Dear Parents, Guardians, and Friends of OLMC,

Happy Holy Week. The long awaited break has arrived and I hope and pray you will have a very blessed Easter and a relaxing and rejuvenating spring break. The parish is celebrating liturgies each day from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday. We have several students who will be baptized and/or receive Holy Communion for the first time, and these are wonderful things to celebrate as a school community.

We are also looking forward to our first Easter with Pope Francis I. The stories about him are circulating in both Catholic and non Catholic circles. Who is this new pope? What a sensation he is already making! People are asking: "Did you notice that he is continuing to wear his simple pectoral bishop's cross that he had in Argentina?" "Yes, and did you notice that he doesn't wear the famous red slippers made by Prada?" "Did you realize that last year during Lent, one of his practices of mercy toward the sick was to go to a hospital where AIDS patients were cared for, and to kiss their feet?" "And did you see the pictures of him stepping out of the popemobile one morning to kiss the head of a crippled man who was carried on a stretcher?"

Yes, this man - this pope - is a sensation already. He is the witness for which our hearts have longed. Jesus said, "they will know you are my disciples by the love you have for one another." Pope Francis is simply (I mean that in two ways) living out the call to discipleship that we all share through our baptism. On the one hand it is extraordinary, sensational, beyond imagining. And on the other hand, it is the natural progression of the spiritual life to manifest universal charity toward our neighbors. Just like a small seed naturally becomes a mighty oak when it responds to water and sunlight, so also the baptized person naturally becomes the mighty saint when it responds to God's grace. I don't underestimate the goodness and heroism of our wonderful new Holy Father; he is an answer to what the world needs. But I think, in light of his beautiful, transformed, Christian acts, we may have underestimated the greatness of our own call. Let us let him be a father to us all, to lead us to holiness by his good and edifying example.

I wish you all a very blessed Triduum and Easter. Mother Teresa once captured the importance of the Resurrection by this statement: "Never become so discouraged that you forget the joy of the resurrection!" It is this act in history, applied to our own lives, that gives hope to all God's children. It is this act which reminds us that we were not made for this world, but for heaven. This is what we celebrate on Easter day - Jesus Christ, God Himself, has broken the bonds of sin and death, and opens the way to heaven for us.

With prayers for your families,

Sister Dominic

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We look forward to welcoming Sister Mary Diana, O.P. the week after spring break. Sister Mary Diana is a practicing medical doctor who also gives conferences and retreats on topics of universal interest in medicine, morals, and faith.  Please consider attending this speaking engagement on the evening of Thursday, April 11th at 7:00 pm in St. Michael's Hall. An out of uniform pass will be given for children of parents who attend.