Happy Easter!

We are continuing the Easter Season, and will for a while. During this season, we are reminded of the Resurrection accounts in our readings, and this weekend we have the road to Emmaus account. We can only imagine the scene that is going on here. The disciples were sad and confused in the beginning of this account, but then they were led to being excited and overjoyed, even while still being a bit confused. They were on a journey, and they had an encounter with Christ on it, and were left with the excitement of seeing him again, an excitement that led them to run back the seven miles as it was getting dark. Just like these disciples, we all have the journey of our lives, and we encounter Jesus on it, and also like the disciples sometimes do not recognize him, but we always need to be looking out for him and be ready to respond to that encounter when it does happen. Our journeys sometimes are straight, but they are also filled with distractions, twists, and turns. They are sometimes fast and seem to last a short time, but in other times, they can seem very slow and are taking forever.

Here in the parish and school journey, we are in a lull time this weekend. We have finished the Passion of Jesus in the Triduum, we have celebrated his Resurrection during the Octave of Easter, and we have celebrated his forgiveness and grace in Divine Mercy Sunday. But next weekend, things pick back up again here with Confirmations that will be at 3:00 and during the 6:00 pm Mass, so just a warning the 6:00 Mass on the 30th will be very busy! Following that, we begin our celebration of First Holy Communion for a good size group of children. The next month or so is going to be pretty busy around here as well. Even though things are “busy” they are very good and wonderful things, especially for those children who will be receiving these sacraments and their families. I have a priest friend that warns me all the time that “busy” can be a four-letter word, and it can because we can use it as an excuse to not do something important. We can easily get caught up in the busyness of our lives, with sports, school stuff, dance, travel, etc., that we do not make time for our faith lives. It is sometimes easier to stay “busy” instead of spending the time in prayer. Many times in my priesthood, I have talked to people and they have told me that they wish that they spent more time with their children teaching them their faith and practicing it. Never once, have I ever heard someone say that they wish that they would have taken their children to more sporting events or extra-curricular activities, or spent more time at work. So, as we continue this path of the Easter season, we should all be reminded that our journey always should include our Lord and Savior who gave us the gift of new life at the end of our personal journey.

God bless,
Fr. Ken