Dear Holy Trinity Family,

Happy Easter! We are in week 5 of this wonderful season celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord. Last

week we celebrated Good Shepherd Sunday and World Day of Prayer for Vocations. During my homily, I

shared a little bit about my vocation story. I wanted to expand on it a bit in light of today's Gospel with the

image of the "vine and the branches." I received the Call to the Priesthood through Eucharistic Adoration as

the Holy Spirit opened me up to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Being a cradle Catholic, going

to communion was a routine in my life; however, as I prayed before the Blessed Sacrament that night,

everything began to connect together in terms of my faith, my life and my calling. The voice of the Lord

called out to me "Now is the time" and I knew that he was inviting me to be a priest. From that moment on

daily Mass was a regular part of my life. Why would I not want to spend time with Jesus if I could?

Nothing else could replace him. And I knew that if I wanted to grow in holiness, then I would always have

to be connected to our Lord.

The great gift of the Eucharist does this for us. In our Gospel today, Jesus says, "Whoever remains in me

and I in him, will bear great fruit." Our entire lives, our vocation itself comes from Jesus. We must stay

connected with him through our life of prayer and most especially through our life of the Sacraments -

Confession and Eucharist in particular. If we are not receiving the Sacraments, we are not connected to

Jesus as he intends for us. Through the Sacraments, we receive the nourishment and strength that we need

in order to live a faithful life. I have seen it where people don't go to confession and Mass and they move

further and further away from Jesus. Yes, we can still be good people and do kind things, but so can those

who do not believe in Jesus. We are meant to be HOLY, to be set apart from others. This Easter, let us stay

connected to the vine, our Lord Jesus, who strengthens us always.

Congratulations to our Confirmation students who were sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit on Saturday.

May the Lord lead you always. Congratulations also to our first communicants. I look forward to you

receiving your second and third and fourth, etc. communion.

Our New Administrator/Pastor will be announced this coming Wednesday, May 1st. Let's continue praying

a Hail Mary daily for him. We hope to have a bio of our new pastor/admin in next week's bulletin. Stay

tuned.

Mary, Mirror of Justice... pray for us.

- Fr. Mike