Alleluia! Jesus is Risen!

Easter greetings and hope for a bright future to you, whatever brings you to Padre Serra Parish today. You are most welcome, you are most wanted, and for as long as you are here, be at home in this vineyard of the Lord.

Our religious yearnings can leave us stretching in new ways. So if you come to this Easter Sunday a searcher, let me encourage you to seek the answers to your life’s questions in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. He is for us the
answer to our uncertainties, the light that shines even when all else is dark, the voice that calls us to growth and challenges us to love yet more.

Jesus’ death was a share in our human destiny. His resurrection is the bright promise for us of future union with God the Father. So, if you have brought any sorrow or heaviness to this Easter Day, I invite you to lay it at the foot of Jesus’ cross, and allow new life, His life, to be reborn in you.

Jesus’ victory over darkness and death can be ours…can be yours. The Easter egg, itself, is a symbol of life arising from unexpected places. So, if you come here troubled, with fear, or facing huge dilemmas, let the Lord’s victory over death take root in your life, leading to your renewal.

And if, by blessed chance, you come with joy in your heart, I encourage you to celebrate with full voice and heart. To be able to do that would be the very essence of Easter – celebrating what God the Father has done, conquering
death through the resurrection of His Son from the dead.

On this wonderful day of celebration, my prayer for you is

• that every dry, arid corner of your life might be watered by God’s life giving grace and spring forth with new life;
• that you might feel deeply the Father’s enduring love for you;
• that sadness or loneliness in your life might be banished;
• and that God’s Spirit will dwell within you, bringing joy.

I’m so pleased that you are here, and that together we can rejoice in what God has done for us. Every Easter blessing to you and those you love.

Siempre adelante!

Fr. Patrick

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