Together we reflected on today's Gospel reading. We picture Jesus suddenly appearing before His disciples. He has risen! Thomas is missing. When told about seeing Jesus, Thomas has strong doubts. Jesus could have thought: "Oh well, so Thomas doesn't believe. Let him go; I have plenty of others who will believe". But this is not our Jesus. He returns to His doubting friend. Thomas saw and Thomas believed!

We have friends who feel they are beyond forgiveness; that their sins are so terrible God will not forgive them. To them we point to Thomas (who refused to believe) and to Peter (Jesus' friend who denied he even knew Him). We tell them there is nothing we could ever do that would keep Jesus from loving and forgiving us. All we have to do is come to Him; confess our sins; be truly sorry and ask Him to forgive us.

Jesus has the same mercy and love for each one of us. He will not let us go. He returns to us over and over again, bringing with Him the signs of His love - His peace and His mercy. We pray that Jesus' message of mercy is spread to all people. Ultimately, the salvation of the world is in the hands of Jesus. There is no place where anyone could be safer, and so together we say:

Many will be shocked to find
When the day of judgment nears
That there's a special place in heaven
Set aside for volunteers.
Furnished with big recliners,
Satin couches and footstools,
Where there's no committee chairperson,
No group leaders or car pools.
No eager team that needs a coach,
No bazaar and no bake sale,
There will be nothing to staple,
Not one thing to fold or mail.
Telephone lists will be outlawed,
But a finger snap will bring
Cool drinks and gourmet dinners
And treats fit for a king.
You ask, "Who'll serve these privileged few
And work for all they're worth?"
Why all those who reaped the benefits
And not once volunteered on Earth.

The Church Is Open

St. Robert's is open from before the 6:30 am Mass until 5pm. As you're going from work or school or are on your way to the park, why not come in and thank the Lord for the gift of life and the beauty of these days?

Join us at the next St. Robert's Women's Guild meeting on Monday, April 19th. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and dinner is at 7:30 p.m. Enjoy a delicious dinner and cast your vote for Women's Guild 2004-2005 offices. Please R.S.V.P. to Teresa Nussbaum.

Robert's Readers next book is "The Accidental Pope" by Raymond Flynn and Robin Moore. It has been called "a globetrotting tale full of suspense, drama, and humor." There are several copies in the S.M. library system and is readily available on the used book sites.

We would like to invite all the parents of children ages 4 and under to a social event and you can bring your babies. Many of you have suggested that we have this type of an event. This is your chance to socialize and meet other parents and have a good time. We will provide the wine, cheese and crackers, water and soft drinks; you provide the conversation. We hope to have some teens available to help supervise the children. This is a first time event and if you chose we could schedule more opportunities. The choice is yours. Join us and let us know what you think.

Spiritual Reading is available at Saint Robert's every other Sunday morning after the Masses in the vestibule of the church. Please, take a few minutes and check out an interesting book to read. Thanks to some generous donors we now have over 600 books in our collection. Thanks a million to all those who donated and shared their inspirational books with others. Sister Patricia 589-0104.

CONFIRMATION

Bishop Wester will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with our Candidates Saturday, April 24th.

Congratulatons to the Candidates, their sponsors and families. Thank you to the Confirmation Team:

Megan Carey, Hilda and Mark Barradas,
Darlene Esola, Peggy Hart,
Michael Herrera, Diana Landin,
Michelle Lynch, Mark McGann
and Sister Mary O'Donnell

During Teen Room Office Hours, feel free to come to do homework, hang out, socialize, play a game or talk. I hope to see you at as many events as possible. Teen Room Office Hours are as follows:

What A Wonderful Triduum!
As I write this on Easter Monday, I'm more energized than exhausted as I recall these humbling, powerful days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Easter itself was an extension of the joy of the night before when so many adults and children came into our Catholic family. I am most grateful to the staff for their support for me during the intense days of preparation; following in the footsteps of Pat Vallez-Kelly is not an easy thing to do! Special thanks to Gene May whose untiring attention to a million details is amazing. The Easter environment is thanks to those of you who so generously donated to our flower fund, and to Tom Dachauer and his crew, Una Uniacke and many volunteers, too many to name, young and older alike. Thank you all for giving up a good piece of your Holy Saturday. The understanding and the passion with which the lectors read touched our hearts; the Eucharistic ministers offered the host and cup with welcoming reverence; the altar servers were attentive and prayerful. The homilies came from the hearts of our priests and must have touched those we don't see regularly as well as ourselves. A huge thank you to Kevin Imbimbo, the cantors and the 9:30, 11:30 and children's choirs whose music helped us enter into Jesus' journey from the Last Supper to the cross to his glorious rising.

Those having their feet washed overcame their shyness and let us witness what Peter's pride protested. Those who shared their reflections on the Stations of the Cross touched us deeply with their honesty and their love. The junior high and high schoolers who presented the Passion Play that night were awesome. The gospel of John will never be the same for them, nor for us. Thank you to each of them and to the adults who lovingly worked with them in a mutual sharing of faith.

And then there was Holy Saturday. Who could be passive in the presence of the joy of those to be baptized and the excitement of Donna McGuigan and the RCIA team? So many months of preparation and longing to experience the Spirit in Confirmation and to receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of their Lord. Thank you to the team, their sponsors, their families, their catechists and to you, the newest members of our family! Your faith in Jesus, in the Church and in us gives us hope.

When I was singing the litany with my hand on Laura Nelson's shoulder (I was her proxy godmother, since her real one lives out of state), I had the privilege of gazing at you all. When we sang the refrain, "All you holy men and women, pray for us," I couldn't help but think that the refrain applies to you, the people of St. Robert's. There are many of you whom I don't yet know, but considering those I have come to know, there is a lot of grace here! If being holy means being in relationship with the Lord and in relationship with each other, there are a lot of holy people in this parish! One of the newly confirmed mentioned to me that evening, "There's a good feeling in this place." You're not perfect, no one is. But you're trying to love God and to live out Jesus' gospel and that's what counts. Thank you for the gift of ministering with you. I feel very blessed.

Let us not forget those who don't usually come who came on Easter. Let us pray that perhaps something from the homily or a phrase from a song or the very presence of lots of the faithful people of St. Roberts' might have touched their hearts. Some of us have been "away" and we know how good it is to come home. Let us pray for that grace for these brothers and sisters of ours.

Little White Books
The booklets containing daily reflections for the 50 days of Easter are here. If you'd like one, get it this weekend, since they'll go quickly. They are available at the main entrance to the church. Please leave your $1 donation in the envelope provided. Thank you.