BREAD FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD: This weekend marks the first of this spring’s First Communions as well as next Saturday and Sunday. Twenty-three Warren County children will receive Jesus for the initial time in the form of bread and wine. Yeah! What a humble and amazing Savior we have! Not content to die on the cross for our sins and to rise again on the third day to unlock the gates of heaven, Christ also made sure that he would be with us always in the Sacrament of the Altar. Jesus truly is bread for the life of the world (John 6). He gives of himself so that you and I can share in his holiness and in his life. Please pray that our First Communicants grow up to be great saints. With the Eucharist to strengthen them for the journey . . . why shouldn’t they be?

TOTALLY ON MISSION: Can I get a witness? There are churches where that queston is asked each Sunday morning. The answers take the form of “glory stories:” anecdotes of how God is working in individual Christian lives. Here in our parish, we strive to be Totally on Mission. That mission is to bring others into a new or deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Reading through the Acts of the Apostles, we see the word “witness” used again and again. To give witness to Christ is to share with another how the Lord is at work in my life. Please do not be afraid to do this. Almost every encounter is an opportunity to give witness. Be focused. Be “ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope (1 Pet 3:15).” Be Totally on Mission!

PLANTING A FLAG FOR CHRIST: At daily and Sunday Mass throughout the Easter Season, we read from the Acts of the Apostles. This is the biblical book in which Luke tells the story of the infant, apostolic Church and the spread of the Christian faith. It’s an amazing story! Though repeatedly ostracized, rejected, persecuted and martyred, brave Christians spoke the name of Jesus and proclaimed his gospel of love. It is due to the evangelical courage of those first disciples that there are some 2.4 billion of us Christians in the world today. Our Christian forebearers understood that to follow Christ was a risky proposition. Our Lord had warned them while he was still alive that “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake (Mt 10:22).” St. Paul echoed Christ’s words: “Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12).” There have been many times throughout the last 2,000 years that brave women and men stood for Christ at the cost of their very lives.

EASTER BLESSINGS: Our celebration of Easter – especially with the welcoming of nine new Catholics to our community – was indeed a blessed moment. Remember, though, that this Easter Season that we are now enjoying continues for a full 50 days! The Church, in her wisdom, wants us to celebrate with exuberance. When we read the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible, we see that the preaching of the first evangelists focused overwhelmingly on the Resurrection of Jesus. The Lord’s rising from the dead changed everything! Listen to St. Paul: “For if we have been united with (Jesus) in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his (Rom 6:5).” How incredible is that!?!? Through the rising of Christ, we too are given the hope of eternal life. If each of us remains in Christ, each of us will be with Christ in heaven. What a beautiful promise! Happy Easter! Rejoice!