Dear Parishioners, Visitors and Friends,
Last Wednesday, an email was sent from The Federation of Vietnamese Catholics in the USA about a doctor-priest who heeded the New York Governor’s urgent plea, and started his medical work as a volunteer at Elmhurst Hospital.
“Every time I walk into a sick room, every time I face death ... Every doctor, every nurse, every medical worker is on the front line, confronting every day the invisible enemy, the COVID-19,” he wrote.
“Today,” he said, “I remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Seeing the looming danger and approaching death, the Lord kept going because of his great love for us.” The doctor-priest hoped to contribute his very best, in following the Jesus’ self-sacrificing example.
Indeed, in these days of great difficulty, anxiety, uncertainty, fear and increasing news of death, we join together in this great day of joy from our homes and with loved ones, celebrating the victory of life over death.
Easter shows us that in the midst of life’s incredible difficulty, heart-drenching sorrows, and wearisome living, we can draw courage, consolation and strength from knowing that someday all our crosses will pass away, and through God’s grace and saving power we will live with and in God, and share in the joy that only God can give, share in his peace, share in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Today is the day. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but THIS DAY God saves us. THIS DAY; the victory that has been won by our Lord Jesus is a victory that trumps our pain and sorrow THIS DAY.
And so, we rejoice not only in what WOULD be, what MAY be, but in what IS. God promises to raise us up from whatever is weighing us down or holding us back, promises to take us by the hand and accompany us on every step of life’s
journey, promises to love us and comfort us and forgive us no matter what - whether we get most things right or whether we get discouraged and mess up over and over and over again.
That’s the promise of Resurrection. This day, God raises us from our daily sufferings and “deaths” to new life. He transforms our struggles and pain into things filled with meaning and newness.
He takes the most hopeless of situations, the desperate condition of life and in them, helps us see somewhere over the rainbow, so goes the song, or at the end of it, lies our pot of gold, and whatever troubles we are facing - it’s not the end of the story. There is something beautiful on the horizon.
A NEW DAY - A NEW HOPE - A NEW DAY.
I remember a time, many years ago when I escaped the Communist Vietnam. It was a very dark night, the Monday of the Holy Week, when for the first time I must face life on my own. I was 16 years old at the time. It was very lonesome and scary, to say the least, when I left behind all the usual securities of life – home, family, and friends.
There were 36 people, including my older brother, attempted the escape and were packed like sardines in a 32-foot long and 6-foot wide boat. As the boat drifted eastward and as the ocean roared around the boat all I could feel was the endless fear.
Looking back, I never doubt for a second the divine protection during those days of perilous journey and the subsequent years in various refugee camps. But now I can say that there was a new life God wanted for me to be had.
All of us, I am sure, have a story like the doctor-priest to contribute to the betterment of others today. And so this day, let’s allow God to make us more than we were yesterday. May this day fill our hearts and minds and souls, and very lives with the Easter Joy - one filled with God’s love, comfort and peace. And most of all, the new life to be had.
ALLELUIA – Happy Easter!
fr khanh