Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Sometimes people ask me why I became a priest. The answer is simply because God called me to be a priest but Our Lord called me through the people He placed in my life. My vocation to the priesthood grew because of the beautiful example of love shown to me by my parents, my brother and sisters, my friends and the Church. Of course the family is important to our growth in life and love but the role of the parish in encouraging and supporting vocations to the priesthood and religious life is also very important.

Just sitting there in the Church, week after week, among so many good people who were devoted to the faith helped me so much in my formation as a Catholic. To see around me people praying in the pews, serving on the altar and singing in the choir; to see ordinary people giving up their time to build up the Church was a powerful witness to how much they valued the faith they professed.

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Sixty-eight days ago on February 13, many of us came to church. We came to celebrate our common faith at one of our five Ash Wednesday Masses. This has been a particularly challenging Lent for me and from what I gather for many. On that Ash Wednesday, hardy groups of Catholics came to receive ashes and to take to heart the admonition of the Lenten Season: "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." And after Mass, these faithful Catholics disappeared from church back into their lives. Most were on their way to work or school, having begun the important task of every Catholic: preparing themselves for the coming of Easter some six weeks later.

And now we are in the season of Easter! Lent, like winter, is disappearing (hopefully!) from our landscape! The purples of Lent have disappeared from our church. The symbols of Jesus' journey in the desert, and his passion and death on the cross have been transformed into signs of His risen life--Easter lilies, spring flowers, the new Paschal Candle, and the abundance of water flowing from our baptismal fonts grace our church!

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Pope Francis makes me feel uncomfortable like Mother Teresa made me feel uncomfortable. They both remind me of the importance of personal simplicity. When I hear stories circulate about our new pope taking mass transit while in his native Argentina— it wakes me up! And his shoes are old! And he's not moving into the lavish papal apartment. So yes, he's making me uncomfortable and that's a good thing.

So what Pope Francis is teaching us about poverty? In addition to his call to relieve the sufferings of the poor by living more simply, he also is reminding us that poverty goes beyond the material world. For in the sight of the God of the Universe, we're all poor and needy.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

"But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed." (Eph 2:4-5).

On Divine Mercy Sunday, the focus is on the healing power of Our Lord's Mercy. Through Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Confessions, praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy, we will draw special attention to God's Divine Mercy. Along with the regular Mass schedule, we will have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the main church beginning at 2:00 pm. In honor of Divine Mercy there will be the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. We will conclude the octave day of Easter with Mass at 3:00pm in which we will ask for Our Lord's Divine Mercy to heal our hearts, our minds, and our bodies.

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