Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, called Divine Mercy Sunday. Sometimes we may not think of Easter as more than just a day, but it is SO much more than one day of celebration; it is a season of 50 days where we are renewed in Him!
On Good Friday, I arrived for liturgy early and found myself sitting in a nearly empty church, staring at the empty tabernacle. The altar was bare, the sanctuary light removed, the statues covered. The absence of Jesus was palpable. As I sat in uncomfortable silence, I reflected upon how lifeless the church felt without His real Presence. I became lost in thought, pondering how the disciples felt in the wake of Good Friday and how desolate and barren life without His Presence would be. Without Jesus,
For Holy Week, in stead of a reflection, we have added a version of the Stations of the Cross focusing on age groups. There is one written by some of the adults of the parish, a second version for our teens, and finally, a third version for our youngest believers.
You can find them here, in the Stations of the Cross section. You will also find links to the live-streaming of the Adult and Teen version.
Our gospel reading brings us to yet another encounter with the Lord's mercy in the story of the adulterous woman, a story of sin meeting grace.
While the Lord Jesus was teaching at the temple area one morning, "the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle." Then they laid out to the Lord their case against the woman: "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the