From the Associate&

     St. Athanasius, in his Festive Epistles, says that the fifty days of the Easter Season (i.e. from Easter Sunday to Pentecost) are to be celebrated with joyful exultation as one "great Sunday."  Not only do we chant our Alleluias once again, but we do so doubly and triply.  "Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia" rings the antiphon before Daytime Prayer and Compline, which the priests and religious (and now many lay people) pray regularly.  It's a season to enjoy the Resurrection!
The first eight days of Easter are all celebrated as solemnities of the Lord:  from Easter Sunday, to the Second Sunday of Easter.  These days total eight, and this number carries a great meaning.  We hear in the Gospel that first Mary Magdalene then Peter and the Disciple whom Jesus loved, came to the tomb and found it empty, "on the first day of the week" (John 20:1).  Later on that evening, "on the first day of the week" (John 20:19), Jesus appeared to the disciples.  This first day is Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead.  Tradition, however, has also called it the "Eighth Day."  Your curiosity may be perked at this time, realizing that there are really only seven days of the week.  Why call it the eighth day?  The eighth day symbolizes the eschaton, that is, the day which come after this life.  Seven days a week are lived here on earth, but the eighth day is eternal!  When Jesus rose from the dead, He opened the gates of Paradise, and the souls of the just were able to enter their heavenly domain.  Through grace and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we too taste the joys of eternal life, already here on earth.  In Jesus and the Holy Spirit, heaven has descended to earth, with the goal of raising our mortal bodies forever.  How beautiful is this experience, open to all Christians, of the "Eighth Day."
       Because the Resurrection is the most important event in the history of the world, and in the Catholic Church's faith life, we bring its memory to the forefront of our liturgical calendar in three major ways:  (1) we celebrate the Resurrection every Sunday of the year; (2) we set aside a season (Easter) of fifty days to commemorate this miraculous event; (3) we define the first eight days of Easter as solemnities, and seek to experience their profundity, in and through they symbolic meaning:  namely, they are at once both the "first day of the week," and the "Eighth Day!"

-- Fr. Michael

School News&
     When you are spring cleaning, please check your book shelves for stray books from our school library.  Please send the books to our library and no questions will be asked and no fines charged.  We are very interested in getting the books back,

Congratulations to all who will be receiving the Sacrament of First Communion on April 30.

On Monday, May 1 you are invited to the May Crowning at 1:15 p.m. in Church.

ST. JOHN'S ICE CREAM SOCIAL
Spring is a time to celebrate, and what better way to do it than the annual St. John's Ice Cream Social.  Bring a friend or two and come join us for lots of food, fun and excitement.  The kitchen will be busy preparing polish sausage, hot dogs, nachos and cheese dip, and of course, plenty of ice cream!  New this year will be pie to go with your ice cream in honor of Sister Gwendolin's Jubilee.  After you eat your snacks in the cafeteria, you can take a stroll on the cakewalk, try your hand at the fish pond in the gym.  There is plenty of fun, food, prizes and mounds of ice cream!  See you there, Tuesday, May 2, 5:00--8:00  p.m. in the cafeteria.  Thanks!

Circle of Women&
Circle of Women invites ALL women of ALL ages to join the circle.  Our featured speaker will be Sister Paul Hagen .  She will be continuing her talk on Women as Peacemakers.  Come join us in the lower level of the rectory this Thursday from 9:15--11:30 a.m.  Come join us and bring a friend!