Dear Friends of the Stigmatines,
As I write this message, it is the Feast of Saint Joseph! Our Holy Founder, Saint Gaspar Bertoni, gave us Mary and Joseph, as our Holy Patrons. May Saint Joseph guide and be with you each day!
We are entering Holy Week and the great Easter Season that extends through Pentecost. This is certainly a blessed time for us all. Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI offers us some wonderful insights into the Easter Feast and Season. In his book, Holy Days, Meditations on the Feasts, Fasts and Other Solemnities of the Church (pp. 52 & 53), he states:
“… death does not have the last word, because Life will be victorious at the end.”
This certainty of ours is based not on simple human reasoning, but on a historical fact of faith: Jesus Christ, crucified and buried, is risen with his glorified body. Jesus is risen so that we too, believing in him, may have eternal life. The resurrection, then, is not a theory, but a historical reality revealed by the man Jesus Christ by means of his “Passover”, his “passage”, which has opened a new way between heaven and earth (cf. Heb. 10.20). It is neither a myth nor a dream, it is not a vision or a utopia, it is not a fairy tale, but it is a singular and unrepeatable event: Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, who at dusk on Friday was taken down from the Cross and buried, has victoriously left the tomb. The resurrection of Christ is our hope! This the Church proclaims today with joy. She announces the hope that is now firm and invincible because God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead. She communicates the hope that she carries in her heart and wishes to share with all people in every place.
As always, Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI writes so eloquently. He captures the essential Easter message of hope.
The Stigmatine Fathers are devoted to this Easter message. Our devotion to both the sorrowful and glorious Wounds of Christ invite us to bring the Easter message of peace and joy to all whom we serve. We are so happy and privileged to share the Lord’s message: “Peace be with you!”
Thank you for visiting us through this medium of communication. Please be sure of our continued prayers for you, your loved ones and all your intentions. As always, we ask you to pray for vocations to the Stigmatine Priesthood and Religious Life.
A blessed and joyous Easter Season!
The Stigmatine Fathers
Holy Spouses Province