Dear Parishioners and Friends,
On behalf of all of us at our Pastorate of the Visitation, I would like to wish everyone a very Blessed and Joyous Easter! Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Today is the most important day in the Christian year, even more important than Christmas. For today, we celebrate Jesus’ triumph over sin and death, offering to us the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life in the heavenly kingdom. Jesus’ Resurrection also ushers in a new era in human history, where we have been invited into a deeper union with God and sent forth into the world to share our witness and testimony concerning the saving power of Christ. So go forth today, and every day to proclaim that Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
The celebration of Easter is so important that the Church celebrates it as an Octave, meaning eight days. The Octave of Easter concludes next Sunday with the Sunday of Divine Mercy. Because Easter is late this year, we will also begin celebrating First Communions next weekend. St. Jane Frances will be celebrating at the 11:30am Mass on April 27th, and OLC will be celebrating the weekend of May 3–4 at several Masses. We also celebrate on Easter the Sacraments of Initiation for those entering into the Church at the Easter Vigil. We congratulate all who have joined or have been confirmed in the Church this year! The next couple of weeks are very busy, but busy with joyous and celebratory encounters with the Risen Christ.
Also during the Easter Season, we will be reading from the Acts of the Apostles, which documents the growth of the early Church, empowered by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Easter Season concludes with the Solemnity of Pentecost, which we will celebrate on June 8th. This year we are also planning to prepare for Pentecost by celebrating the Pentecost Novena beginning on May 30th. Stay tuned for more details.
There are many great events and celebrations planned for the coming weeks and months for our Pastorate. Many of them are included in this weekend’s bulletin. Please take a moment to review them and mark your calendars so that you can join us. I would like to highlight a few of them:
- We will be honoring the Blessed Mother with our annual May Crowning on Sunday, May 4th after the 10am Mass at St Jane Frances, and Sunday, May 11th after the 10:45am Mass at OLC.
- The Knights of Columbus at OLC will be hosting a Mother’s Day breakfast on May 11th in the Gathering Place. Come and celebrate Mom’s special day!
- Our Lady of the Chesapeake is celebrating our 45th anniversary this year. Archbishop Lori will be celebrating the 4:00pm Mass on Saturday, May 31st followed by a celebratory toast in the Gathering Place. Fr. Jim will be with him as well.
- We are also selling raffle tickets for our Forty-Five Fantastic Years of Faith Raffle. Tickets are $20 each and there are 21 chances to win a prize. The drawing will take place after the 4:00 p.m. Mass on May 31st. Raffle tickets can be purchased online at GiveCentral.org, after Masses, or by emailing OLCanniversary@olchesapeake.org.
Thank you for keeping our Pastorate of the Visitation—St. Jane Frances de Chantal and Our Lady of the Chesapeake—in your daily prayers! We certainly remember all of you in my daily prayers as well!
God Bless,
Father Steve & Father John
