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Easter Letter

Easter,  2006

Dear St. John Parish Family,

James Joyce is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language, and his writings are filled with: dry humor; paradoxes; vivid images of sight, sound and color; and irony. His own children unknowingly hurt his feelings when they asked him for a name of a humorous writer. He was! But they didn't always pick it up & it sometimes went over their heads. His main theme was people who were emotionally paralyzed or stagnant. A great example of this is his short story, "The Dead," which is about 10 pages long and John Huston made into a movie starring his daughter, Angelica.

"The Dead" takes place at a Christmas party. The climax comes at the end of the story when the main character, Greta, thinks back to her one true love, who was killed in WWI. Greta's mind is not at the party at all but stuck in the past. She is lost in thought: that this man long ago was her real love, her true love, and really her only love, and even states much of this to her husband! Then the story ends. The lesson put forth by Joyce shows that many of the characters in the play and especially Greta, are really dead even though they're breathing, eating, and taking up space. They're dealing only with memories, and have no interest in the present and zero hopes and dreams for the future. So in reality, they're already dead and their lives are already over.

It's not easy to be Catholic these days and we all have suffered over the scandals of the past year, with perhaps more to come. It's at times like these that we cling most closely to Christ. The Good Lord is the center of our lives and not His feeble representatives. Our Lord anchors us in our private prayers, and in union with our fellow believers in His Word and Sacraments.

So our Easter message this year should be one of revival of Spirit and not like the characters of "The Dead" who lost their spirit and no longer had direction or the meaning of life. St. Paul cautions us in his epistles to never give up.

More than ever, we are strengthened by the Resurrection of Jesus this Easter of 2006. He promised in Scripture that He'll never abandon us. In Him, only, comes hope and peace of mind. Serenity.

Enclosed is a schedule of Holy Week services and Easter Masses. An envelope is enclosed, Easter being one of St. John's most important collections of the year. Please be as generous as you can, according to your means.

I'm happy to say that our parish is healthy, both spiritually and in stewardship of members' generosity of their time, talent, and treasure.

I'd like to close with a thought again from St. Paul who said he never could look at the cross without looking past it to the Resurrection.

Let's remember each other at His altar, and have the happiest Easter of our lives.

Yours,

Rev. John J. Sullivan
Pastor