Fr. Simon's Letter - April 20, 2025

Welcome to Queen of All Saints parish. We are glad you have joined us to celebrate Easter! On behalf of the staff of our parish and school, I wish you and your families a blessed Easter. May we know more fully the everlasting joy and peace of the Risen Christ within our own hearts. Easter is the Feast of Feasts, the joyful celebration of the true event of Christ’s Resurrection; and what makes this feast even more joyful is that it is also the celebration of our own Resurrection in Him.
 
As I wish you the joy and the peace of the Risen Christ, I extend a special welcome to all who are visiting; college students who have come home, family members who are in town and those who are visiting the basilica for the first time. Today we celebrate God’s gift of hope and new life. We all join together in singing God’s praises for His definitive work of salvation in the glorious resurrection of His Son. 
 
On behalf of the entire parish community, I extend a warm welcome to the new members into our community; Erin, Lindsay and Gisela, to whom, through baptism, the sacrament of new life, the risen life of Christ is given; Joshua, Larry, Chris, Gail and Stella, who through the profession of faith, are received into the Catholic Church and are welcomed to the table of Christ; and Dana, Mia and Marc through the sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist are strengthened as witnesses to their faith. It is a joyous celebration not only for these new members, their sponsors and families, but also for us. Our witness to the faith and our prayers for them is in some way a cause for their joy. 
So celebrate the joy of new life, new members! Celebrate the Lenten journey, the sacrifices, your prayers and your generosity to those in need; celebrate the physical and spiritual benefits of the disciplines you practiced during Lent. 
 
As you celebrate, remember that Christ took our human nature for His own and gave us His. Christ has lived each of our lives; He has faced all our fears, suffered all our griefs, overcome all our temptations, labored in all our labors, loved in all our loves and died all our deaths. Christ took our humanity, just as it is, with all its wretchedness, and gave it back to us just as His humanity is, transfigured by the beauty of His living and filled full of His joy. He came back from the long journey through death to give us His Risen Life to be our life.
 
As you celebrate, remember to see Easter not as the finish line but as a fresh start to a new life in and with Christ. Happy Easter!!
 
Blessings, 
 
- Fr. Simon