Bulletins from April 2023

In the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus describes Himself as the Good (or “ideal”) Shepherd and the “Gate” for the sheep, the One who will lay down His life for the sake of the flock. This biblical image of shepherds and sheep reminds us of King David, who himself was shepherding his father’s flock when he was anointed to be King over all of Israel. Jesus, proclaimed as “Son of David,” is Shepherd- King, the Servant of all. We who follow Him are asked to be the same: authority is for loving service, whether in our homes and families, in our parish and beyond. In the Diocese of San José, “Good Shepherd Sunday.” (the Fourth Sunday of Easter) is the weekend on which an annual collection is taken to benefit the Retirement Fund for our Diocesan Priests. This Sunday was chosen in the hope that parishioners throughout the Diocese might relate the priests who served them for decades in the past to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. There is a lengthy announcement about this collection here in the bulletin. I would ask you to review it when considering if you can make a gift to support the retired and soon-retired priests of our Diocese.

A hymn comes to mind, in the original Spanish: Por la calzada de Emaús un peregrino iba conmigo. No le conocí al caminar; ahora sí, en la fracción del pan. [Along the road to Emmaus a pilgrim was with me. I did not know him when walking; now yes, in the breaking of the bread.] The proverbial “Road to Emmaus” is the age-old story of disciples encountering the Lord who walks with them along the paths of their lives. It also presents the pattern of our worship: breaking open the Scriptures and the Breaking of the Bread. It is through the latter that the former makes sense, as recounted in the gospel account: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” and “And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.” Jesus does not wait for us to call upon Him or for us to go where we expect Him to be (as in the church). He finds us and walks with us, present to us especially in our time of need. The Risen Lord continues to be present to us. We need to attune ourselves to recognize Him in the Scriptures, the Eucharist and at every moment of our lives.

Easter is so great a feast that it cannot be contained in one day alone. For us, the “day” of Easter extends for a whole week, until today. The Easter Season extends until Pentecost, which we celebrate on May 28. During this past week, we have been hearing gospel accounts of Easter morning and Easter night. In today’s gospel reading, we join the apostles – all of them except Thomas – on the night of Easter and again the following week. They were slow to understand and accept what had happened, even as we might have been. After all, they knew that Jesus had died and was buried; they could not imagine that he was alive again. For us who have celebrate Easter and the Lord’s Resurrection for most or all of our lives, perhaps the opposite is true: we are so used to the idea of Resurrection that we do not appreciate how truly earthshaking it is and what a rupture in the human condition it represents. Psalm 118 captures this reality: “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad.” Only God turns death into life. Let us rejoice and let us be glad!

The Blessing of the New Fire and the preparation of the Paschal Candle at the Easter Vigil proclaim that Christ, the Risen One, could not be held by death, and that darkness had no power over the Light of the World. From Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday, we retrace the steps of Christ: acclaimed as King, then Crucified and Risen. Our celebrations proclaim life to be stronger than death, love, more powerful than hatred, and hope that dispels all fear. Please be with us in our prayer! May Easter 2023 bestow on us hope that comes from the Lord. We are challenged, commanded and missioned to be that hope to one another.