Dear Brother Knights,

He is risen, He is risen indeed! The Easter season is upon us and as we transition the penitential practices which are the hallmark of Lent season into participating in Christ’s victory over sin and death we stand between two different world views, both of which reflect our Catholic Faith. On the one hand we know that Christ was and is victorious over His Passion and Death and on the other we know also that sin and death remain ever present in the world.

It is in this contrast between grace, won for us by Christ on the cross; and sin and death, brought to us through the transgressions of our first parents, Adam and Eve, that we are called to work out our salvation in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Easter gives us our direction, one of hope and confidence; yet our fallen nature gives us our mission, to be intentional disciples of Christ and missionaries of His Gospel message. It is precisely because we live in this contrast that God became man in the first place; to reconcile His creation back to Himself for all time. Take heart, for He is Risen!

May the Lord bless you and yours this Easter Season,

Father Nicholas Reid

Dear Brother Knights,

Mathew 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

We are now in the throes of Lent, a period of inward conversion where we turn our hearts towards the Lord in concrete acts of penance, prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In the above scripture verse, Jesus is preaching to his fellow Jews in an effort convert their hearts from being followers of the Mosaic Law into followers of Christ through faith and the gift of grace.

For Jesus, it is not enough to merely follow rules, even those good and productive rules put in place through the Law to govern the affairs of the Jewish people. Those laws were important to distinguish them from their Gentile counterparts, who were not in a covenantal relationship with God. In our time, in the new Covenant established by the life, death and resurrection of Christ (what we as Catholics will celebrate during the Triduum- Latin for ‘three days’- on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter) is one where righteousness isn’t about following the Law- but following Christ.

In our day, as Catholics, we are asked to convert our hearts and not simply our actions, be they public or private, communal or personal. This is the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. The French writer and poet Charles Peguy once remarked, “The only sadness is not to be a saint.” If we allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us- we’ll have no choice but to be saints!

Oremus pro invicem,
Father Reid