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April 16, 2022Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Archbishop of Constantinople and Early Church Father, Saint John Chrysostom wrote in the third century:
O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and you are abolished. Christ is risen and the demons are cast down. Christ is risen and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life is freed. Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
Indeed Christ has risen and he comes to us as he came to the first disciples, and we are called to open our hearts to the risen presence. Yet, our belief starts with the empty tomb which announces the stark reality of death. This empty tomb sends us out, just like the apostles, to announce something new, that Jesus has risen from the dead. Only when the risen Lord repeatedly comes to us, does out own belief and meaning of the empty tomb continually grow.
Our celebration of the resurrection of Christ is a celebration of joy and hope. We are challenged to become more aware of Christ living in our presence and Christ being present in our daily lives. Through our baptismal anointing and identity as the body of the risen Christ, we can claim that death no longer holds us bound to sin, and death does not hold us in its grip. The final word is risen life. In Jesus Christ death is overcome. In Jesus Christ each of us is invited to share in immortality.
As our hearts are turned toward the risen Jesus during this Holy Season, let us continue to make Jesus present in the lives of all the people around us, in order for those who don’t know Christ, to see the risen Christ in us.
This Easter, I want to especially thank all those that are a part of our Liturgical team here at STHY. Liturgy is the great work of the Church, and with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, we at STHY are working to make sure that Liturgy is done respectfully and properly in accordance to the norms that have been set down by the Church.
STHY is blessed to have an incredible amount of faithful people that are part of our Liturgy for Easter: Altar servers, acolytes, Readers, singers, musicians, cantors, ushers, sacristans, greeters, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist and Liturgical Environment team members , and all contribute to making the Easter Liturgy here at STHY bear fruit in the lives of so many people.
I want to give a special thanks to Mrs. Pamella Pittman our Director of Liturgy and Music, along with our entire multitude of choir members and musicians who have brought us wonderful songs and music to our Easter celebrations.
What makes Easter special in the life of the Church is how the Church itself is prepared for the celebration. I want to thank our Liturgical Environment team and a host of volunteers from various other ministries in our parish, for decorating the Church for our Easter celebrations. The Church looks beautiful and thank you all for your time and effort that has allow us to celebrate Easter in an atmosphere of prayer and worship.
I want to thank Mrs. Pamela Johnson, Our Director of Faith Formation, along with our team of Catechist and Sponsors for their work of religious formation in R.C.I.A. Congratulations goes to the people that were brought into full communion with the Catholic Church this Easter Vigil.
The parish offices will be closed on Easter Monday, April 18th in observance of Easter. On behalf of all the Staff here at St. Hyacinth we wish you all a Blessed Easter!
Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Alleluia!
God Bless,
Fr. Reginald Samuels
