” initiative rooted in the culture of prayer, team-work and discipleship. I read the book, "The Better Pastor." published by them and I asked them to give some information on it. This is what they wrote to me:

WE BELIEVE THAT OUR PRIESTS CAN BUILD AND LEAD PARISHES. WE'RE HERE TO HELP THEM MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

We have a dedicated team of parish support coaches committed to helping parishes thrive. Our support team is here for you, every step of the way, as you implement these concepts to transform your parish. The best part about our coaching is that it is included at no additional cost. Our workshop style conference is uniquely designed for a pastor and his parish leadership team to work side-by-side to establish the foundation of an Amazing Parish, which is rooted in a culture of prayer, teamwork and discipleship.

I contacted them to register for the next conference in California and they informed me that it is better to attend with a team of three or four from the parish. I offered the opportunity to some of the deacons and staff and they couldn’t join for the conference at this time. Then I offered it to some of the trustees and Finance Council members. After lot of praying and guidance by the conference coaches, David Anderson, Anne Anderson, Robert Newhard and Ellen Newhard agreed to attend the conference with me and help me. I am grateful to them. The conference begins on October 28th evening and ends on October 30th. Please keep us in your prayers.

Week of October 20, 2019

I received the following letter this week from Very Reverend Msgr. Joe La Morte, Vicar Gen-eral, after he received my letters regarding the settlement of our parish debt.
From the Vicar General:

Dear Father Kalist:
It was disappointing to learn that the par-ish opposed the archdiocese's proposed plan to contribute $5 million to reduce the principal balance of the outstanding loan of $17.2 million (plus funding of the loan interest for a 5-year period) in return for the parish's commitment to fundraise $5 million. The funds that were available for this project have been utilized to assist other parishes in need of financial support. If the community at Saint Ka-teri Tekakwitha Parish decides to reconsider the offer, we can discuss this matter again if funding is available. We Thank you again for your efforts to improve the operations of the parish. The Archdiocesan offices of real estate and energy will continue to provide guidance as the parish moves forward with the installation of solar panels on its grounds.
Rev. Msgr. Joseph LaMorte, VG

It is a small setback in our efforts to reach a favorable agreement. Now I have to begin the process with the new Chancellor and the Archdiocesan Finance Board. I still hope to attain a favorable agreement, sooner or later. I will work with our Parish Finance Council and the new Chancellor and his team. I need all our parishioners to pray that we reach an agreement that is attainable with one or two major campaigns and in a period of time. God will not give us anything less than the best. We can accomplish all things through prayers.

Fr. Pancrose


Week of October 6, 2019

I am happy to announce this year’s Parish Trustees and Finance Council Members and I am grateful to them for their guidance and sup-port in shepherding the parish Finance Council (2019-2020) David Anderson-Trustee, Dolores Avezzano-Trustee, Dave Borges, John Reale, John Meenagh, John Sullivan, Patricia Mackey, Robert Newhard, Rosalice D'Avanzo. Trustees, Finance council and Parish Council members are very important for the Pastor to set short term and long term goals and visions for the parish and to accomplish them. At pre-sent our parish is financially stagnant. Collections are the only source of income for the parish. Out of the nearly 2500 registered parish families, 1900 families receive envelops. Unfortunately only 220 families use them. Another 100 families use online giving. Many just drop a dollar in the baskets. We can’t build the financial stability of the parish in this manner. We need to renew and recommit our financial sup-port to the parish. With a weekly collection average of $10,000, it is not possible to manage all the expenses. Before we begin our financial planning, I plead with all our parishioners to consider an increased financial commitment to the parish. The other day, one of our parishioners came to me with a strange complaint that the parking lot is full of dog poop and I should look into preventing it. I replied, "Please, don't blame the dogs. It is the geese." The next day, when the geese came in the morning, I informed them about the complaint and requested some financial assistance since they are using the land. Without a word, they all flew away. I stood there helplessly. I hope you understand my helplessness.


