EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTIONOF THE LORD April 12, 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad! Christ has Risen! He has truly Risen! Peace be with you! At St. Pius X, I speak for myself and staff when I say I miss seeing all of you in person as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord today and every day that we are unable to gather in prayer in church. Please know that Mass is being offered each day for you and your intentions are remembered at the altar every morning. This Easter is a very unusual event for all of us since we are unable to celebrate Easter in our churches because of the Corona Virus. Jesus Christ calls us together as a community of faith to love one another and be a source of strength, prayer and hope for each other. While we cannot be present to one another physically, we can be present to each other spiritually. I’ve never read in my studies of a time when community mass was stopped other than when a king went against the church teaching and the pope put an interdict on a country for public sin. The longest interdict was 5 years in England when King John’s Brother Richard the Lion Heart refused to recognize the election of Stephen Lanton to be Archbishop of Canterbury. What we must do is to follow what the church asks of us do: Pray, do Intercessions, and offer prayer to God on behalf of others. I would also suggest one of the oldest prayers for plagues, invasions, war, pestilence and famine, it is “The Angelus. This is the practice of honoring God at morning hour 6 am, noon and 6 pm in the evening by reciting three “Hail Mary’s” together with a short sentence said or sung, with responses and end with a collect (prayer). At each of these times the Angelus bell is rung. It expresses the Christian's joyful trust in the mystery of the incarnation; God’s control over the universe. (See pg. 6 in today’s bulletin.) I know they say science has the answer, however, God works through science. We must never forget we need to recognize God in the equation and acknowledge God as number one. Please use this time for the family to become a domestic church a home church of prayer. Asking God’s intercession to relieve us from this pandemic and the end to the loss of life. Faith, prayer, and penance is part of Lent. Our Lent may be extended but God can end it if we put our faith in Him and act out in Love toward God & neighbor. Parents, this is a good time to set up a prayer altar in your home and set a time to pray together as a family. I am so happy that modern technology is enabling us to pray and worship together, virtually. I will continue to have our Sunday 10:00 a.m. Mass live streamed on our parish Facebook page https://www.facebook.com StPiusXStickney. You are also invited to join fellow parishioners from around Chicagoland in prayer as Cardinal Cupich celebrates Sunday Mass on ABC7 at 9:30 a.m. or in Spanish at 10 a.m. on Univision and livestreamed at https://radiotv.archchicago.org/television/broadcast-masses, which also includes Mass in Polish We can also continue meeting our Lord in prayer, in our devotions, such as the Rosary, and in the words of Sacred Scripture. Our website and Facebook page will connect you with other resources. We’re publishing our bulletin every week – visit our parish website at http://www.stpiusxstickney.org to see what’s happening across our parish family and what we’re planning once we can all gather again. You may sign up to have the bulletin sent to your “inbox” each week. Sign up instructions can be found on page 5 of today’s bulletin. Though our church building and office are temporarily closed, you may give us a call at (708) 484-7951 and leave a message. We check our messages regularly and will get back to you to address your question or concern. Many people in our parish and community depend upon your regular, weekly offertory contributions. Material support for your parish is needed now more than ever. I thank all of our parishioners who have been able to contribute their regular contributions to our parish during this critical time. You may mail your donations to the St. Pius X Parish at 4300 S. Oak Park, Ave., Stickney, IL 60402. You may also contribute online at www.archchicago.org/offertory or the St. Pius X online link at https://members.myeoffering.com where you can make a weekly offertory contribution to our St. Pius X family and keep the vital ministries and services we provide going. Christ is our Good Shepherd and He will continue to strengthen us. Be assured that I am praying for you and your loved ones daily. Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or requests for pastoral care. If you have the capability, please check the St. Pius X Website and Facebook page for updates. Christ has risen. Alleluia! Alleluia!
Love, Fr. Tony