St. Basil the Great Parish
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Easter Sunday April 12, 2020 Dear Friends in Christ, Christ is Risen, Alleluia, Alleluia! Today marks the singular event in all of history that changed the lives of human beings forever. This day Christians throughout the entire world celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We rejoice with the Church and in Christ that the promise has been kept and that sin and death have lost their power. During the forty days of Lent we were asked to prepare ourselves for the great gift of Easter through prayer, penance and charitable works. The Church invited us to walk the journey of faith with our Lord and to see the face of Christ in others. To look upon others as Jesus saw them and to treat others as Jesus did. As Christians we were asked to provide shelter for the homeless, to give food to the hungry, to pray for the dead and to reach out in compassion to those in need, to cloth the naked, to support the young mother preparing to give birth to their children, to bring joy to those imprisoned and in half-way homes as they attempt to rebuild their lives and to give a warm welcome to the stranger who has now become a friend. Since the beginning of Lent, the parishioners of this wonderful parish have worked tirelessly to deepen their awareness of the needs of the less fortunate here in our community. You have traveled the road to Emmaus and you have found the Lord. Thank you for all that you do and for all that you are. As I celebrate my first Easter with you as your new pastor, I would like for you to know how very pleased I am to be here and how very proud I am to be the spiritual leader of such a vibrant Faith Community. The lives of each one of us have been disrupted in the past few weeks in so many ways by the coronavirus pandemic. We look back in disbelief at the number of people who have died and those who have been diagnosed as positive with the virus in our country and throughout the world. We fear what the future might bring; we pray that a solution will soon be found. As your pastor, I would like to assure all of you that you and your families are in my constant thoughts and prayers. We are all in this together. No one should feel isolated, alone or unloved. As I offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, I pray that our faith we remain strong. I pray that our determination to do all that we need to do to assure our safety and the safety of our loved ones remains a high priority for everyone. I pray that when all this is over we will be stronger and more united in our faith and our love and concern for one another. As Jesus said to his disciples; “Be Not Afraid”. The darkness of the time in which we live and the sense of hopelessness that many of us are experiencing will bring forth light as it did two thousand years ago when the events surrounding the death of Jesus on that tragic Friday afternoon gave way to Easter Resurrection just two days later. May the Lord in His goodness bless you all with Easter Joy and the sense of hope which it brings both now and in the years to come. Let us continue to pray for one another. Happy Easter! Monsignor Ginty April 2020
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