Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! Happy Easter! To all our parishioners, and to all our guests, family members, friends, and visitors joining us this weekend: welcome! We are glad you are here. Easter is the heart of the Christian faith, the day when the Church proclaims with joy that death, sin, and the grave does not have the final word. Jesus Christ is alive. Alleluia!

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.

As Lent draws closer to Holy Week, the Church invites us to slow down and go deeper. In this bulletin series we’ve been practicing Lectio Divina, a traditional way of praying with Scripture. We’ve learned to read attentively (Lectio), chew on a word or phrase (Meditatio), and respond to God in prayer (Oratio). This week we arrive at the fourth step: Contemplatio or “Contemplate.” Contemplation is not about saying more, but about resting quietly in God’s presence, allowing Him to work within us beyond words. Pope Benedict XVI described it as receiving God’s own way of seeing and judging reality, and then asking: What conversion of mind, heart, and life is the Lord asking of me? In contemplation, we don’t force the moment. We sit with the Lord and let His Word shape our vision until, little by little, we begin to see with “the mind of Christ.”

In this Lenten bulletin series we’ve been practicing Lectio Divina, a traditional way of praying Scripture. So often when we pray, we start by talking. Lectio teaches us to listen first. We began by reading (Lectio) slowly and attentively. Then we meditated (Meditatio), “chewing” on a word or phrase until it sank into the heart. Now we respond. This week we move to the third step: Oratio- “Pray.” Oratio is where the Word becomes a conversation with God. One simple guide is the acronym A.C.T.S.: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.

Lent keeps leading us back to one simple place: an encounter with Jesus. For centuries, Christians have sought that encounter through sacred reading, or Lectio Divina. Last week we focused on the first step, Lectio (Read), and we were challenged to slow down and listen for what God is saying in the text. This week we move to the second step: Meditatio (Meditate). To “meditate” in the Christian sense doesn’t mean emptying the mind. It means filling the mind and heart with God’s Word. Medieval monks used a vivid image: masticating, or “chewing,” like a cow chews grass. In Meditatio we gently repeat a word or phrase, turn it over, and seek to draw out its nourishment. A single line can become a doorway into deeper conversation.

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) These words of Jesus have echoed through the centuries as a call to trust, to mission, and to renewal. As we continue to consider what it might look for us as St. Michael Parish to put out into “deep water,” this week we begin Lent. Lent is a time of renewal. Perhaps these 40 days can help us to renew our trust in God and to reinvigorate our sense of mission.

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) Last week we reflected on the original setting of this verse in Luke’s Gospel and its significance for Pope John Paul II’s call to a new evangelization. This week, we turn to the wisdom of the Church Fathers and how the early Christian community understood and lived this call to put out into the deep water.

“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) This verse comes from the Gospel of Luke, written around 80–90 AD to a primarily Gentile Christian audience. In this scene, Jesus, standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, calls Simon Peter to trust Him and cast his nets again after a night of fruitless labor. The request seems illogical- fishermen knew the best time to fish was at night. But Peter responds in faith, and the result is an overwhelming catch. The passage illustrates a key theme in Luke’s Gospel: God’s power is revealed through trust and obedience, especially among the humble and faithful.

“Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the LORD shines upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1) This is the fourth and final reflection in our January series. Isaiah’s promise was never meant to end in private comfort. God’s glory shines upon His people so that His people can become a sign of hope in a world that still knows darkness. That is why the Gospel’s call is always outward. Jesus says, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Disciples do not merely admire the Light; they learn to carry it.

“Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the LORD shines upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1) This is the third reflection in our January series. After celebrating Christmas and stepping into a new year, we have been returning to one central truth: God has entered our darkness, and that arrival is the beginning of real transformation. Last week we reflected on Baptism and the new identity it gives. Holiness is not mainly a self-improvement project; it is belonging. It is surrendering to God and letting Christ’s light live in us. This week that same light asks for something further. It does not only comfort; it purifies. It does not only inspire; it heals.

“Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the LORD shines upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1) This is the second reflection in our January series. Last week we meditated on the basic order of the Christian life revealed at Christmas: first we receive the Light as gift, then we follow where that Light leads. But by now the decorations have begun to come down, and as we enter Ordinary Time we can be tempted to return to business as usual. If the excitement of Christmas has worn off, what remains? The Church answers this week by pointing us to Baptism. Christmas is not an ending but a beginning, because in Baptism the Light we celebrated at Christmas becomes the Light we are called to live for the rest of the year.

“Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the LORD shines upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1) As we begin a new weekly series for January, we are still celebrating Christmas and a New Year has begun. Church celebrates Christmas beyond December 25 because the mystery is bigger than a single day. God has entered our history, and that changes our ordinary days.

“It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11) This week, we continue to live the joy of Christmas within the Octave of the Lord’s Nativity. We also observe the Solemnity of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This weekend we reflect on what it means to be family- not just in our homes, but also as a Church, a people, and a global Christian body bound together in the mystery of Christ.

“It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11) This week we come to the final days of Advent. The fourth candle of the wreath, the Angel’s Candle, is lit, returning us to the purple hue of longing, repentance, and now love. This candle points us toward the Annunciation and the Blessed Virgin Mary’s response to God: “Let it be done unto me according to your word.” That radical yes, full of faith and love, ushers in the Incarnation. At the end of this week, as we move into the solemn celebration of the Nativity of the Lord, some wreaths add a fifth candle, the Christ Candle, glowing white to signify the sinless light that comes into the darkness of the world. This light shines not only to console, but to awaken hearts to the fullness and mission of love.

“It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11) As we come to the third week of Advent, often called Gaudete Sunday, this verse from Romans takes on a particularly joyful chord. The Church teaches that Christian joy flows from the nearness of the Lord. It is not rooted in fleeting feelings but in the deep awareness that Christ is with us and is coming again. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that the joy of the Christian is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (CCC 1832) and an essential mark of the life of grace. Paul’s exhortation to “awake from sleep” is more than a personal nudge; it is a call to the whole Church to live in the radiant joy of salvation that is both already present and still unfolding.

“It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11) The early Christians treasured this verse, and the Church Fathers returned to it often as a summons to spiritual vigilance. St. John Chrysostom reflected on how St. Paul uses the imagery of waking because “sleep” is the state of those who have grown careless or sluggish in virtue. Chrysostom notes that Paul “stirs up their zeal” by reminding them that salvation is ever drawing near, urging believers to shake off the torpor of worldly living.

Our verse for December comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans written around the year 57 A.D. to a diverse Christian community living at the heart of the Roman Empire. Paul had not yet visited Rome, but he wrote with pastoral urgency, encouraging Jewish and Gentile Christians to live in harmony and to persevere in faith amid social pressures and moral confusion. Chapter 13 of the letter deals with living honorably and preparing for the Lord’s return. When Paul urges the community to “awake from sleep,” he is calling them out of spiritual complacency. The “sleep” he speaks of is a state of moral drowsiness, a dullness of heart that forgets the nearness of Christ. For the early Church, salvation was not just a distant promise but an ever-approaching reality; each day brought them closer to the full unveiling of Christ’s Kingdom. Paul’s words were a trumpet blast to awaken the hearts of believers to live with vigilance, holiness, and hope.

“If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). This final week of November’s reflections brings us to the heart of Christian witness: belonging entirely to Christ. Few lives express this more fully than that of Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, whose feast day is November 23rd. In the midst of violent anti-Catholic persecution in early 20th-century Mexico, Father Pro lived out St. Paul’s words with astonishing courage and serenity. As a Jesuit priest, he returned to his homeland knowing full well that public worship was outlawed, churches closed, and priests hunted. Still, he secretly celebrated the Eucharist, heard confessions, and brought Christ to a people starving for grace. He lived for the Lord joyfully, creatively, and without fear.

“If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). St. Paul’s words to the Romans continues to speak with profound relevance in every generation, and the Church has consistently drawn from it to articulate the Christian vision of life, death, and discipleship. It proclaims a truth that is central to Catholic teaching: that every human person, by virtue of creation and redemption, belongs to God. We are not our own. This conviction shapes not only how we understand our personal identity, but also how we live out our mission in the world. The Catechism of the Catholic Church declares, “The Christian who unites his own death to that of Jesus views it as a step towards him and an entrance into everlasting life” (CCC 1020). Our lives, our deaths, our very existence are oriented toward the Lord.

“If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). The Church Fathers interpreted this verse not poetically but as a profound declaration of Christian reality. St. John Chrysostom writes that Paul’s words remind us that “our lives are not our own,” and that true Christian freedom lies in surrender to Christ’s lordship. Chrysostom emphasizes that living or dying need not be our ultimate concern; rather, our focus should be fidelity to Christ. For the early Christians, many of whom faced persecution and martyrdom, this verse anchored them in courage and clarity. To live for the Lord meant to live differently- set apart, holy, self-giving. To die for the Lord was not defeat, but union with Christ crucified and risen.