Dear Friends,
The events of two thousand years ago might be difficult to comprehend. Yet, today it may feel like we are closer to them than ever before—the Passion and Death of Our Lord suddenly doesn’t seem so very long ago. We know the via dolorosa all too well. It is here and now.
The hope Easter brings is also here and now—in our very church. Look no further than the largest class of new Christians in our parish’s history. They are very real evidence of the Risen Lord, and they testify to this simple truth: Jesus Christ is the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever. The call is the same. Authenticity works. Beauty works. Our mission to restore the sacred works.
These new Christians remind us of something else, too. Easter is more than a mere memorial of Christianity’s central event. Easter is not a retelling of history—it’s a re-living of history. It is a Sacrament aimed at restoring the sacred in each and every one of us. Christ is Risen then, and He is Risen today!
So, my friends, will we invite Our Lord to Rise in each of us? Will we live each day as if it were Good Friday or Easter Sunday? This is our Easter choice.
Easter at Cantius has always been something marvelous. This year, things may appear to be different. But the marvel is beheld not in merely what we see, nor in how the liturgy is celebrated. This year is an opportunity to be reminded that Easter has its outward signs, but more profoundly, it is first a very personal and life-giving Sacrament. And that is something that can never be taken from us.
No, true Easter joy is not confined to one hour on Sunday. Easter is not a solitary event. It is 50 days of joy that urge each of us to keep Christ Risen in our souls, and in our world. The witness of this year’s new Christians should inspire each of us to join them in forgetting former things and in declaring to ourselves, to the world, and to the Salvator mundi: “See, I am doing something new!”
Each priest and brother of the Canons Regular thanks you for your Easter generosity and hopes you and your families experience the true joy of our Risen Lord.
In Christ Risen,
Holy Week and Easter Schedule 2022
“In Holy Week we participate in the most sublime drama of religious history.” —Fr. Pius Parsch