April 7, 2013 - the Parish of St. Agnes Cathedral

Page 4 April 7, 2013From the RectorDear Parishioners:What does it mean that Jesus is risen? It means that the love of God is stronger than evil and death itself; it meansthat the love of God can transform our lives and let those desert places in our hearts bloom. The love of God can dothis!Pope Francis' Easter Message31 March 2013As we continue our Easter Celebration in the Octave of Easter, I write to thank all those who havemade the love of God so evident during the Lenten Season and Holy Week. As you know, we as a parishjourneyed in various ways together as we participated in Living the Eucharist. I thank all those who werepart of this Lenten Program. In particular I thank the leadership team for the great job they did. I thankPhil Katz who served as Parish Coordinator for the Program and kept us focused. I thank the followingpeople who served on the committee and worked so well at carrying out the various tasks involved in theprogram: Margarita Barahona, Liz Boylan, Pam Shea Byrnes, Janet Carl, Betty DeLeo, Angela Delessio,Dolores DeVito, Irene Fortunato, Donna Kozma, Harry Larson, Celeste Maloney, Tom and Mary EllenNofi, Bernie and Margaret Mary O’Connell, Lynda Rubino and Kathy SenaAs we moved from Lent to Easter we were blessed by the work of many others who gave sogenerously of themselves. I thank the Liturgy Committee who started preparing for Holy Week a year agoas they met right after last year’s Holy Week and reviewed how things went and how we might makethings even better. I thank the Pastoral Staff and the Diocesan offices who worked so hard in the planningand execution of the Holy Week services. Once again, I thank Monsignor Kelly and his wonderful eye forbeauty as he worked with the florists from Art Flower and Gift Shoppe to create a beautiful environmentfor your prayer. I thank all of our Liturgical Ministers: Readers, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion,Hospitality Ministers and Ushers, Altar Servers, Musicians, Cantors and our extraordinary Choirs under thegifted direction of Michael Bower and Michael Wustrow. The willingness of so many of our LiturgicalMinisters to adjust their schedules so that they could help where needed and not just where it wasconvenient is a living example of what Jesus called His disciples to do on Holy Thursday night as Hewashed his disciples’ feet: to serve the needs of others. I thank my brother priests as they ministered theSacrament of Reconciliation to hundreds of people, led us in prayer and presided at Mass.On behalf of us all, I express a special word of gratitude to Bishop Murphy for leading us in prayerduring these holiest of days and deepening our awareness of God’s love for us. I thank everyone whoparticipated in the Holy Week and Easter Liturgies and, with raised hearts and voices, gave glory andpraise to God.In the Peace and Love of Christ,Father Bill