My Very Dear Brothers and Sisters:
As we prepare to celebrate the great events of Easter, I would like to invite you to approach this Holy Season with deeply grateful hearts and minds that Christ has paid the ultimate sacrifice for us: He died for our sins.
Easter’s Gospel proclaims to the disciple of Jesus: “The Lord’s Tomb is empty! He is risen!” Jesus, through His suffering and death, has defeated all sin and death. But the good news calls out to each one of us even more importantly and intimately, “Your tomb is empty! You also can rise!”
Perhaps we should ask how. Definitely we should cast out all forms of hatred, gossip, ill-feelings and above all, our sins. As we recall, the “Exsultet,” the great Easter song which always doubles as the Easter Proclamation, states clearly the most wonderful event: “Dispel all evil, wash guilt away, restore lost innocence, bring mourners joy; it casts our hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride… When heaven is wedded to earth and human beings are reconciled with God!” Do you agree with me that this is most wonderful? Please do not let us lose out in the grace that God is lavishing on us. Our act and deed of appreciation to God for this greatest event in human history is to “climb the mountain of the Lord with clean hearts and pure hearts.” Blessed are they who are poor in spirit, and blessed are they who are clean of heart.
I am extremely thankful to God about the opportunity to serve you over last three years. I believe that we have had good times and bad times together, but I also deeply recognize that this is not happening accidently. This is the will of God and the intention of God that we are becoming a family. I am your pastor but I also am your servant. Please forgive me my sins as well as any wrong-doings that might have offended anyone unintentionally; so I do the same to you! By doing this, the Easter Season will become joyful for all of us. I wish and pray for you that through the Mystery of the Resurrection of Christ, God will grant you PEACE, JOY AND HAPPINESS. Together, let us resolve to think and talk and act as Easter people, to bring Christ’s peace to our families, our communities and our world. HAPPY EASTER.
With love,
Fr. Thuong Hoai Nguyen
Pastor