Week of September 1, 2019

Two weeks ago, one of our parish families informed me that they are moving to another state soon. As any Pastor would feel, I felt sad at the news. This family is always at Mass on Sun-days and they volunteer for many activities in the parish. They consistently provide good finan-cial support to the parish. Though I felt sad, I had to accept their decision and wish them blessings in their new place of living. This brought me memories of the only time my family moved. I was in ninth grade. My father decided to give up our ancestral home and property for the only reason that it was closer to a Hindu temple and all our neighbors were Hindus. He wanted his children to grow up in a Catholic neighborhood, very close to the Church so that he could take us to daily Mass before. We hated this move because we had to gain new friends and get used to the new neighborhood. My fa-ther was the only one thrilled about it and every-thing worked in his favor. In his old age, he used to tell us that this one hard sacrifice brought him the blessing of two of his sons becoming priests.One of the exciting things we did as soon as we settled in our new home was exploring the entire neighborhood. It was lot of fun and we did it with great excitement and reported to mom about everything we saw and did. I am here al-ready one year in this neighborhood. I think, I getting old that I do not show the same type of excitement in exploring the neighborhood. My mind does more exploring than my body. When I drive through Route 82, I see so many roads branching out from it with strange names. The questions that arise in my mind as I read the street names, is this leading to one house or a cluster of houses? Are the houses Catholic homes? When will I get a chance to visit them? Maybe, our Cardinal thinks that I have known all the parishioners and their homes by now. Though I desire to visit people and homes, let him know that I am only moving in snail’s speed. God help me.


Week of August 25, 2019

Week of July 28, 2019

Once a year, Archdiocese of New York and most of the dioceses in the United States runs a campaign called Missionary Cooperative Plan. It is precisely to help the Mission Dioceses and Religious orders who work in the missions to preach on their missions and make a second collection.  This year our parish is assigned Xaverian Missionaries to preach at all the masses next weekend and make a second collection. Xaverian Missionaries was founded by Archbishop Guido Maria Conforti in 1895. On March 17, 1996, St. Pope John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome proclaimed him Blessed. On World Mission Sunday, October 23, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed him a saint.

Today, over 900 Xaverian priests, brothers and sisters bring God’s love to people on four continents in 20 countries around the world including Japan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Burundi, D.R. Congo, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Cameroon, Chad, Mozambique, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines and Sierra Leone. In accomplishing these mission works the generous support of the Church in the United States and Europe is essential.

Wherever the missionaries are able to build a church or a seminary, a school or a health care center, it is due to the generous donations of the people of parishes like ours in the developed world. We are truly co-missionaries with these missionaries who are living and working among these people in poverty and dire economic and political situations. Christ and the Good News is preached and lived by these missionaries courageously in the midst of every kind of danger. Our support and solidarity with the missionaries is our obligation as followers of Christ. I invite all of us to share in the mission efforts of Xaverian Missionaries and all missionaries through our prayers and any financial support you can.  There is no envelope for this collection but there is a second collection at all the masses for the weekend of July 7, 2019. Checks need to be written to St. Kateri and not to the Religious Order. Please be generous.

Week of June 30, 2019

Once a year, Archdiocese of New York and most of the dioceses in the United States runs a campaign called Missionary Cooperative Plan. It is precisely to help the Mission Dioceses and Religious orders who work in the missions to preach on their missions and make a second collection.  This year our parish is assigned Xaverian Missionaries to preach at all the masses next weekend and make a second collection. Xaverian Missionaries was founded by Archbishop Guido Maria Conforti in 1895. On March 17, 1996, St. Pope John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome proclaimed him Blessed. On World Mission
Sunday, October 23, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed him a saint.
Today, over 900 Xaverian priests, brothers and sisters bring God’s love to people on four continents in 20 countries around the world including Japan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Burundi, D.R. Congo, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Cameroon, Chad, Mozambique, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines and Sierra Leone. In accomplishing these mission works the generous support of the Church in the United States and Europe is essential.
Wherever the missionaries are able to build a church or a seminary, a school or a health care center, it is due to the generous donations of the people of parishes like ours in the developed world. We are truly co-missionaries with these missionaries who are living and working among these people in poverty and dire economic and political situations. Christ and the Good News is preached and lived by these missionaries courageously in the midst of every kind of danger. Our support and solidarity with the missionaries is our obligation as followers of Christ. I invite all of us to share in the mission efforts of Xaverian Missionaries and all missionaries through our prayers and any financial support you can.  There is no envelope for this collection but there is a second collection at all the masses for the weekend of July 7, 2019. Checks need to be written to St. Kateri and not to the Religious Order. Please be generous.
 

