April 12, Easter Sunday
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
Happy Easter! This is the day the Lord has made!
I hope you were able to participate and engage in the Triduum celebrations during the week. I pray you heard the guided meditation on Holy Thursday, and that you experienced the Passion of our Lord with Bishop Noonan on Good Friday. I pray also that this Easter time, despite the pandemic, brings a light into your life.
Please make time to participate in Easter Sunday Mass by praying with us, in Spanish, English, or French at 10 a.m. today.
You will find the links to these Masses on the church website: www.standrew-orlando.org, and our Facebook page.
Below is a reflection on the Resurrection and a very important invitation. Please join us!!
“Speechless” is perhaps the term that best captures the sheer joy and shock the disciples must have experienced peering into that tomb and seeing nothing and realizing that the words of Jesus were true. It’s almost comical the way the apostles and disciples tried to articulate their experience. That morning amidst the proclamations that “He is risen,” I’m sure there were also long gaps of silence as the followers of Jesus were trying to find their own voice, attempting to convey that which cannot be articulated: the divine mystery of resurrection!
Speechless. As we enter into this Easter season, and find ourselves at home more than usual, I want to invite you to experience being speechless, at least for a few minutes each week.
Over the last 5 years, the St. Andrew Contemplative Prayer group, facilitated by staff member Diane Gallagher, has met on Tuesday nights. Although the group is not meeting currently, they still sit in their own homes at 7:05 p.m. each Tuesday and are speechless. The silence and stillness have a power to cultivate an interior space that’s the least resistant to experiencing the presence of God.
Some of us are familiar with Contemplative Prayer or Centering Prayer and others may not be. Regardless, I am inviting you to join us in your own home on Tuesdays at 7:05 p.m. to just be still and speechless. You don’t have to do it for a long period of time. You can just do it for a few minutes. That’s OK! There are no requirements except a willingness to stop at 7:05 p.m. and to be still and silent.
For those of us who are used to this type of prayer, do as you have done in the past. For those of us who are not used to silent prayer, just be with us by stopping whatever you would be doing and just by being still and speechless. We will also include instructions on the Method of Centering Prayer in Monday’s email if you are interested in learning this practice.
In the silence of our hearts the Resurrected Body of Christ gathers with and for one another in solidarity. Please let us know if you are able to accept this invitation by replying to this email with a simple “Yes” and your name. We will include a list of all those who said “yes” in Tuesday’s email (your first name and last initial). It would be good to know that at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday, these are the people we are praying with and for, who we are holding in the silence of our hearts. It will be a unique gathering of the community.
Of course, I hope we are always praying for one another. Yet, to carve out a particular time and day binds the Body of Christ together in a different way. So please respond if you’re able to be with us in mind, spirit, and heart at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.
May the peace and joy of the Resurrection fall upon you and be with you now and forever, amen.
Father Leo
