Dear Parish Family,

I hope your Easter Season is filled with the love and joy of the Risen Lord! I found this reflection by James Martin, SJ and thought it is a worthwhile meditation for our on-going Easter-tide! Also on Wednesday evening, April 14th, one of our graduating seniors, Justin McLemore received the Diocese of Youngstown Eagle of the Cross Award, congratulations to Justin and we will keep you in our prayers as you head off to The United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. My continued love and prayers, ~~Fr. Steve

PRAYING TO THE RISEN CHRIST:

What does it mean to pray to the Risen Christ? Let me suggest something that we often overlook: the Risen Christ is the same person He was before the resurrection. He is still Jesus of Nazareth, who walked the landscape of first-century Palestine, who spread the Good News and healed the sick, and who suffered and died. In other words, praying to the Risen Christ means praying to someone who is both fully divine and fully human, and who therefore understands your human struggles.

In one of Jesus’ appearances to the disciples, He shows them “His hands and His side” (John 20:20). Why? First, to remind them that it is Him. The Risen Christ is not some new person, someone other than the Jesus of Nazareth the disciples knew. His wounds are, as the New Testament scholar Stanley Marrow, SJ, said, His “credentials.” They say, “It’s Me.”

Second, His wounds show that Jesus still knows what it means to suffer. The Risen Christ carries within Himself —permanent reminders of His suffering. So when we pray to Christ, alive with the Father in heaven and present to us through the Spirit, we are praying not only to a divine Son but to a human being who still carries physical wounds on His body. To someone who knows what suffering means.

So the next time you pray to Jesus Christ, remember His wounds. And remember this: The Risen Christ remembers His human life because He is still human.

He understands you because He is still like you.