Third Sunday of Easter

The Gospel is from St. Luke 24:35-48. Our Lord's glorious resurrection is the crowning miracle of his sojourn on earth among men. It is the foundation and cornerstone of our Christian religion. His death on Calvary proved that he was really human; his resurrection proved he was also divine. During his public life he had claimed to be God. Had that claim been untrue God the Father could not have raised him from the dead. By his death he made atonement for the sins of the world — "he nailed them to the tree of the cross"; by his resurrection he opened the gates of death for all men and made them heirs to the eternal life.

We need hardly delay to prove the fact of the resurrection of Christ, for without it there would have been no Christianity, no Christian Church. In the story of the appearance which precedes today's Gospel, we are told how two of Christ's disciples were so depressed and disorientated by his death that they were giv- ing up all interest in the dead Master and were returning home at the first opportunity (the Sabbath, Saturday, had intervened and they could not travel on that day). The Apostles were no better since Good Friday. They had remained behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They had no hope left. They too would have left Jerusalem that Sunday were it not for the story brought by Mary Magdalene that Christ's body had been taken from the tomb. When the risen Christ appeared to the ten Apostles (Thomas was absent) they thought he was a ghost, so far were their thoughts from a possible resurrection.

Of the fact of the resurrection we can have no doubts; Christianity is inexplicable without it, and Christianity has existed for almost two thousand years. A more important point for consideration today is what this resurrection means to us. "If Christ has not risen," says St. Paul (1 Cor. 15:17), "vain is your faith, for you are still in your sins." But "Christ has risen from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." Our faith then is not in vain, for the founder and foundation of our faith is the Word of God who cannot deceive or be deceived, and his resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection. He is the "first fruits," the earnest of the full harvest that was to follow after our earthly death. We shall all rise again, in glory if we have been faithful during our time on earth, in a less pleasant state, if we have not followed Christ here below.

With St. Paul then, we may well sing out today: "O death where is thy victory, O death where is thy sting?.thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15 : 55-57). Yes, Easter time is a time of rejoicing for every true Christian. It is a time for Alleluias, for praising and thanking God. Our happy future is within our reach. Our eternal happiness has been won for us by Christ and is within our grasp, if only we hold fast to the true faith of Christ, taking the rough with the smooth, going through our lesser Gethsemanes and Calvaries as Christ went through his great ones. If we do this we can hopefully await the angel who will roll back the stone from our grave one day, and allow us to enter into the glory of the eternal Easter in heaven.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Divine Mercy Sunday

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday (Second Sunday of Easter). The Gospel for today shows us Jesus appearing to the Apostles and giving them the power to forgive sins. The constant teaching of the Church from earliest times has maintained that priests continue to exercise this power in the Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation or Confession). On Divine Mercy Sunday we remember the message of Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska in which He encourages all to seek for His mercy, especially those who are the greatest sinners. We should especially recommend our friends and family members who have fallen away from the faith or have become enslaved by some addiction, whether to drugs, alcohol or pornography. Let us commend them to the Divine Mercy and trust in Jesus who has won the victory over sin.

Father Robert researched the indulgences one can gain on Divine Mercy Sunday. We should all take advantage of this. Here is what he found:

Divine Mercy Sunday (the Second Sunday of Easter) has been enriched with a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions for those who recite in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament the Our Father, the Creed, and a pious invocation to the Merciful Lord Jesus (such as "Merciful Jesus, I trust in You!") while being in the state of grace (free of mortal sin) and free of all affection for sin, even venial sin. The usual conditions for a plenary indulgence are: Holy Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Pope (for example, an Our Father and a Hail Mary) either on Divine Mercy Sunday or within several days before or after the feast, Sacramental Confession on that day or within three weeks before or after the feast, and at least a general intention of gaining the indulgence.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Hildebrand

Parish Home Visitation Project

Our parish home visits continue on April 28 on the west side of our parish. The streets included are:

• Java Rd. Maui Circle, Tahiti Dr. Club House Circle, Kauai Pl. Lanai Dr. Suva Circle, Simba Circle, Ayon Circle, Nevis Circle, Boa Vista Dr. Korna Dr. Lemnos Dr. Chios Rd. Baltra Pl. Balearic Dr. Inroz Dr. Capella Ct. Calvert Ave. Shantar Dr. and Europa Dr.
  