Week of June 23, 2019

Week of June 16, 2019
I do not know how many of you are aware that we didn’t have much of spring season this year. I was waiting for three full months of spring flowers and pleasant weather. Instead we moved quickly from winter to summer. Summer never makes Pastors happy because parishioners go on vacation, mass attendance is reduced and collections decrease. But children are thrilled to be done with school for the year and families are happy to travel and enjoy vacation time. As the summer season rolls in, I wish all our families safe travel and restful family time. Let me also take this opportunity to thank you for your presence on Sunday Eucharistic celebrations every week, your involvement in building up our parish faith community and your weekly contributions without which St. Kateri will not be able to thrive as a vibrant faith family in our Archdiocese. Thanks everyone.
Next week we will celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. It is the celebration of the Body of Christ.  In most parishes, before the summer break this feast is celebrated with a procession carrying the Eucharist where children who received first Holy Communion that year attend in their Communion outfits. We will have the Corpus Christi procession next Sunday after 10:30 Mass. Though we take the Eucharist in procession, it is truly the celebration of each one of us who are the Body of Christ. The question is, are we consciously living as the Body of Christ daily because Christ depends on each of us to continue His saving ministry? This is a prayer we sang daily in the seminary after receiving Holy Communion. Sing it or pray it, if not every time you receive communion, at least on Corpus Christi Sunday after Communion.
SOUL OF MY SAVIOUR, SANCTIFY MY BREAST (HYMN)
Soul of my Saviour, sanctify my breast;
Body of Christ, be thou my saving guest;
Blood of my Saviour, bathe me in thy tide,
wash me with waters flowing from thy side.
Strength and protection may thy passion be;
O Blessed Jesus, hear and answer me;
deep in thy wounds, Lord, hide and shelter me;
so shall I never, never part from thee.
Guard and defend me from the foe malign;
in death’s dread moment make me only thine;
call me and bid me come to thee on high,
where I may praise thee with thy saints for aye.
(Ascribed to John XXII, 13th century)
 


Week of May 26, 2019
Last Saturday, Cardinal Dolan ordained six men to priesthood in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Five of them will be ministering in the parishes of the Archdiocese of New York and one will live the Franciscan religious life. We included them in our weekend’s prayer of the faithful. I read the details in Catholic New York and couldn’t help thinking about my own ordination and priestly vocation. Feels like, it was just yesterday. They say that you don’t feel the passing of time when you have fun. It is true in my case. Thirty one years, come and gone just like yesterday.
Would anyone consider becoming a priest or religious in modern times when the whole world is submerged in material comfort and worldly pleasures and the Church is steeped in clergy sex abuse scandal? Would any parent even suggest to their children to consider a call from God to dedicate their lives as a priest or religious? We encourage them to consider the vocations of serving the community as firefighters, police officers and so on but do not sufficiently promote vocations to priesthood and religious life. But history proves that in times of rampant corruption, scandals and struggles in the Church God brings up men and women of extraordinary strength to lead the Church.
My own mother discouraged me when I was nurturing a desire to become a priest in fifth grade because she did not find me particularly virtuous. But, my parents prayed hard daily for me when I joined the seminary. My villagers told me loud and clear that I shouldn’t be thinking of priesthood because I didn’t fall into that pious kid category. After I joined the seminary at age fifteen my superiors many a time doubted that I have a vocation to priestly life. Here I am, after thirty one years living a joyful life by the grace of God embracing people of God wherever I am. God calls us and if we respond he will straighten us and make us useful for him. All I can say is pray always for an increase in vocations to priesthood and religious life. Encourage our children to desire it and be open to it. God will take care of the rest. May God bless our parish with many vocations. Pray for all priests and religious to be faithful to their call.


Week of May19, 2109

Month of May is an amazing month. First and foremost, it is Blessed Mother’s Month. The people, who don’t usually pray the Rosary, try to pray it or even pray at the least a decade of the Rosary to honor her during May. We sing special Marian hymns at our churches during liturgies.  May-crowning to honor Blessed Mother has become a very beloved practice among children as well as adults. In the month of May most parishes celebrate First Holy Communion for children. We celebrated First Holy Communion for 88 children. Over and above all these celebrations we celebrate Mother’s Day in May. Again, it is Blessed Mother who is the model for all mothers, gets honored. These are the reasons I consider month of May as an amazing month.
In my prayer life as a priest I have developed a habit of praying three Rosaries a day.  In fact this is a habit I got from my father and I am truly grateful to him for handing on this good habit. This month, since it is not very cold, I pray my second Rosary every day in our parish prayer garden. As I sit on the wooden bench and pray the rosary, I see the Blessed Mother’s statue and behind it our beautiful Church. I offer the fruit of this rosary to our parish family. In the Catholic Church it is a great tradition that the faithful call their priest as “Father” and I truly enjoy it. But when I think of the whole parish as my family I think of me as its mother.  All mothers dream the best dreams and desire the best for their children. That is what all the Pastors do. It is ten months since I came and all this time I have been dreaming and wishing the best things for our parish family.  In this month of May I have brought all these dreams, wishes and plans to Blessed Mother for her to take to Jesus. Once I receive some guidance through the Holy Spirit we can work on them together and I am sure she will bless and guide us through. I invite all of you to join me in praying to Blessed Mother to bless and guide our parish family.
I want you to know that all the Pastors are requested to submit their parish budgets by May 31st for the next financial year. I am working with our parish book keeper and accountant. Keep praying that we do it with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to build our parish faith community. God bless you all.
 
