Easter greetings to all of our SAR, Guild members, and the Hispanic Committee!
 
 

 
     A sign of hope? Looking East up a nearly deserted Main Street in
     Suffern, New York, after a rain storm reveals a brilliant rainbow
     arching over Sacred Heart Church.
 
I hope and pray that all of you and the members of your families are well or, if not, that you are on the road to recovery. I place myself in that second category since I have been in isolation for almost two weeks now, on doctor’s orders! Fr. Michael Rafferty, God bless him, has been manning the parish and offering Mass via live streaming every day. Check the Sacred Heart parish website for Mass times and other news from the parish at: www.sacredheartparish.org. I have been trying little by little to call or text as many of you as possible so that we can stay in touch in the absence of Guild activities or SAR meetings. If I have not been able to get ahold of some of you, please know that you are in my prayers. I am in regular contact with Frs. John Oldfield in Sloatsburg, NY, and Charles Huse in Union City, NJ; both are doing well and send greetings. We at Tagaste Monastery and Sacred Heart Church reach out to all of those families who have lost loved ones, and continue to pray for an end to this terrible plague. Our concern extends to all of our brothers and sisters in the Order of Augustinian Recollects and our own Province of St. Nicholas of Tolentine. I thank all of you who have found such wonderful and creative means to stay in touch spiritually through common rosaries and prayer services or simply by phone, email, or texting, as well as those of you who assist our senior members by picking up groceries and so many other kindnesses. There is a tremendous opportunity for all of us now to build community and bring about genuine healing by sharing the cross of suffering that others are bearing and that really affects all of us. Although we must keep our distance physically until we know it’s safe to do otherwise, let’s stay connected with our prayers and good works!
 
Taken from Sacred Heart Bulletin for April 19, 2020: Feast of Divine Mercy
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Sacred Heart:
 
"Humanity will never find peace until it turns with trust to Divine Mercy. Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the Risen Christ and offers to humanity.” These words, taken from a homily given by Pope John Paul II on April 22, 2001, one year after he officially established the feast of Divine Mercy on the 1 ^st Sunday after Easter, find their inspiration in the diary of Faustina Kowalska, a Polish saint and visionary (1905-38) who dedicated her life to spreading this devotion, which for many years now has been fostered at Tagaste Monastery and Sacred Heart Parish as well as throughout the world. Faustina lived the last part of her short life in a newly independent, post-World War I Poland, whose liberty was already being threatened by the shadow of Nazi Germany to the West and the Soviet Union to the East, both dedicated to the destruction of her native land and its Catholic culture. In the midst of this increasing darkness, Faustina placed all her trust in Jesus Christ. Without seeing the light at the end of the tunnel; before, indeed, the carnage of a new world war had even begun, she was able to foresee that the mercy of God would bring eventual victory to her country and to the whole world, if only people would turn their hearts to Jesus, the only path to true peace and true healing. It took over 50 years for Poland to emerge from the double scourge of Nazism and Communism, and in the end to give the Church one of the greatest popes in its long history.
 
Easter Sunday 2020 was anything but traditional. There was no singing of the Gloria or the Alleluia at Mass. We did not even gather for Mass. Our churches—including St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and even St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome—were virtually empty. Instead of Easter bonnets there were face masks and gloves; instead of Easter Sunday dinner, social distancing remained the necessary norm everywhere. But we cannot, we will not abandon the hope of better days to come. “Jesus, I trust in you!” This is the most important affirmation of Divine Mercy Sunday. The Risen Lord appeared to the eleven in the upper room when all seemed to be lost (Jn. 20:19-31). “Peace be with you,” He said. Then he breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit!” In the midst of their fear and disappointment in the apparent defeat of Jesus and their own betrayal of the Teacher, faith was reborn; and a new mission was discovered! Forgive as you have been forgiven; be instruments of the healing grace of God in others as you have first been healed. Even though you abandoned me in my passion and crucifixion, I am willing to trust you again. Are you willing to trust in me and trust in yourselves? Even you, Thomas, the doubter? Examine my hands and my feet, and do not be unbelieving, but believe. “My Lord and my God!” Thomas replied. Help us, Lord, during this Easter time to overcome our own doubts and fears, to remain strong in our faith in the Risen One, united with one another in prayer, with Mary our spiritual mother, with St. Faustina, and most of all with Jesus, our Savior and Healer: Jesus, I trust in you!
 
Fr. John Gruben, OAR, prior
Theresa Giampaglia, SAR, president
Connie Montanye, Guild president