If you live on one of these streets, please call the rectory office 714-540-2214 to find out the location of the host family and the time of the visit. Please continue to pray for the success of this project, whose purpose is the evangelization and spiritual enrichment of our parish.

Thank You

Thank you to all the volunteers who prepared the worship environment for Holy Week as well as all the members of several ministries that participated in the Easter Triduum liturgy. A Special
thanks to Lee for the beautiful orchids and all parishioners who donated Easter Lilies. Job well done!!!!!!

With sincere thanks,

Fr. Hildebrand

Dear Friends in Christ,

He is risen as He promised, alleluia!

A very blessed and happy Easter 2009 to all of you! In recent months we have heard many promises, campaign promises, promises for economic recovery, and promises about ending the war. How many of these promises have been fulfilled? Not many, I’m sure you will agree. Hopefully the most important and needed promises will be fulfilled soon. Meanwhile we wait.

The promise of Jesus that He would rise from the dead is a promise we know has been fulfilled. We have the witnesses, the Apostles, who have handed down their own testimony, that they saw Him and that they ate and drank with Him after his resurrection. The good news for us is not only that Jesus Himself is alive, but that He has made it possible for us to share his life. This is the greater promise of the resurrection, that those who follow Jesus can also share in his new life.

Our candidates and catechumens who received the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion on this Easter Sunday have benefited from the promise of Jesus. After months of preparation, through study and prayer, they have come to believe in the Lord and his Church. Just this weekend we at St. John’s have added 38 new members to the Catholic Church.

We have good reason to rejoice. At the same time we must be humbly aware of our responsibility to support and pray for these “neophytes” these new Catholics. Please welcome them when you see them. Their journey of faith is far from over; they will probably experience even more trials now that they have been fully initiated as Catholics.

Nevertheless, they have the grace of Christ and the Sacraments to strengthen them. The promise of Jesus continues to be fulfilled in each one of us as we live the faith we proclaim. On this Easter Sunday we renew our baptismal promises. Let us not make empty promises today but promises full of conviction in the Lord and his grace. He has promised to be with us all the way. We have every good reason to trust in Him.

Sincerely yours in the risen Christ,

Fr. Hildebrand

Pope Benedict on the World Economy to the London Economic Summit (Excerpt)

The London Summit, just like the one in Washington in 2008, for practical and pressing reasons is limited to the convocation of those States who represent 90% of the world’s gross production and 80% of world trade. In this framework, sub-Saharan Africa is represented by just one State and some regional organizations. This situation must prompt a profound reflection among the Summit participants, since those whose voice has least force in the political scene are precisely the ones who suffer most from the harmful effects of a crisis for which they do not bear responsibility. Furthermore, in the long run, it is they who have the most potential to contribute to the progress of everyone.

It is necessary, therefore, to turn to the multilateral mechanisms and structures which form part of the United Nations and its associated organizations, in order to hear the voices of all countries and to ensure that measures and steps taken at G20 meetings are supported by all.

At the same time, I would like to note a further reason for the need for reflection at the Summit. Financial crises are triggered when -- partially due to the decline of correct ethical conduct -- those working in the economic sector lose trust in its modes of operating and in its financial systems. Nevertheless, finance, commerce and production systems are contingent human creations which, if they become objects of blind faith, bear within themselves the roots of their own downfall. The only true and solid foundation is faith in the human person. For this reason all the measures proposed to rein in this crisis must seek, ultimately, to offer security to families and stability to workers and, through appropriate regulations and controls, to restore ethics to the financial world.

The current crisis has raised the specter of the cancellation or drastic reduction of external assistance programs, especially for Africa and for less developed countries elsewhere. Development aid, including the commercial and financial conditions favorable to less developed countries and the cancellation of the external debt of the poorest and most indebted countries, has not been the cause of the crisis and, out of fundamental justice, must not be its victim. If a key element of the crisis is a deficit of ethics in economic structures, the same crisis teaches us that ethics is not “external” to the economy but “internal” and that the economy cannot function if it does not bear within it an ethical component.

Accordingly, renewed faith in the human person, which must shape every step towards the solution of the crisis, will be best put into practice through a courageous and generous strengthening of international cooperation, capable of promoting a truly humane and integral development. Positive faith in the human person, and above all faith in the poorest men and women -- of Africa and other regions of the world affected by extreme poverty -- is what is needed if we are truly to come through the crisis once and for all, without turning our back on any region, and if we are definitively to prevent any recurrence of a situation similar to that in which we find ourselves today.