Week of May 12, 2019

Week of May 5, 2019

Week of April 28, 2019

My brothers and sisters in the Risen Lord,

Wish you all a very Blessed Easter Season. May the Risen Jesus bless each and every member of our parish family with his gifts of unity, peace, forgiveness and Holy Spirit!

It is now nine months since I am with you. You may be surprised to know that with my appointment as Pastor, there was an attachment saying St. Kateri has a huge debt in building the new Church. I gracefully accepted it as good debt for building a new church and relied on God and your generosity to find ways to solve it. I spent all this time learning the details of it and meeting with all relevant people to resolve it. Finally, on 7thof March, I met with Finance Board of the Arch-diocese and the Parish Assistance Corporation that loaned the money and requested for an agreement in writing that would help us. On 27thof March, the proposal was sent to me for my approval and signature.

Here below, I am bringing to your attention some important points of the proposal:

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Parish PAC (Parish Assistance Corporation) loan balance of $17.2 mil-lion is comprised of three loans.....

1. The three PAC loans will be consolidated into one loan, with a 20-year term and an interest rate of 4%

2. The Archdiocese will contribute $5 million to pay down the loan principal, reducing the balance to $12.2 million.

3. The Archdiocese will pay the interest expense on the PAC loan for a period of five years beginning April 2019 and ending March 2024. At a balance of 12.2 million, the loan will incur interest of $488,931 initially, declining as the principal is paid down.

4. While the Archdiocese absorbs the interest expense, the parish will undertake an extra ordinary campaign to raise $5 million, which will be applied to the loan principal. As such, the $5 million from the Archdiocese would be a dollar-for dollar matching contribution.

5. To assist the parish further, and to ensure that all fundraising efforts are attributed to the repayment of the loan principal, Cardinal Dolan has approved for the parish to be excluded from the Cardinal’s annual Stewardship Appeal for the next 5 years.

These proposals were discussed in detail at the Finance Council Meeting on April 10thand accepted. I signed it on April 11thand returned it to the Archdiocese. At present we are trying to explore the resources from the Archdiocese and from our parish community to run this major campaign and side by side, build up our community. Four months of planning time and we will come up with a concrete short term and long term plans to achieve our vision. My vision is in fifteen years’ time when we gather to celebrate Church’s Silver Jubilee, we must be debt free and become a vibrant faith community. Be generous with your time, talent and treasure and good stewards of your church. Approach me any time to share ideas and help in planning and execution. Above all, pray every day with faith. God will make it happen for us. Our Parish

Trustees: Mr. Thomas Beresford and Mr. Robert Herberger.Finance Council Members: Mr. Dave Borges, Mrs. Lorraine Travia, Mrs. Rosealice D'Avanzo, Mr. Dave Anderson and Mr. John Reale,and Mr. John Sullivan

Forty days ago we began our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday and now we are in Holy Week and Easter. We received ashes on our forehead to remind us of our mortality and decided to repent and turn away from sin. We resolved to live a life of prayer, fasting and alms giving. Some of us followed all our resolutions. Others left them half way through. As a parish family we did many things to make Lent a season of grace.  Participation at the weekday and Sunday Masses increased. Many parishioners received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Good number of people attended the fish fry, Lenten reflections and prayed the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. Our children were in the forefront. They all went to confession, through Passport to Easter program participated in various activities to get ready for Easter. Whether we are ready or not, Easter is greeting us. The Lord is Risen!

Resurrection is powerful. No one has ever risen from the dead. Our Lord Jesus conquers death by rising to life. But what happened on Good Friday? Was it weakness that Jesus was crucified and killed as a common criminal? I never gave a thought until recently. Five years ago I was visiting one of my Hindu friends in India. His son was in second grade and his Hindu Religion teacher had taught him that the Hindu gods are powerful whereas the Christian God Jesus allowed himself to be crucified and killed. The little boy asked me, Father Uncle, If Jesus is God why did he allow himself to be killed. How could he claim to be God if he is killed by people? I thought it was a good question and answered him. When I came to visit my friend this boy was wrestling with his Dad and I heard him say, “I win, Dad I win.” So I asked him, “When you wrestled with your Dad, he let you win, Right? Does it mean your Dad is weaker than you or he lost to you to show his love for you?” They all understood. Jesus’ death on the cross is not weakness or failure. It is the revelation of God’s true love for us. Happy Easter