From the Pastor's Desk | April 20, 2025

Tremendous Gratitude

There are so many people to thank who work tirelessly, especially during Holy Week.  It does take a lot of work and effort behind the scenes to execute, what I hope are, meaningful and uplifting liturgies that draw us ever deeper into the Paschal Mystery.  These are not in any particular order, and I do sincerely apologize if I inadvertently left anyone out.  It is never my intention to not acknowledge someone:  

Thank you to Tony and Marie Andorfer, Joey DiMenno, our amazing choirs - both the adult choir and children’s choir, Rebecca Ardis and our St. Martha strings players, and to the many cantors for all their hard work preparing and praying excellent music throughout Holy Week but also throughout the entire year. 

Thank you to Don and Jean Morgan, David and Brigit Martell, and to the many hands that helped decorate the church and the altar of repose throughout Holy Week.  The decorations have to be changed each day, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  It is labor intensive and time consuming.  They truly do a great job! 

• Thank you to the many lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and altar servers who gave of their time to help serve at the altar of the Lord throughout Holy Week.  
• Thank you to Jackie Rosalez for planning and hosting the after party following the Easter Vigil for our candidates and catechumens.  
• Thank you to Dcn. Jim Collom, Ron and Joan Lenz, and everyone who helped teach and form our candidates and catechumens as they prepared for full initiation into the Catholic Church.
• Thank you to Fr. Mike, Dcn. Dave Drayton, and Dcn. Jack for presiding and assisting throughout Holy Week. 
• Thank you to the faculty and staff of St. Martha Parish for all of their efforts leading up to Easter.  Enjoy having Monday off and please sleep!  

Finally, thank you parishioners and families of St. Martha Parish for just being you.  We are a community of faith who stand before the Lord with our weaknesses, brokenness, and sin with the vulnerability to allow the Lord to be the Lord of our lives.  Keep striving for holiness of life and a deepening relationship with our Risen Savior!  

Now, I am ready for a looooooooong nap!!!  I will be unavailable Monday and Tuesday of Easter Week.

Gospel Reflection

“...they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead’ (John 20:9). 

In Catholic theology, we use two terms—mysterium (in Greek) and sacramentum (in Latin). While we use these words interchangeably, they have distinct meanings. Sacramentum, or sacrament, emphasizes the visible sign of a hidden reality. The sacraments are outward signs that point to inward, invisible grace. Take baptism, for example. The pouring of water over the head is a visible sign that speaks to the hidden reality of a person’s cleansing of original sin, the infusion of divine life, and the indelible mark of belonging to Christ. Jesus Himself is a sacramentum—a visible sign of a hidden reality: His life, death, and Resurrection all point to the unseen truth of His divine nature.

Mysterium, or mystery, refers to that hidden reality itself—truths that can only be revealed by God through Scripture and Tradition. We encounter these mysteries most fully in the Holy Mass, as we come together to celebrate the “sacred mysteries,” to recall and re-presented before us in an unbloody manner Christ’s “Paschal Mystery.” For example, the Eucharist is a mystery—a truth revealed to us by God—because only through divine revelation can we understand that the bread and wine truly become Christ’s Body and Blood. Similarly, only through God’s revelation can we understand who Jesus truly is.

In everyday language, we think of “mystery” as something unknowable, but in Catholic theology, a mystery is a truth that is hidden from us but can be known by divine revelation. Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John were struggling not just to understand how Jesus rose from the dead, but why He rose from the dead—and who this Jesus truly was. Even after Peter confessed Him as the Christ, he still didn’t fully grasp the extent of Jesus’ divinity and the power He held because of His divine nature.

John writes, “...they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead (John 20:9).”  The disciples did not fully understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Perhaps, like them, some of us still wrestle with understanding this great mystery. And that’s okay. It’s okay to struggle with the mystery of the Resurrection, because, as finite beings, we can never fully grasp its depth. Sometimes, simply knowing that we cannot know everything is itself a kind of knowledge. The world values certainty and control, but the Christian life calls us to surrender to the mystery of faith. As St. Paul writes, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood” (1 Cor. 13:12).

To those whose faith comes easily—well done.  Keep up the good work! To those whose faith is a constant struggle—keep struggling, and know that one day, our understanding will be complete. Until then, let us persevere in faith, bowing before the mystery of Christ’s Paschal Sacrifice and His Resurrection.

Happy Easter to you all!  

Fr. Ryan