MESSAGE FOR THE EASTER SEASON

Dear Friends in Christ,
There are two kinds of darkness. There is the darkness when night falls, when the earth is covered with its dark veil. It is a hard darkness. Then there is another, a different darkness. It is the darkness just before dawn, a darkness that is ready to give way to the light of dawn and the  daylight. The first darkness—the hard darkness-- was the darkness of Good Friday. The gospel says on that day “darkness covered the earth.” The darkness of nature mirrored the darkness of sin, of evil, of mankind putting to death the Son of God. That was the deep darkness. And for a while, it seemed as if that darkness had won.  It seemed as if Satan had won his battle, as if the world would now live in endless night.
          The gospel we hear on Easter Sunday this year from St. Luke tells us of the other darkness, the darkness that is ready for the daylight. The gospel speaks of light conquering the darkness. “At daybreak, on the first day of the week, the  women went to the tomb.” In a sense we could say that these holy women, Mary Magdalene and the others, as they walked on their way to the tomb, were walking out of the darkness of Good Friday and were walking into the  brilliant daylight of Easter. And they were not walking alone. Every believer, every one of us, every Christian for two thousand years was walking with Magdalene and the other faithful women as they walked to the garden tomb. And like them, we are walking out of the darkness of night into the light of the Risen Christ. And, dear friends, we are still walking. We are walking out of the darkness. We are walking to the tomb. We are walking into the light. We are walking to the Risen Christ.
          The most important Easter message that the Lord gives us is that the darkness has not won out and that we must never let it win out, that we are meant to live in the light of His sunshine, not the darkness of night. He is telling us that any darkness we are facing--fear, anxiety, sickness, pain, or in the case of the suffering people of Ukraine, the darkness of war—these darknesses may still be with us, but they have lost their ultimate power because He, the Risen Christ, is alive and with us always. That is His Easter promise.
And He is telling us that we must keep on walking, even as those holy women did on that first Easter morning and never give up.  The fact is, if those women had not walked to the tomb, they would not have known that Jesus was risen. But they did walk. And they found an empty tomb and they believed in the Risen Lord. We too must keep on walking, never giving into our troubles, never giving into discouragement, never giving into the darkness.  We must keep on walking, walking to Jesus and remembering that He always walks with us.
          We could truthfully say that this year we need Easter more than before. There has been too much darkness—the  continuing problems in our city, our country and our world, and we remember prayerfully at this time the tragedy and devastation in Ukraine. We need Easter because we need to dispel the darkness. The world needs Easter, for the world needs the light, the world needs Christ. Scripture says we are children of the light and that we must keep on walking with the light of Christ.
As we celebrate this Easter Season, the Risen Jesus gives us His command. “Do not let the darkness win out. Do not let the dark things you see in the world around us make you stop walking  to the light.” The Lord asks us, as He asks the people of Ukraine,  to keep on walking, walking to the light, walking with the light, the light that conquered the darkness of night on the first Easter Sunday, the light that conquers every darkness ever since, the light that comes from the empty tomb, the light of Easter, the light that is Jesus Our Risen Lord.

                                                          God bless you!
                                                          Father Thomas B. Derivan
 

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• Saturday, 5:00PM
• Sunday, 7:30AM; 9:00AM (Italian); 10:30AM; 12:15PM; 1:30PM (Spanish) and 5:00PM

If you are new to our neighborhood, we want you to know that St. Theresa’s Church has a warm welcome for you.  Come!

For Traveling Catholics-

If you are traveling and are looking for a Catholic Church and the times of the Masses, you can consult the  site, CatholicMassTime.org Go to Catholic Church Near Me and put in the zip code near where you are staying. 

 
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion, which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion is an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament and lovingly embrace him at a time or in circumstances when one cannot receive Him in sacramental Communion. The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. Acts of Spiritual Communion increase our desire to receive sacramental Communion and help us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.

Spiritual Communion Prayer

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,
Come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace you as if you were already there
And unite myself wholly to you. 
Never permit me to be separated from you.
Amen.

St. Theresa's Catholic Church
2855 St. Theresa Avenue
Bronx, NY 10461

CONFESSIONS IN OUR CHURCH
The Cardinal has allowed the resumption of confessions in church.  Both St. Theresa Church and Our Lady of the Assumption Church will be having confessions on Saturdays at 4:00PM, beginning on June 6^th.
The following procedures will be followed in our church:
1. All persons must wear protective masks.
2. You will see two confession stations in the church, one by hallway near the sacristy and the other  in the front of church. We will not be using the confessionals for safety reasons.
3. When you come to confession, you may either stand or kneel.
4. Those who are waiting for confession should stand at a respectful distance to preserve confidentiality.  Also while you are waiting, please observe the proper social distancing as marked by the blue tape in the aisles.
5. Please speak loudly enough for the priest to hear, but not too loudly  so that others may hear you.
6. After your confession, you may remain in the church for private prayer. Please sit or kneel only in places  marked with the blue tape.