Weekly message
from Fr. Chris

Dear SPA Family,
Last Sunday I invited you to join me on an Easter journey - a journey of hope. We saw that to take the first step, a person has to overcome a certain fear. To help you take that first step, I would like to tell you about a remarkable journey of hope.

The story involves a Jewish child who was separated from her parents when the Nazis took over Poland. Little Edith was sent to a work camp at Częstochowa. She somehow survived until the Germans began to retreat from Poland. Still wearing her prison uniform, she made her way to a town near Kraków. Emaciated and cold, she huddled in a corner. A young man, wearing a black robe, approached her. "What are you doing?" he asked. She said she was going to Kraków to look for her parents. The seminarian brought her tea and some bread with cheese.
"Try to stand," he said. When she tried and failed, he told her to put her arms around his neck and her carried her on his back, holding her bag in his hand. At Kraków they separated, and she went to look for her parents. Eventually she learned they had died - murdered at the Auschwitz death camp.
Edith emigrated to Israel. Thirty-three years later, she was watching the news about the election of pope. They announced the name, Karol Wojtyła. When she heard him say, "Do not be afraid," she recognized the voice - the same man who showed her kindness when she was abandoned. She wrote to Pope John Paul II and they in time met again. After the conversation, the pope placed his hand on her head to bless her and said, "Come back, my child."

Edith Zierer made a remarkable journey. A beautiful act of kindness helped her overcome despair, fear, and rejection. Pope John Paul saw mercy as a light against darkness when the Nazis and Communists oppressed millions of people?
John Paul II along with John XIII became officially recognized as saints 13 years ago on Divine Mercy Sunday. We hear Jesus' words, "Peace be with you." He's saying to Peter and the other apostles, "Do not fear. I know you have let me down. Yes, you abandoned me, but I did not abandon you. Peace be with you. Are you ready to pick up and make a journey with me? Just as I forgive you, I give you authority to forgive men's sins in my name."
Jesus invites the apostles to begin the journey anew. St. John XXIII invited us to take a new journey when he called the Second Vatican Council. Speaking of the Council he said: "God knows that I opened my small soul to this great inspiration with the utmost simplicity. Will he grant me enough time to finish it? May he be praised if he does not grant it. I shall see the happy conclusion from heaven, where I hope, and am even certain, Divine Mercy will allow me to enter."
The Divine Mercy enables us to overcome fear - the fear of judgment and condemnation. This is just the beginning. There's more to come, much more.

It’s so easy to think God wouldn't help us because of the mess we've made. But the great news is – no matter what you've done – Jesus wants you to come to Him for help just as you are!
No one knew this better than Peter. He had betrayed Jesus, even though he saw his miracles and was privileged to be with him at overwhelming moments such as the Transfiguration.
You and I have sinned, we have denied Jesus, but not to the degree of Simon Peter. But Jesus says to him, "Peace, I want you to begin a fresh journey with me." By his Divine Mercy, Jesus invites us to take the first step in the journey to hope.
Have a blessed Easter season. Fr. Chris

Dear SPA Family,
Easter is an invitation to experience the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, as well as an invitation to the family table at which we share wishes and a dyed egg - a symbol of reborn life. This Holy Day is associated with the joy of the first delicate spring green. Life awakening from its winter sleep. Yellow forsythia on hills, marsh marigolds on wet meadows, and daffodils of the same color growing in the home garden are an inseparable image of returning Easter memories.

However, Holy Week takes the charms of the natural world to the background. The cleaned and decorated churches exude the solemnity, the joy of the Easter Sunday. The atmosphere of ecclesiastical solemnity also sets the rhythm of the holiday cleaning at home. Everything needs to be cleaned, scrubbed, and washed. A lot of work, but there needs to be also enough time to participate in church services.
Holy Thursday is the day of the institution of the Eucharist. Holy Mass during which the priest, in the image of Christ during the Last Supper, washes the feet of twelve chosen parishioners. Good Friday is filled with painful seriousness. Through fasting and prayer, we join this suffering.

On Holy Saturday, the joy of the resurrection slowly prevails. From the very morning, children and adults with colorful and fragrant baskets gather in churches to bless Easter foods. Among the sausages, hams, cakes and Easter eggs joy emanates from everywhere. The lips are still silent, but the hearts are already singing a joyful Hallelujah. The rich liturgy of Holy Saturday, through the blessing of fire, paschal and water and the singing of the Exultet, brings us closer to the mystery of Easter morning. However, full of power, the joyous Alleluia will sound on Sunday morning at the Resurrection Mass: Hallelujah, Christ is risen.
The event that took place in Jerusalem on the morning of the first day after the Sabbath tells us about the possibility of victory over death. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus and found it empty. This fact was confirmed by the apostles. The empty tomb spoke for itself, giving a feeling that something extraordinary had happened. Then risen Christ appeared to the apostles and many other disciples. Christ is risen, He has conquered death and is alive. Moreover, He said that whoever believes in Him will also live.
Having such faith, we look at death differently. It is like a change of place of our residence. At the Easter table, we will probably mention our relatives who ‘changed their place of residence.’ Thanks to Christ’s death and resurrection, this new place is a place of life, not death.

Happy Easter! Wesołych Świąt Wielkanocnych! ¡Felices Pascuas! Maligayang Linggo ng Pagkabuhay! Fr. Chris Ciastoń