A Week of Celebration and Remembrance

Sisters and brothers, there's so much going on in the life of the Church this week. Here we are still in the second week of Easter, celebrating Christ's Resurrection. And yet at the same time, we are remembering our dear Pope Francis, whose funeral was on Saturday.

We will celebrate at Saint Theresa's a memorial Mass on Wednesday, 6 p.m. An opportunity for us to come together as a parish and pray for the soul of our Holy Father, but also in gratitude for his ministry as priest, bishop, and as our Holy Father.

Tuesday is a celebration of Saint Catherine of Siena, a special feast of this 14th-century Dominican laywoman who spent her life praying and working for the reform of the Church.

Saint Catherine of Siena is close to us here at Saint Theresa's because we have a relic of her in our altar.

Saint Theresa's is unique in this way. We have a relic of Saint Catherine of Siena, a Dominican, a relic of Saint Francis of Assisi, a Franciscan, and a relic of Saint Theresa of Lisieux, a Carmelite—three of the great religious orders in the history of the Church, all in our altar, uniting us in prayer with them as we honor and praise the Father each week when we gather.

This week, also on Friday, is the feast of Saint Athanasius, a doctor of the Church, one of the great giants in the battle to declare Christ true God and true man.

In this year in which we celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, we have the opportunity to celebrate one of its giants, Saint Athanasius, who fought for the belief: Jesus Christ, true God and true man. One person with two natures, humanity and divinity, united together in order that we might be saved.

And so, from the end of the week to the beginning of the week, the Easter story is present in Catherine of Siena and Pope Francis, Saint Athanasius, and in your lives as well. We hope you'll join us on Wednesday night.