If you are not receiving Father Scalia’s weekly email with parish news and spiritual enlightenment, email [email protected], with your full name and email address.
Below is the most recent email.
Please note that any replies to the emails are sent to [email protected] and not directly to Father Scalia.
Overcome with Paschal Joy…
Keeping Easter Joy
Thursday, April 4 , 2024
Dear Friends in Christ,
We continue to rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! Easter Sunday itself is an octave, a feast stretched out and celebrated eight days in a row. The Easter season lasts fifty days, until Pentecost. If Lent seemed like a long time, just remember that we feast more than we fast!
But how do you avoid the Easter crash, that feeling of let down when Lent is over? Many Catholics find the penitential season of Lent easier than the joyful season of Easter. Although not fun, Lent at least has a purposefulness about it. We know the need for penance because we know our imperfections and sinfulness. At the very least, Lent provides a goal and some tasks to check off the list.
Easter is more elusive. We’re not as comfortable with the joy of the season (and perhaps for that reason it quickly becomes saccharine and silly). Thus, we’re more likely to lose sight of its character.
So, how about Easter resolutions? No, I’m serious. We just spent 40 days offering God our contrition through specific resolutions. Why not spend the next 40 offering him our joy through specific resolutions? We need to be just as deliberate and specific about our rejoicing as we do in our repenting. Otherwise, the Easter joy slips out of our hands.
So, here’s a simple resolution: Pray the Regina Caeli three times daily. Or, if you don’t want to say the Regina Caeli, then you can sing it. Mary held the joy of Easter more perfectly than anyone else. By this devotion we experience her assistance in maintaining our joy.
Updates…
Soon-to-be-deacon Mike Sampson… As some of you know, Mike Sampson, a seminarian for our diocese, has been teaching a high school theology class at the parish since last fall. This Saturday, he will be ordained a deacon by Bishop Burbidge at Saint Theresa Parish in Ashburn. Please keep him and his classmates (12 of them!) in your prayers.
This Saturday is First Saturday and we have our Nocturnal Adoration in honor of Our Lady of Fatima. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed at 7:30pm on Friday, April 5th, and reposed before the 8:30am Mass on Saturday. We still have many openings for the late night/early morning hours. Please sign up for an Adoration timeslot.
This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. We will pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at our regular Sunday 5pm Holy Hour. Please join us for this important devotion.
Needing Confirmation? Father Pavlick will be preparing people for Confirmation on Pentecost Sunday (May 19th) by Bishop Burbidge. If you are a baptized Catholic who has received First Communion but hasn’t yet been confirmed, please reach out to Father to register and get more information: [email protected]
There’s a lot going on around here…
And our team could use some more assistance. So, we’re looking for an Assistant Director of Facilities. The position requires basic repair skills in various trades and a proven track record showing strong customer service orientation and ability to manage staff and contractors.
Changes to our Confessionals… If you have knelt in our confessionals, you have done penance! We hope to change that a little. In the coming weeks, our confessionals will be altered to provide more room for the penitent (and less for the priest!). There will be only one entrance for the penitent, for confession both behind the screen and face to face. If you want to confess face to face, then a screen is raised so that you can see the priest and speak with him that way. A chair will also be provided for those who have trouble kneeling. Of course, you’ll still have to do penance…
The Eyes Have It
I like jokes about eyes. The cornea, the better.
Through the intercession of our Lady and Saint James, may the Lord bless and keep you.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Scalia