The message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska. St. Faustina was an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy before she died in 1938. The central message of The Divine Mercy is that God loves us all, no matter how great our sins may be, and that He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins. Thus, we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Beginning on Good Friday and continuing for nine days, The Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers are prayed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the hour that Jesus died on the cross. The devotion was actively promoted by Pope John Paul II who, on April 30, 2000, canonized St. Faustina and officially designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. He was so devoted to The Divine Mercy that, I believe, it was not by coincidence that he died on the Vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday on April 2, 2005.

The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ gives us the hope of life after death and, above all, the knowledge that God has power over life and death. By His death and Resurrection, Jesus ushered in a new creation transforming all believers into that new creation (2 Cor 5:17). The first people to experience this transforming power of the Resurrection were His disciples. During the Passion of Jesus Christ, they were paralyzed with so much fear that they denied him and ran away into hiding. All this changed when they saw the Risen Christ! The stories about the lives of the Apostles after the death of Jesus, in the Acts of the Apostles, show that the power of the Resurrection overwhelmed and transformed them so much that they were no longer afraid of anything. It is this power of the Resurrection that we are celebrating today! Easter is so important to us that every daily Mass, throughout this week, will be celebrated as the Easter Sunday Mass, also known as the Octave of Easter.

Congratulations to Mr. Nick Garza for being selected as our new Music Director. Nick comes with many years of experience in the music ministry and worship leadership. He is also the owner of Nick Garza Productions, specializing in Audio and Video Media Engineering. Nick's wife, Nikki is also a Church musician and worship leader. Nick, Nikki and their four children will be joining us at Mass this weekend. Please join me in welcoming Nick and his family to our parish community. I pray their ministry will bring many blessings to our parish community. I thank everyone for your prayers, patience and understanding during the past five weeks while we were searching for our new Music Director. My special thanks to the Choir members for the wonderful music, even in the absence of a Music Director.

Dear Parishioners,

I would like to thank all those who participated in the Lenten Penance Service during the week. I really appreciate the good turn out and active participation during the service. Also, thanks to those who attended the St John Bosco Gala (A Night to Dream Big). Through your generous support to the school, we were able to raise over $50,000. This fund will go toward the purchase of books and educational materials needed in the Library and classrooms.