Easter blessings to all of you in the St. Patrick Catholic Community!
The joy of the resurrection removed sadness and fear from the first disciples of Jesus. In the dark days of uncertainty and fear in which we find ourselves today, the risen Lord reminds us “I will not leave you orphans.” We need to look around us and see the reasons to hope.
Medical people are putting their lives on the line. Scientists are working tirelessly to find treatments and a vaccine. Government leaders at all levels are looking out for the health and safety of their people. Everyone is making the sacrifice of staying home for the good of their fellow human beings. Seeing so many heroes on the news daily should fill us with hope.
But the surest sign of hope is the resurrection of the Lord. He has conquered sin, death and all evil. And before he ascended into heaven he promised us: “I will be with you always.” May you experience his presence this Easter; may you find hope in his promise; and may joy fill your heart and your home.
Alleluia is a Jewish word that means "Give Praise to God".
Last year a little boy told me the meaning of Alleluia meant -
"Hooray for God" Wow, not a joke but real
"Hooray for God" in sending us Jesus and for dying for love of us.
"Hooray for God" for raising Jesus from the dead
"Hooray for God" or Jesus busting out of the tomb
"Hooray for God" or being with us in good days and bad
As we are sheltered at home, each one of us must be an Alleluia from head to foot.
What we say and do, our words, deeds and actions,
everything about us, continues to proclaim by our lives and "Gives Praise to God"
So be sure to tell and show others your "Hooray for God" for the 50 days of Easter.
Father Bill
Easter Message from Fr. Ben
A kindergarten teacher was telling her students the story of Jesus. In her class was a little boy who came from a non-Christian family. He was paying close attention to the story because it was all new to him. As the teacher told how Jesus was condemned and nailed to the cross to die, the boy’s countenance fell and he murmured, “No! that’s too bad!” The teacher then went on to tell how, on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and came back to life. The boy’s eyes lit up and he exclaimed, “Totally awesome!”
Yes, it is too bad that we cannot all come together to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. But, with the little boy, let us exclaim, “Totally awesome!”
I wish all of you and yours a Blessed Easter!
Fr. Ben
Easter Message from Fr. Frank
What a different Easter! Different but the same! Different because we will not be able to gather together in the church to see the Easter Candle come into the church. The same because we will be able to profess our faith in the Risen Christ, who is the light of the world. After three days in the tomb, Jesus rose from the dead – a sign that evil will never win in the end. May our faith in the Risen Christ lead us to hope in His power over all evils – including the Coronavirus. May our baptismal promises, which we renew on Easter Sunday, guide our lives, and lead us to a deeper personal relationship with the Risen Christ, the light of the world.
Fr. Frank
Easter Message from Fr. Carlos
“NO ESTÁ AQUÍ. HA RESUCITADO”. (Mt 28,6).
Hay dos versos de la Escritura que son maravillosos y pueden dar el sentido completo de la Pascua: “Sé que buscáis a Jesús, el Crucificado; no está aquí, ha resucitado como lo había dicho…. Ha resucitado de entre los muertos e irá delante de vosotros a Galilea…” (Mt 28, 6-7). El hecho central de nuestra fe nos lleva, por una parte, a preguntarnos qué hemos hecho con la Noticia más, Bella, Importante y Trascendental que ha sido proclamada en todo el mundo en veintiún siglos: Cristo ha resucitado. No podemos olvidar que las Buenas Noticias no sólo son para admirarlas y contemplarlas, guardándolas en el corazón en forma personalista y hasta egoísta. Esas Noticias son para proclamarlas. Sólo cuando anunciamos con palabras y con obras la Gran Noticia de Cristo Resucitado, demostramos que somos verdaderos discípulos y misioneros.
El mensaje pascual nos lleva, por otra parte, a ser conscientes de que el discipulado no termina. Jesús nunca graduó a sus discípulos, sino que los llama para que estén con Él y luego enviarlos a predicar (Mc 3, 14). El texto que estamos contemplando nos dice que Jesús irá delante de sus discípulos a Galilea. Ya resucitado, el Señor precede a sus seguidores y los encuentra en Galilea, precisamente allí donde comenzó la vocación y la misión de los discípulos. Desde allí los llamó y desde allí los vuelve a enviar para que recomiencen la tarea que los hace discípulos permanentes de Jesús y misioneros de su Evangelio. La Pascua es, ante todo, un llamado a retomar nuestra vocación de discípulos y misioneros.
Carlos Valencia B., cjm.
The Easter Message Speaks to a Pandemic
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle begins his message for Easter 2020 with these words:
As we prepare to celebrate Easter 2020, finally the world is united. We are united in fear of what tomorrow will bring, of not knowing if our societies will withstand the devastating impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and if we or our family members will survive this terrible moment.
