What an amazing Lenten Night of Reflection we had this past Wednesday, and we are grateful to each and every one of you who joined us! I’m always so blown away by the incredible faith-filled community we have here at Saint Paul’s! Father Popovich used to say “Saint Paul has it all,” and that statement continues to ring true every single day! Such a powerful witness to the love and power of the Holy Spirit can be found right here in New Middletown, Ohio, and I am beyond blessed to be a small part of this wonderful parish! I had the opportunity to lead Stations of the Cross on March 12, and that was a very moving experience. One of my favorite parts was seeing a family with young children there praying together. In that moment the future of the Church looked extremely bright! We have so many Masses, and events to look forward to in the future. I can’t wait to see how we continue to grow!

We have now come to the end of Lent and we are entering the week of weeks! Holy Week to be exact, and how grateful we should be for this week of reflection on the Passion of our Lord and Savior! Last year all of our Lenten and Easter Masses were shut down because of the Coronavirus. Evil thought it had won, but what tried to stop us has only made us stronger! Yes, we are bruised and battered, but we continue to move forward as people of faith. We continue to lift each other up in prayer, and we continue to find new ways to grow closer with Jesus Christ!!

I have always loved Holy Week, and this Palm Sunday seems to be even more important to me as we journey to that great Hallelujah of Easter! The Gospel reading this weekend is extremely powerful as it shows us how Jesus was betrayed, and falsely turned over to the Roman authorities. The so-called authorities of that time had no idea the plans that God had sent into motion! The defeat of sin and the opening of Heaven was about to begin! The salvation of humanity was moments away.

We continue to have so much craziness in our lives. I for one, am tired, and over all the weight of today’s world crushing down on people. I am grateful to have this Holy Week to truly reflect on the ultimate price of Love. God’s love is immeasur-able, and has no limits. We truly need to embrace this love with all of our hearts and souls, so that we can truly open our-selves up for the coming of the Easter Season! Let us all focus and meditate on our Lord’s Passion this week! Let us truly embrace the love of the cross, so that we can live in His light of the resurrection! How are we going to make this the best Easter ever? Let us challenge ourselves to try!