Dear Families,

	Pope Francis sends video message ahead of Holy Week

I hope you have had a good start to your Holy Week.  It is odd to spend it so far apart from each other, but we send you our best wishes for a glorious Easter.

As some have noted, the first Easter was spent by people who were afraid and locked up in a room.  The Lord appeared without breaking in, and his presence made them free.  May you taste of that freedom in the new life in Christ even though we are still being prudent about staying inside.

Cardinal Cupich, reflecting on the effects of the is pandemic on our faith, wrote:

The grace of true freedom. With the virus, our movements are restricted and so are our options for doing things. The usual choices and freedom of movement are just not available. If we define our freedom in terms of the choices available to us, then the virus has made us much less free than we would like. On the other hand, the restrictions we experience can open an opportunity for us to reflect on the true meaning of freedom. In our religious tradition, genuine freedom is not about the number of choices we have, but about the possibility of giving ourselves over to God and others in love. Jesus says of himself, "No one takes my life from me. I lay it down to pick it up again. For this the Father loves me." (See John 10) That is true freedom. 

Suggested Scripture: John 12:20-33. "For this I came to this hour."

Please remember that there are family activities in the email sent last Friday.  You should also receive a lesson plan for each of your students either this evening or tomorrow.  If you need access to the texts for the lesson, you can find that information is here.

A precept (law) of the church is to go to confession and Communion during the Easter season.  Of course, that is not possible this year.  Cardinal Cupich has dispensed us from that obligation.  You can read this in English here and in Polish here.

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is inviting all Catholics in the United States to pray the litany of the Sacred Heart on Good Friday, for the intention of ending the pandemic.  (This is an excellent activity to share with your children.)

Our parishes will make available the Holy Week, Triduum and Easter Sunday liturgies for you to watch online.  You can find the schedule for St. Thomas Becket here and the schedule for St. Emily is here. You can find the streaming videos on the YouTube site for St. Emily here.

A longstanding tradition is to bless the Easter basket containing the foods eaten at the first Easter meal.  Any adult may bless the food in your home (as you do when you eat a regular meal.)  Here is the blessing in English and in Polish for you to use.

A word about the Easter collection : As you can imagine, the financial strain on the parishes mirrors the general economic dislocation we are all experiencing. The Easter collection is always a major source of revenue in any parish budget.  We know that your own family's needs might be great, but your help in supporting your parish will ensure that ministries continue during this emergency and resume seamlessly when we can gather again.   You can donate electronically to    St. Emily here    and to   

As we began Lent - in what seems a century ago - we gave out pledge sheets for students who wanted to help feed others through Read to Feed.  If you have pledge money, please mail a check to St. Emily, 1400 E. Central Road, Mount Prospect, IL 60056 to the attention of Cathy Crino.  I will see that it goes to Heifer International.