We are in the garden of Gethsemane with the disciples and our faith is being badly shaken. Many of us are suffering and are tempted to feel that we have nowhere to turn as science, our governments and the knowledge we have developed to this point in history offer us no solutions.
So what does our faith in the resurrection mean in the midst of a pandemic? Will we allow our fears to overwhelm us? Does anything unite us beyond our fears?
I propose that the message of the resurrection is precisely the antidote that God holds out to us. The basic message of Easter is that Jesus Christ has conquered sin, and evil, and even death. There is no power in this world that is stronger than God. There is no evil that God cannot conquer. In the resurrection of Jesus, God has assured believers that they have no reason to fear. God is still in charge.
The mystery of the incarnation teaches us that God has a bias for using human persons to bring healing to our world. Miracles happen in very ordinary ways. I believe that we can see the hand of God working in our world today in a way that will conquer the evil we have named covid-19. Scientists are working hard to find a cure and to come up with a vaccine. Medical personnel and all kinds of first responders are making heroic sacrifices to care for the sick. Sacrificial love has been made manifest by grocery store workers, teachers, clergy, delivery persons, government leaders, and a host of other professions. We are told that 90% of people are making the sacrifice of staying at home for the sake of the common good. God’s grace is at work in the daily sacrifices of so many people. God has certainly not left us alone.
The Easter message is that God is faithful to his promise. God promised that death would not be the final victor. God raised Jesus from the dead. This is the root and foundation of our hope. It is this confidence that can make us strong in the face of evil and can help us to overcome our fears.
Our faith in the resurrection gives us reason to rejoice even in the midst of so many challenges. As the children of Israel returned to Jerusalem after a long exile, Nehemiah told them: “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” May it be so for us
Stations of the Cross presented by our Youth Ministry...click to watch
A Golden Priest
On April 11, 1970, William F. Rowland, CJM was ordained a Catholic priest in his native city of Buffalo, NY. We rejoice with Fr. Bill as he celebrates 50 years as a Eudist priest. We thank God for calling this dedicated son of God to share in the ministerial priest, serving Christ and His Church. We are especially grateful that Fr. Bill has accepted the call to serve for more than 14 years at St. Patrick Catholic Community in Carlsbad.
You can be sure that we will have a special celebration to mark this golden anniversary. As soon as it is prudent and convenient, we will have a parish Mass and reception to honor this generous and faithful servant of God.
If you have other members of your family or your friends who would like to be on our email list, just let me know or write to Mary McLain at [email protected]We will be pleased to add them.
We have opened a YouTube channel where we have daily and Sunday Masses posted for the parish called St Patrick Church Carlsbad that you can subscribe to.
Peter preaches about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 118:1-2,16-17,22-23
Rejoice in this day of the Lord.
Second Reading
Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
Colossians: Having been raised by Christ, be concerned with what is above.
1 Corinthians: Let us celebrate this feast with new yeast.
Gospel Reading
John 20:1-9
Mary of Magdala finds that the stone has been removed from Jesus' tomb.
Background on the Gospel Reading
Today we begin the Easter Season, our 50-day meditation on the mystery of Christ's Resurrection. Our Gospel today tells us about the disciples' discovery of the empty tomb. It concludes by telling us that they did not yet understand that Jesus had risen from the dead. Thus, the details provided are not necessarily meant to offer proof of the Resurrection. The details invite us to reflect upon a most amazing gift, that is faith in Jesus and his Resurrection.
Each of the four Gospels tells us that Jesus' empty tomb was first discovered by women. This is notable because in first-century Jewish society women could not serve as legal witnesses. In the case of John's Gospel, the only woman attending the tomb is Mary of Magdala. Unlike the Synoptic accounts, John's Gospel does not describe an appearance of angels at the tomb. Instead, Mary is simply said to have observed that the stone that had sealed the tomb had been moved, and she runs to alert Simon Peter and the beloved disciple. Her statement to them is telling. She assumes that Jesus' body has been removed, perhaps stolen. She does not consider that Jesus has been raised from the dead.
Simon Peter and the beloved disciple race to the tomb, presumably to verify Mary's report. The beloved disciple arrives first but does not enter the tomb until after Simon Peter. This detail paints a vivid picture, as does the detail provided about the burial cloths. Some scholars believe that the presence of the burial cloths in the tomb offers evidence to the listener that Jesus' body had not been stolen (it is understood that grave robbers would have taken the burial cloths together with the body).
The Gospel passage concludes, however, that even having seen the empty tomb and the burial cloths, the disciples do not yet understand about the Resurrection. In the passage that follows, Mary of Magdala meets Jesus but mistakes him for the gardener. In the weeks ahead, the Gospel readings from our liturgy will show us how the disciples came to believe in Jesus' Resurrection through his appearances to them. Our Easter faith is based on their witness to both the empty tomb and their continuing relationship with Jesus—in his appearances and in his gift of the Holy Spirit.
Decorating the House for Easter
Decorating your house for Easter can be a way to bring some joy to your home. It can also become an occasion for discussing the meaning for the season. Another article in this newsletter speaks about the significance of Easter eggs. It is unclear what bunnies have to do with the religious meaning of the feast.
Attached are some coloring pages that can be used by the young (or not so young) to bring across the true meaning of the holy day we celebrate. Have fun with them.
I was reading about Easter customs, wondering what Easter eggs have to do with our celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. I will just summarize a few of the ideas I ran across.
While for Christians the egg is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ representing his emergence from the tomb, the egg has been a symbol since before Christians even began celebrating Jesus' resurrection. The ancient Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians, and Hindus all believed the world began with an enormous egg, thus the egg as a symbol of new life has been around for eons. The particulars may vary, but most cultures around the world use the egg as a symbol of new life and rebirth.
From a Christian perspective, the egg represents the resurrection of Jesus. The first book to mention Easter eggs by name was written 500 years ago. Yet, a North African tribe that had become Christian much earlier had a custom of coloring eggs at Easter. Long hard winters often meant little food, and a fresh egg for Easter was quite a prize. A notation in the household accounts of Edward I of England showed an expenditure of eighteen pence for 450 eggs to be gold-leafed and colored for Easter gifts.
Another reason eggs became a symbol of Easter is that when Christians used to abstain from all animal products during Lent, an Easter egg was symbolic way to break the long Lenten fast. It is interesting to note, however, that eggs play almost no part in the Easter celebrations of Mexico, South America, and Native American Indian cultures.
The practice of painting eggs goes back to ancient times when decorated shells were part of the rituals of spring. Instead of chicken eggs, however, ostrich eggs were used. The first Christians to adopt this tradition were from Mesopotamia, and they colored their eggs red, in memory of the blood of Christ. Methods included using onion skins and placing flowers or leaves onto the shells before dyeing to create patterns. Eastern European countries use wax resistant batik to create designs by writing with beeswax. Today, food coloring is most common.
Decorating small bare tree branches to be "Easter egg trees" has become a popular custom in some parts of the United States since the 1990s.
We are all familiar with the quintessential Easter egg hunt, but other countries have different traditions using the Easter egg. Some European children go from house to house begging for Easter eggs, much like Halloween trick-or-treaters. Called pace-egging, it comes from the old word for Easter, Pasch.
Another game is the Easter egg roll, which the White House holds every year. The egg rolling is a symbolic re-enactment of the rolling away of the stone from Christ's tomb. Different countries have their own rules of the game--on the White House lawn, for example, children push their eggs with a wooden spoon, whereas in Germany children roll their eggs down a track made of sticks.
In these days of social distancing and staying home, you may want to try some of these Easter egg customs into your home life. Discussing the meaning of this symbol can be a fruitful way to reflect on the Resurrection of Jesus.
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Comunión Espiritual
Creo, Jesús mío,
que estás real
y verdaderamente
en el Santísimo Sacramento del Altar.
Te amo sobre todas las cosas
y deseo vivamente recibirte
dentro de mi alma,
pero no pudiendo hacerlo
ahora sacramentalmente,
ven al menos
espiritualmente a mi corazón.
Y como si ya te hubiese recibido,
te abrazo y me uno del todo a Ti.
Señor, no permitas que jamás me aparte de Ti. Amen
I realize that some of you are experiencing budget problems of your own at this time and I am not asking to cut yourself short. But please keep in mind the needs of our parish during these uncertain times.
Those of you who use weekly offertory envelopes, please enclose your giving into the special mailing envelope that comes in your packet
Many of you pay your bills using online banking bill pay, you can choose St. Patrick Church to receive donations to Sunday Collection this way
This may also be a time to consider using Online Giving as a way of contributing to the parish during this time. https://www.osvonlinegiving.com/58
Thank you for whatever you can do.
Scam Alert of Email and Texts from Fr. Ron Bagley
An email and text scam exists within our diocese where an email or text supposedly from Fr. Ron or from a clergy member of the parish requests gift cards or other favors from parishioners and parish staff. Please delete these emails and block the texts immediately as such a request will never come from the parish through an email or text.
One Day at a Time: Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bread-watch this video message...
Online Giving users - set up your Easter Donation here
If you are not a regular financial supporter of St. Patrick Church, please consider making a donation by using Online Giving.
During this time of inactivity, we will use our parish email system to communicate with parishioners to offer spiritual reflections and make announcements.
If you know someone who does not receive our emails, please forward this to them, or have them reply to this message to add their email address. You can also call the office at 760.729.2866.
The church is open for private prayer every day from 6:00am - 7:00pm