April 16, 2023 Divine Mercy Sunday To My Spiritual Family of Holy Redeemer and St. Anthony, Easter Triduum Thanks: The most solemn and important days of the liturgical year are also some of the most palpably beautiful. I certainly experienced that in my own heart as we celebrated the Easter Mysteries here at the parish. God is at the center of it all, but so many people contributed to making our sacramental celebrations so wonderful. A sincere word of gratitude goes out to the parish staff, the Parish Leadership Team, all the OCIA leaders, the altar servers and lectors, the musicians and singers, Deacon Joe (his prayerful chanting is wonderful), those who had their feet washed, the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, those who prayed at the altar of repose, our Liturgy of the Hours participants, the church cleaners, the church decorators, the set up and tear down folks, the greeters and ushers, and all who filled the pews (and there were a lot of folks filling the Easter pews!). Thank you and God bless you! Confirmation: We are excited to welcome our shepherd, Bishop Lawrence Persico, who will be conferring the Sacrament of Confirmation at Holy Redeemer on this Wednesday evening, April 19. The Mass is at 7:00 pm and all are welcome to attend. We have a wonderful group of young people who will be receiving this fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Their catechists have so faithfully and lovingly prepared them. To say “yes” to Christ in our secular and often pagan culture is an act of courage. I commend our teens for persevering in their faith. Please keep them in your prayers! Divine Mercy Devotions: I hope you are able to join us for Divine Mercy Devotions this afternoon (Sunday, April 16th). I can imagine St. Faustina Kowalska herself beckoning you to be present. What a wonderful feast day this is! As sinners, we are each desperately in need of God’s mercy. Our Holy Hour will begin at 2:00 pm in Holy Redeemer. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration. I will be in the confessional. At 3:00 – the Hour of Mercy – we will chant the chaplet together. Christ’s mercy is so generously poured out for every one of us. What a compassionate and amazing God we have. Thank you, Jesus, for always seeking us out! Eucharistic Saint Relics: Finally, I offer you some exciting news. Please know that we have been invited to host the travelling relics of St. Manuel Gonzales Garcia and Blessed Carlo Acutis. This is a blessing and a privilege for our parish family! The relics of these Eucharistic saints will be with us throughout the weekend of Pentecost (May 27-28). St. Manuel is known as the “Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle” and Blessed Carlo (only a teen when he died of leukemia), who was an expert on Eucharistic miracles, is the first Millennial to be beatified. The exhibit is touring the United States in conjunction with our national Eucharistic Revival. I will be personally transporting the relics to Warren after attending the priest ordinations in Erie on May 26th. I will certainly enjoy conversing with Manuel and Carlo as I make my way back home that night! God is good! Mary, Mother of the Holy Redeemer – Pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe – Pray for us! St. Anthony – Pray for us! St. Joseph – Pray for us! Fr. Steve