Encouraging the Culture of Encounter with Jesus Christ, His Church, and All People

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

He IS RISEN! Alleluia! Happy Easter!
May God’s blessings be upon you, your families, our parish, and the whole Church throughout the world!  My prayer for you all is that the difficulties and struggles that you have united to Christ’s sacrifice may become deeper blessings that lead to salvation.  Hopefully you made the time to go to Confession and participate in the liturgical “desert” of Lent.  Now we rejoice for St. Paul says, you were buried with Christ so that you might live with Him.  And so the Gloria, the Alleluia, the organ, the flowers, and decorations all return showing us the abundance of God’s grace in our lives.  Now that the fast is complete, the true feasting begins (though still in prudent moderation). The penances we struggled through have helped us detach from the lesser goods to focus more on the highest goods of loving God and neighbor. On that point, I encourage everyone to discern what particular penance(s) you should continue.  If you committed arriving at Mass early, then don’t go back to being late.  Maybe you prayed more before the Blessed Sacrament this Lent - why stop? Easter is not the time to regress into old habits, but persevere in the graces God has given. We must continue fostering those graces or we won’t see their fruits.

In a world that more and more rejects God, thus is quite literally going insane, may we receive God’s consolation in what is sane, true, glorious and sublime - God loves the world so much He sent His Son. He was crucified for our sins and insanity. He conquers the forces of evil in this world through His loving mercy. God is all that matters. May we trust in His Providence as we strive to bring this Christian Hope to the world. 

Divine Mercy Novena
Speaking of God’s mercy. On Good Friday began the Divine Mercy Novena which concludes next Sunday.  Pray it on your own or check out our Facebook Page if you want to follow along.
Next weekend we will have Eucharistic Adoration following Communion at the 4:30 and 11:30 Masses during which we will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. 

Sacrament of Confirmation According to the Usus Antiquor
Bishop Malesic is providing for the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Usus Antiquor (the Extraordinary Form) on May 13, 2023 at Immaculate Conception Parish in Cleveland.  If you are a parishioner of St. Paul’s and are seeking Confirmation in that Form please contact Deacon John Amedeo as soon as possible at the rectory for details on the process. A meeting needs to be scheduled, a baptismal certificate for the candidate, special permissions, sponsors chosen and paperwork to be sent to the Bishop.  We want to make sure you are prepared for celebrating this great sacrament. 

For those of us who have been confirmed, let us pray for our young adults and all being confirmed.  May we too ask God to renew us in the graces we have received from our Confirmation.
 
Happy Easter again! I would like to thank our staff and all who helped decorate, lector, serve, sing, usher, and to all our parishioners who love our Lord so much!

St. Paul, Pray for us!
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Pfr