I was touched by the connection between seeing and faith in the scriptures from the Easter Vigil and elsewhere. In the story of creation God created light so we could see, and “God saw how good the light was.” (Genesis 1:4) God saw Abraham’s trust and faith as he was about to sacrifice his long awaited and only son. (Genesis 22:1-12) The Israelites saw the Red Sea parted for them and saw the cloud that led them, but still had moments of doubt. (Exodus 13:17–14:29) God hid from the people for just a moment and they couldn’t see him. (Isaiah 59:2) God says, “In the sight of the people I will prove my holiness.” (Ezekiel 36:23)
In the Gospel of John we hear Jesus saying to Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), but elsewhere, in the First Letter of John he writes, “No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another God remains in us…” (1 John 4:12)
All of these references, and more, help us to appreciate what we heard from the Gospel of John on Easter weekend, that when John, who symbolizes love, enters the tomb after Peter, who symbolizes courage, “…he saw and believed.” (John 20:8)
This week, the connection between seeing and believing continues in the Gospel of John with the words “Blessed are those who have not seen and believe.”
Believing means many things, so let us share stories of what it means to see and believe. Two inspiring stories from youngsters include one of our Holy Family Catholic Academy students who was talking with his mother after his bedtime prayers and decided to donate the entire amount in his piggy bank ($204) to the people of San Miguel De Los Banos, our Lenten Social Justice Project. We thank him and all who contributed to make this far and away our most successful Lenten project yet with $90,000 collected.
Another youngster included a note directly to God on her donation envelope.
These are two examples of what it means to See and Believe. I bet you have some examples of your own to share.
I hope that the Easter celebration was a joyful and prayerful one for you and your loved ones.
I want to thank all of the volunteers and staff who worked so hard to make our Holy Week and Triduum liturgies prayerful and inspiring, particularly:
- Joe Wolfe for his creative Lent and Holy Thursday environment designs and creations at the font, which helped us to worship so prayerfully.
- Vicki Peters, Mary Jane Kirkwood, Mary Rubino and their many volunteers for the church environment from Palm Sunday through Easter.
All those involved in the Passion Play: • Peg Hanrahan who wrote and produced it; • Lynn Daugerdas who was the director; • Bernie Rupe who led the Audio Visual efforts along with the teen AV crew; • Kristin Berryhill, Music Director; • Gene Garcia–music, videos and sound.
- A special thanks to all the amazing teens who brought the story to life in front of the audience: Kristen Barnd, Kylee Baxa, Lauren Berryhill, Jane Bodensteiner, Nicole Calvaresi, Denise Carlson, Joey Corso, Erin Cunningham, Hannah Cunningham, Kristen Dethloff, Devin Dionne, Paige Dirkes-Jacks, Jackson Dirnberger, Mitch Dirnberger, Khloe Drahos, Allison Gile, Susanna Maddalena Giovine, Sean Halloran, Nick Hochhalter, Sara Kielba, Andrij Kozych, Alexandra Lehan, Vince Lobo, Mandy Logan, Lizzi Lopez, Luke Madden,
Hannah Miller, Brian Morel, Tom Morel, Jake Petrie, Kay Petrie, Anthony Piaseki, Abby Rydberg, Ray Sluss,and Brent Swenson.
- And the amazing teens who worked behind the scenes: Andrew Berryhill, Adam Cajandig, Trevor Daugerdas, Grant Ham, Emily Kielba, Alex Lamerand, Amanda Sedlak, Eldar Shannahan, Attie Stanson, Jim Tileston, Laura Whiteside and Laurie Wood.
- All the parents of these teens who came forward to feed this hungry crew and support them in their work.
- Friar Johnpaul Cafiero & Fr. Charlie Bolser for presiding during Triduum and Easter services.
- Multicultural Ministry for assisting with the Easter Food Blessing
- Barb Knuth for hosting the Easter Egg Hunt after the Food Blessing
- All Liturgical Ministers—Greeters, Ushers, Proclaimers, Eucharistic Ministers, Mass Coordinators, Signers, Table and Light ministers, AV loft techs
- Brian Michalski, JaneAnne Campbell & Mimi Ferlita from our Liturgical Life staff
- Volunteers in the Liturgical Life office and front office
- Our choir and band, the visiting musicians and Gene Garcia for his musical creativity throughout Triduum.
- To any and all who I have inadvertently forgot to mention, I apologize. Please accept my sincere thank you!
Please look for additional holy water bottles to take home with you. We ran out on Easter weekend and that indicates the tremendous number of people who prayed with us on Saturday evening at the Vigil and at Sunday Masses. Our attendance and collection is up this year. Donations will come in for several weeks, and we will provide a total in the future. Thank you for your generosity.