EASTER 2021

​My dear parish family of St. Julia,
 
Waiting.  Having just celebrated our Good Friday services, Holy Saturday is a time of waiting.  It is on this day that Jesus is in the tomb before his glorious rising from the dead on Easter Sunday. 
 
Waiting.  Our community has had the honour of journeying with and praying for Nicole, who will be baptized in the Catholic faith, and Jacob and John, who will be received into the Catholic Church at our Easter Vigil.  They have been waiting anxiously for this day.  The good kind of anxious, when they will encounter Christ in the sacrament of Confirmation and the Eucharist.
 
Waiting.  It has been a long year, yet it has flown by at the same time as time does.  Many are waiting to hold and embrace a loved one.  Many are waiting to return to their spiritual home of St. Julia, in person for Mass, and to celebrate this celebration of all celebrations, the Resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
                                                                                         
Easter is all about hope.  And we are called to be an Easter people.  Not just during this Easter season of fifty days, but always.  When we place our trust in God and in his son Jesus Christ, we come to realize, through the eyes of faith, that everything we have been waiting for is already here, for Christ is with us.  That is why we have hope and are called to be people of hope, for we are not alone.  So, whether you are joining us in person this Easter or virtually, wherever you may be, know that we are united around the altar, lifting one another up in prayer, and are united in the One, the One Christ, the One living Son of God, who has defeated death, and has gloriously risen from the dead.  That is our faith.  That is what we believe!
 
It is our faith and belief in the risen Christ that continues to see us through these times and is the very reason we have hope.
 
On behalf of your parish family of St. Julia, I wish each one of you and those that you love a blessed and grace-filled Easter.
 
Christ has truly risen from the dead.  Alleluia!
Fr. Greg