Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, At the Last Supper which we commemorated on Holy Thursday, Jesus took bread and wine and instituted the Eucharist, instructing the Apostles to “Do This in Memory of Me.” (1 Cor. 11:24) When we come together for the celebration of Mass, we not only experience our unity as living members of the Body of Christ, but we also receive Him — body and blood, soul and divinity — in the Holy Eucharist. This is so, precisely because He is not to be found among the dead, but among the living, and that is our Easter joy.

What does Easter mean for you? Easter is supposed to mean unending joy, forgiveness and mercy, love and hope, and the gift of Eternal Life, among many other faith-inspired purposes. While we are Easter people and celebrate Easter—the Resurrection of Christ—all the time, technically the Easter Season is between the Great Vigil of Easter on Holy Saturday night until the celebration of Pentecost, which this year falls on Sunday, May 19.

This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday, when the Church proclaims the triumphant entrance of Jesus of Nazareth into Jerusalem. Jesus rides a donkey and had fresh palm branches placed upon his entrance path yet in just a few short days, the triumphant entrance and praise will turn to horror and shouts of “crucify him, crucify him!”

As we prepare to enter into Holy Week, the most Sacred time in our liturgical year, we shall celebrate God’s Love for us and His desire to suffer, die and be raised from the dead so that we—all of us—might live for ever. This weekend we celebrate Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, the elders and the people turned on Him; they scourged and mocked Him, nailed Him to the Cross and then once dead, buried Him. However, God had a plan. His Plan!

It was an honor to bring our team of 22 teens and chaperones from both parishes on our 2024 Boston Mission trip this past weekend! I cannot begin to explain how proud I am of each of these teens. They demonstrated compassion for the poor and homeless, and witnessed living conditions that I am sure they have never seen or imagined. They listened to many stories of people who have fallen on hard times, who have often had their dignity stripped from them. The story of a rare-book seller whose sales slowed and he eventually lost his business and everything

Wednesday, March 13 at 7 pm Fulfill your Easter Duty and join us for the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Wednesday night, March 13 at 7 pm. Three priests will be present to hear confessions and grant God’s Absolution— Monsignor Frank Matera and Fr. Matthew Gworek, pastor of St. Patrick in Farmington and St. Mary Star of the Sea in Unionville, will join Fr. Michael. Be Forgiven, Be Refreshed and Be Prepared for the Easter Season, celebrating God’s love and desire for you to be His friend.

The above tagline, taken from the Gospel of Luke (11:31), is the brand message of Catholic education. What is the something greater here? It is faith, it is Christ and it is you. Catholic education is not just about cursive writing or erasers and blackboards—it is so much more. Catholic education is about forming the whole child, it is about knowing who the child is, who the child is called to be, and going full force to seek the excellence of the child.

We are in the kick-off season of the 2024 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal (AAA), the largest ministerial campaign for the Archdiocese of Hartford (AOH), which funds the good works of the local Church of Hartford. What are the Church’s good works? Simple, they are the works of the body of Christ—you and me—that imitates the daily activities of feeding the hungry, healing the sick, teaching the ignorant, saving souls and more that Jesus did as He walked the face of the earth more than 2,000 years ago.