The Lord is Risen! As we enter the 3rd week of Easter, it marks the completion of my first full liturgical year with you here at St. Patrick’s. With all that has happened and all the joys I’ve experienced, it feels like it has been much longer! I’m so grateful for the many unique opportunities I’ve had for building and sharing in friendship with you. One of my highlights of the past year was in fact just last weekend. In collaboration with the Archdiocesan Office of Faith Formation and Missionary Discipleship, we hosted national youth ministry leader Everett Fritz for a day of training and formation for 20 adult leaders who will begin to mentor high school students in small groups. Each small group will consist in 4-8 teens coming together 2-3 times a month for one hour to build authentic friendships and discuss a relevant passage of Scripture under the guidance of two adult mentors. These small groups together will form the core of our new youth ministry and will be the source of infinite other possibilities for engaging with young people and bringing them into a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ. At the training last week, the general feeling in the room went from cautiously optimistic at the start to overwhelmingly enthusiastic by the end. I think what excited people is the realization of how simple evangelization truly is, and how beautiful a life of discipleship is. Simple, because it does not require complicated programs or gimmicks; beautiful, because it fulfills a deeply human need in a way that nothing else in the world can. One of Everett’s most profound points was understanding the 5 needs of every teen: to be understood, to belong, to be transparent, for critical thinking, and for guidance. (At the end of the day, isn’t that really for all of us?) When those needs are met, the heart is opened to the proclamation of the Gospel; once the heart receives the Good News, faith takes root, repentance is elicited, and the interior transformation of grace begins to unfold. Very often the word “evangelization” provokes uncomfortable reactions in people (or “weird vibes,” as Gen Z would say); perhaps they think of something overly intellectual, or even worse, they think of cornering people into awkward conversations or shouting out Bible verses in the town square. But evangelization is about neither gimmicks nor ideological battles; it’s about building meaningful relationships and allowing our communion with Christ to be experienced by others through authentic human experiences. I wanted to share these preliminary reflections with you so that you can have a sense of the broader vision for our youth ministry and perhaps use that to reflect on your own life of discipleship with Christ. I ask for your prayers in particular for the young people of St. Patrick’s Parish (which includes every young person in the town of Stoneham and beyond, whose eternal salvation has been entrusted to our care), and for the adults who have generously offered their time and talent to this ministry. When I arrived here a year ago I was very pleased to see the motto that Fr. Barnes places on our bulletin cover: truth, goodness, beauty, and friendship in Christ. It is my hope and prayer that everyone has an opportunity to experience that here at St. Patrick’s, and it is my honor to share in that with you! Yours in Christ, Fr. Patrick

He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! On Tuesday of Holy Week, all of the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston gathered with Archbishop Henning for the Chrism Mass, and we renewed the promises made on the day of our ordination. Seated to my right was a priest ordained only three years ago. Directly in front of me was a priest in a wheelchair who was ordained over fifty years ago. All of us share in the gift of the one priesthood of Jesus Christ. Also, at that Mass the Archbishop consecrated the sacred oils that will be used throughout the Archdiocese until the next Chrism Mass. Thus, all of the baptisms, confirmations, priestly ordinations, and anointings of the sick in every parish throughout the Archdiocese will be linked to the ministry of our Archbishop. On Holy Thursday five brother priests joined Fr. Sijo and Fr. Patrick and me for an early dinner at our rectory. Holy Thursday is a day of great significance to all Catholics, but it holds special meaning to priests because it is the day on which Christ instituted the priesthood. It is the day that our vocation was born. It was wonderful to have a nice mid-day meal together and to build up our priestly fraternity. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday this year was one of those liturgical moments in life when I felt as though I had been taken up out of the 02180 zip code and transported to the Upper Room. It was, for me, one of those moments when you realize that you have been given a pure gift. When we enter into the Liturgy with faith, obedience, liturgical humility and docility, attentiveness, and with charity, we become better receptive to what the Lord wants to do. We do our small part and then God does something beyond our natural capacities. Being in the Upper Room with all of you on Holy Thursday was an amazing gift to me. On Good Friday, Fr. Patrick, Fr. Sijo, and I were scheduled to hear confessions for two hours. We went non-stop for three hours. Similarly, on Holy Saturday the confession times had to be extended because of how many of you were there. In the confessional, we stand beneath the Cross of Christ and His Mercy pours out upon the sinners He came to save. What an amazing thing it is to spend hours listening to people humbly acknowledging their sins, sometimes after carrying heavy, crushing burdens for decades upon decades. What a gift it is for a priest when he is able to help those persons experience Divine Mercy. The Devil wants to imprison people in shame, guilt, and in the past. Jesus comes to set captives free. Hearing long hours of heavy confessions is completely exhausting and completely life-giving and amazing. Thank you all for coming. Congratulations to all of those who were weighed down and are now free! Blessed Be God! We had, I think, a beautiful Lent and Sacred Triduum together. I am grateful to all of those who made that possible, particularly our ushers, musicians, and all who served at the altar. I thank our clergy–deacons and priests–and the whole parish staff for their outstanding work. In particular, I thank Deacon Frank who was on top of every last detail (of which there are many)! This year, throughout the Triduum and on Easter Sunday, I felt that people were hungering for and receptive to the Word of God. There was an openness and a desire to be drawn more deeply into the mysteries of Christ. As I finish this letter, we have now received word that the Holy Father, Pope Francis has died. Easter Day is celebrated as an Octave. It is kind of like there is so much joy over Easter, that it can’t be squeezed into a twenty-four hour period, so the Church celebrates Easter Day for eight days. Pope Francis died within that Octave. May he share now in the everlasting joy that Christ’s resurrection brings. I think a good telltale of whether Lent and the Sacred Triduum went well is by how exhausted you are at the end of it. I can’t speak for the rest of the clergy and staff, but I know I am exhausted! Happily exhausted, but exhausted! I am grateful for living these mysteries with you. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes