Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church - Parishes Online
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April 4, 2021 Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church
A Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence
OUR LADY OF GRACE CATHOLIC CHURCH
15 George Waterman Road
Johnston, Rhode Island 02919
Telephone: (401) 231-2220
Facsimile (401) 231-3905
OURLADYOFGRACERI.ORG
REV. PETER J. GOWER, PASTOR
Alleluia! He is Risen! Saying those words is like drinking a tall glass of cold water after being out in the desert all day. Lent is over and it is now time to cele- brate the great joy of Easter! At the Easter Vigil, the Exsultet is sung as Mass begins in darkness, illumined only by candles throughout the church. The Exsultet is a beautiful hymn of rejoicing in Christ’s triumph over sin and death. One part states: O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer! This line stands out because it calls the sin of Adam “necessary” and refers to it as “O happy fault.” At first, this may seem strange. Why is it that we refer to the sin of Adam, Original Sin, as “necessary” and “happy.” The answer is Easter. It’s because God, in His perfect wisdom and love, took sin and the consequence of sin (death) and used them as the means of the salvation of the world. That’s what Easter is all about! This may be hard to comprehend so it’s worth thinking about more deeply. Without Adam’s sin, there would be no Jesus. God would not have had to become one of us. So even though the original sin of Adam, as well as all future sin, is evil and wrong, God in His per- fect power and love chose to use it as the very means of the salvation of the world. How? By allowing the sins of the world to persecute Him and crucify Him, and then, by turning that suffering and death into the very means of salvation. Jesus destroyed sin by destroying the consequences of sin which is death. Death loses in the Resurrection! Jesus’ Resurrection takes away the effects of all sin for those who cling to Him. Easter is a time when we must do just that. We must “cling” to our resurrected Lord! We must cling to Jesus who is alive and well. We must cling to His Resurrection and strive to share in it. How do we cling to our Resurrected Lord? There are many ways. Here is one. Take joy in everything. Start with whatever it is that burdens you the most. Whatever it is that makes you angry, sad or de- pressed. Whatever that is, it can potentially become one of your greatest sources of grace and joy. Seriously, it can. If the brutal Cruci- fixion of Jesus, the Son of God, can turn out to be the greatest event in all of human history, then your personal suffering, your burden, or even your sin can very much become a source of great joy as long as you let God transform it into part of His Resurrection! This is the meaning of Easter! Easter means that nothing can keep us from the joy that God wants to give us. Nothing can steal that joy away. Sure, at times we will struggle just as Jesus did in the Agony of the Garden and the Via Dolorosa (the Way of the Cross), but those sufferings will not win. The Resurrection won with Christ and it will win with us when we cling to Him. Jesus persevered and, in the end, rose victorious. This is Easter! Know that God wants you to experience the joy of Easter in your life. Let Him fill you with hope and with the joy that only the Resur- rection can bring. God wants Easter to begin now in our lives! Happy Easter! Lord, help me to cling to You in Your Resurrection. Help me to let you transform every cross and burden in my life into joy. Lord, may Your joy fill my life and be my strength in all things. Jesus, I trust in You.
April Mass Schedule 2021 OUR LADY OF GRACE- PARISH DIRECTORY
Church Address:
15 George Waterman Rd
Johnston, RI 02919
Date Time Name Mailing Address:
4 Lafayette St
Johnston, RI 02919
1 Office Hours: Mon-Thurs 9 am—3:30 pm
7:00 Holy Thursday
Friday-9am—Noon
2 7:00 Good Friday Service
PARISH WEBSITE
3 7:00 Holy Saturday Ourladyofgraceri.org
Assunta & Giovanni
4 8:30 Carbone PARISH OFFICE
10:30 Maurice LaBelle, Jr.
Reverend Peter J. Gower
5 8:00 Maryann Vita Pastor
ourladyofgraceri@aol.com
6 8:00 Joan Gannon
7 8:00 Maria Lupo
Mr. Joseph Quartino
10 4:00 Nico Ventetuolo Building Superintendent
Ventetuolo & Lawlor
Families Mr. Jeffrey Del Gigante
Music Director
11 8:30 Anna Carbone
10:30 Bill Cain Mrs. Frances DiBiasio
Funeral Administrator
12 8:00 Josephine Tasca (401) 231-7334
(401) 451-0359
13 8:00 Angelo DeFusco
14 8:00 Mary Mancini OFFICE OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Margaret & Dome-
Mrs. Joanne Burley, Director
17 4:00 nic Calise jburley@ourladyofgraceri.org
Angelo & Marnie (401) 231-2220 ext 2
18 8:30 Carlino
10:30 Olga Gesualdi Religious Education Office Hours:
19 8:00 Claire Letourneau Monday—Wednesday
Anthony Spremulli 9:00 am until 2:00 pm
24 4:00 and
Thursday
Louise Spremulli 9:00 am until 1:00 pm
Chiaramonte
John Spremulli SOCIAL MEDIA–CONNECT WITH US
Emilio & Fernanda
Facebook
25 8:30 Giudici
@olgri2020
Domenic & Florence
DiDonato Instagram
olg_ri
10:30 Jesse Gomez
Cubellotti, Marraffi-
28 8:00 no
D'Andrea, &
Schiappa Families
4/25 - 5/1 Altar Bread &
Lidia Edmonson
“View from the Pew” by George W. Reilly The Meaning of Easter On April 4, Christians will be celebrating Easter, the day on which the resurrection of Jesus is said to have taken place when Jesus rose from the dead, symbolizing the renewal of faith and providing hope for eternal life to us all. The date of celebration changes from year to year. The reason for this variation is that Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. Looks like an astronomer had something to do with this. Easter is quite like other major holidays like Christmas and Halloween, which have evolved over the last 2000 years or so. In all of these holidays, Christian and non-Christian (pagan) ele- ments have continued to blend together. Most major holidays have some connection to the changing of seasons. This is especially ob- vious in the case of Christmas. The New Testament gives no information about what time of year Jesus was born, but many scholars believe, however, that the main reason Jesus’s birth came to be celebrated on December 25 is because that was the date of the winter solstice ac- cording to the Roman calendar. Similar was the case with Easter, which falls near another key point in the solar year: the ver- nal equinox (around March 20), when there are equal periods of light and darkness. For those of us in the northern latitudes, the coming of spring is often met with excitement, as it means an end to the cold days of winter. Spring also means the coming back to life of plants and trees that have been dormant for win- ter, as well as the birth of new life in the animal world. Given the symbolism of new life and re- birth, it was only natural to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus at this time of the year. The Venerable Bede, a seventh-century Anglo-Saxon historian and monk, writes that the word Easter comes from the goddess “Eostre,” an ancient goddess of fertility and the goddess of the dawn who originated in what is now Scandinavia. Over time, early Christians started referring to the Feast of the Resurrection by the name of the month in which it was celebrated - “Eosturmonath” (what we now call April). This theory neatly ties in with some of our other Easter customs of Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny which are also considered ancient symbols of fertility and tied to the past worship of Eostre. Bede was so influential for later Christians that the name stuck, and hence Easter remains the name by which the English, Germans and Americans refer to the feast of Jesus’s resurrection. Historians are never going to figure out exactly where or when Easter was first used. It is one of the oldest Old English words and has been in use for over a millennium, making it near im- possible to detangle the strands of its history. And, in the end, it is really unimportant where the word Easter comes from but that you know that Easter is a time of resurrection and rebirth, a time to celebrate the risen Christ and God’s promise of eternal life to all of us. A very joyous Easter to you all. Stay warm and healthy and let us hope that Mother Nature does the same.
Family Law, Bankruptcy & Estate Planning
Jacqueline M. Grasso, Esq.
Attorney at Law
GRASSO LAW OFFICES
1310 Atwood Ave., Johnston
licensed in ri & ma 401-946-4500 or www.grassolaw.net
MICHELETTI SCITUATE HARDWARE
OIL SERVICE INC. - LOCK & KEY
Burner Sales & Service FULL SERVICE LOCKSMITH
Thomas G. Gattone, Founder • “Woodlawn” High-Tech Oil Heat Equipment PHONE: 401-647-4900
600 Pontiac Ave, Cranston, RI Joe Micheletti 401-946-5055 Family Owned and Operated Since 1926 Commercial • Residential
987 Plainfield St., Johnston Anthony W. Hamel, LFD 4th Generation
421-0289 • www.WoodlawnGattone.com michelettioil@verizon.net Automotive • Locks Re-keyed
Robert J. Lepore Assistant to the Director facebook.com/michelettioilRI 1381 Smith Street, North Providence Lost Keys Made
Michael P. Tasca President • Susan M. Tasca Director www.michelettioil.com 353-2400 32 Danielson Pike, North Scituate, RI
One Cherry Hill Rd. | Johnston, RI
Document Shredding
OPEN HOUSE Computer & Hard Drive Destruction
Every Thursday 3-4pm
Bob Cucino, President/CEO
Live Entertainment & Refreshments
15 Green Hill Rd. • Johnston RI
401-943-0522 • www.shredngori.com
401.233.2880 | www.cherryhillbridge.com shredngori@outlook.net
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(401) 437-8444 | 775 Hartford Avenue • Johnston, RI 02919
SCOTT’S GARAGE LLC.
86 Greenville Ave, Johnston, RI
401-521-7318
QUALITY USED CARS
COMPLETE AUTOMOTIVE WORK
DOMESTIC • FOREIGN
ROBBINS
FUNERAL HOME
Directors:
Geoffrey D. Greene • Jennifer L. Fagan
Contact Al Wickenheiser to place an ad today! 2251 Mineral Spring Avenue
awickenheiser@4LPi.com or (800) 477-4574 x6409 North Providence
231-9307
Ad info. 1-800-477-4574 • Publication Support 1-800-888-4574 • www.4lpi.com Our Lady of Grace, Johnston, RI 03-1238You can also read
