Father Hathaway’s Column — April 5, 2026
CHRIST IS RISEN,
Alleluia, Alleluia!
My brother Basilica of Saint Mary priests and I wish each of you a very Happy and Blessed Easter Season!
The Mass of Easter Sunday is among the most joyful in the Church calendar, commemorating the amazing inter-vention of God into human history, ushering in a New Creation with the Resurrection of His Son and the foun-dation of our own eternal life. As Saint Paul VI, who served as Pope from 1963 to 1978, described it: “The Resurrection is the greatest miracle of Christianity, and everything depends on it.”
The 50 days from Easter to Pentecost on Sunday, May 24, comprise the Easter Season. During the first eight days, the Octave of Easter, the Alleluia (a Hebrew-derived exclamation meaning “Praise the Lord”) is used for the dismissal from Mass and added to the antiphons and responses for the Litur-gy of the Hours. Indeed, Christ is risen – Alleluia, Alleluia!
CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU!
After months of prayer and preparation, 49 adults – guided by the Holy Spirit – were fully initiated into the Catholic Church as part of our beautiful Easter Vigil Mass last night: Jake, Karen, Michael B., Alyssa, Briana, Kyle, Davina, Lyndsey, Megan, Sarah Elizabeth, Paul, Alexandra, Lisa D., Rus-sell, Tyler, Joseph J., Mallory, Timothy, Joshua L., Sarah, Margaret, Bran-dy, Samuel, Christian, Cole, Taylor, Thomas, Adam Q., Kristen, Jonathon, Trevor, Adam S., Jesse, Joshua S., Lisa S., Nicole, Katrina, Zachary, Joseph T., Gabrielle, Matthew, Jenny, Clara, Graham, Grace, Michael W., Emily, Ross, Michael Z. Please keep them in your prayers.
Thank you to our Religious Education staff, Susan Gray and Yunchong Boyle, and our OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) volunteer team, including Dominican Brother Augustin, for helping prepare these individuals for becoming full and active members of our Catholic family. May God bless and reward you! Thank you to everyone who helped make our sacred Easter Triduum liturgies so beautiful. Thank you, especially, to my brother priests, Father Searby, Father Peter, Father Meyerhofer, Father Moschetto and Monsignor Goodwin, particularly for the additional hours they spent hearing confessions, preparing souls to enter into the mystery of Easter, repairing broken halos and mending wounded hearts. My gratitude, also, to Deacon Samuel Martinez for preaching at Mass and performing numerous baptisms during Lent.
Thank you to our ministers in the sanctuary, including the sacristans (especially!), servers, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion and ushers. My thanks to our choir, cantors and musicians under the guid-ance of Director of Music David Elliott. Many thanks to Christine Kleiber and the Mary Martha Guild for transforming the Basilica in the spirit of each observance. I am also grateful to all of you for uniting in prayer these past weeks. Together, with Christ, we are vibrantly the Basilica of Saint Mary.
DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY – APRIL 12
Be sure to join us for our traditional Divine Mercy Sunday Liturgy and Devotions on April 12, beginning at 2:45 p.m. in the Basilica. See page 5 of the bulletin for more information.