This is the day of universal hope.  
This is the day that the Lord has made!
 
This is the day of universal hope. The day on which there gather about the Risen One, and join with him, all human sufferings, disappointments, humiliations, crosses, human dignity violated, human life not respected, oppression, repression, all the things that cry aloud:
 
Victimae paschali laudes immolent Christiani
To the paschal victim let there rise today the sacrifice of praise!
  – Pope Saint John Paul II, excerpt from the Urbi et Orbi of Easter Sunday given on April 15, 1979
 
Christ is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!
 
Happy Easter! 
 
On this Easter Tuesday the warm glow of the Risen Christ fills our hearts with universal hope, a hope that is not bound by sufferings, disappointments, humiliations, crosses, indignities, disrespect, oppression, regression, or any kind of difficulty, anxiety, and illness!  We renew our great anthem of Easter Hope: This is the day that the Lord has made!
 
These words of Pope Saint John Paul II on the First Easter of his Pontificate reflect upon the Easter Sequence – the great hymn that is sung between the Second Reading and the Gospel Proclamation.  This ancient hymn of Easter Joy proclaims in chanted verses the truth of the Risen Christ and our joyful response to the bright hope that shines forth from Heaven into our lives because of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  It is well worth reading and considering the poetic realities of this beautiful proclamation of the Risen Christ. 
 
Christ is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!
 
 

Easter Week
 
As we continue through this bright week of Easter Sunday – the Octave of Easter – we rejoice with renewed hope in the Risen Christ!
 
As I recommended yesterday, it would be very appropriate to pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary each day this week.  Also, I recommended that you read and pray with the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection (Mt. 28:1-10; Mk. 16:1-7; Lk. 24:1-12; and Jn. 20:1-9).  Also, I want to encourage each of you to pray with Scriptures for Easter Sunday Mass and the Scriptures for Today’s Holy Mass.  It would be good, in these most important days of our faith for you to pray a Spiritual Communion as you spiritually unite your time of prayer to the offering of the Holy Mass.
 
And, please pray the Divine Mercy Novena!
 
A last thought…
 
Please know of my continued prayers for each of you, especially as I approach the Altar of Sacrifice.  As your Parish Priest, you and your intentions fill my heart in my prayers and as I offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass daily. 
 
No doubt, these many weeks have been strange – praying for you, on your behalf, and with you – while separated physically.  Yet, in their own way they have been clarifying for me about the essential and significant nature of my role of the Parish Priest.  Much more can and should be said about this, perhaps in the days and weeks to come, but for now I want to assure you of my closeness to you as your Parish Priest… for now a few words from the Church’s teachings…
 
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches at length on the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Notably, the Catechism makes clear the connection of the Old Covenant Priesthood as it prefigured the Priesthood of Christ, the following paragraphs are insightful (# 1539-1540):
 
The chosen people was constituted by God as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"( Ex 19:6; cf. Isa 61:6). But within the people of Israel, God chose one of the twelve tribes, that of Levi, and set it apart for liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance (Cf. Num 1:48-53; Josh 13:33). A special rite consecrated the beginnings of the priesthood of the Old Covenant. The priests are "appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins" ( Heb 5:1; cf. Ex 29:1-30; Lev 8).
 
Instituted to proclaim the Word of God and to restore communion with God by sacrifices and prayer( Cf. Mal 2:7-9), this priesthood nevertheless remains powerless to bring about salvation, needing to repeat its sacrifices ceaselessly and being unable to achieve a definitive sanctification, which only the sacrifice of Christ would accomplish (Cf. Heb 5:3; 7:27; 101-4).
 
It remains my privilege, even in these strange days of separation, as we celebrate with great joy the Resurrection of Christ to be your Parish Priest: “appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins" ( Heb 5:1; cf. Ex 29:1-30; Lev 8).
 
 
Christ is Risen!  He is Risen, Indeed!
 
 
Know of my prayers for you, please pray for me!
 
Father Wilke
 
Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer, pray for us!