This Sunday’s readings are full of movement, clarity, and decision. In the first reading from Acts, Peter stands before the crowd and proclaims Jesus Christ with boldness. The people are cut to the heart and ask, “What are we to do?” Peter gives a clear answer: repent and be baptized. In Psalm 23, the Lord is the Shepherd who guides, feeds, protects, and leads his people on right paths. In the second reading, Saint Peter reminds us that Christ shepherds us not by domination or threat, but by patient, sacrificial love. And in the Gospel, Jesus tells us that he is both the Shepherd and the Gate. His sheep know his voice. They do not follow every voice, and they do not enter through every opening. What stands out in all of this is the way the readings urge us toward greater clarity: a clearer voice, a truer path, and a more decisive way forward.

Happy Easter! Yes, we are still celebrating Easter! One of the challenges of writing bulletin columns around the holidays is that they often need to be written well in advance so they can be printed and delivered on time. As I write this, it is the Monday after Easter. Looking back on our celebration of the Easter Triduum and Easter Sunday, I find myself filled with gratitude.

Happy Easter to all of you! This weekend I will be away leading a parish retreat in North Carolina on the theme of God’s mercy. That is especially fitting, because this weekend is Divine Mercy Sunday. In those retreat talks I will be drawing from St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Aquinas teaches us that God’s mercy is not simply God feeling sorry for us. It is God acting to heal what we cannot heal ourselves. If Aquinas gives us a theology and ethics of mercy, Bernard gives us a spiritual psychology of mercy. He helps us see why so often we fail at mercy and how God can reform our hearts.

As we arrive at Palm Sunday and begin Holy Week, our Lenten journey with Lectio Divina reaches its natural “next step”: living what we have prayed. Over these past weeks we’ve practiced the classic movements of sacred reading: listening carefully to the text (lectio), “chewing” on a word or phrase until it sinks in (meditatio), responding to God in prayer (oratio), and resting quietly in God’s presence (contemplatio). These stages are not rigid. In prayer they often overlap, circle back, and deepen over time.

All through Lent, we follow Jesus into the emptiness of the desert. Our Lenten disciplines are not meant to be punishment; they are meant to make room for God. One of the best habits we can take up in these weeks is also one of the simplest: spending real, unhurried time with Scripture.

Rick Cote, the President of the Hallowell Food Bank, sent a thank-you to the parishioners of St. Michael's parish

Our children are hard at work preparing for a Bake Sale to support CGS!

In this Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 10:38–42), Jesus visits the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. While Martha is busy with the tasks of hospitality, Mary sits at the Lord’s feet and listens. Jesus gently reminds Martha that, though her service is good, “there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.”