Holy Week Greeting to the parishioners of St. Alphonsus 

Greetings, sisters and brothers, 

This is Father Marcel. As we approach the Holy Week, the pivotal period we remember and participate in the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, I bring you Shalom (peace) of Christ Jesus. In Jesus of Nazareth, God became a human being in order to set us free from the yoke of slavery. As we approach the Holy Week which begins on Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus triumphantly enters the city of Jerusalem, let’s not forget that Jesus also wants to triumphantly enter into the city of our lives. When he celebrates the Last Supper and inaugurates the Eucharist on Holy Thursday, he declares his deep desire to share his very life with us. When he hangs upon the cross on Good Friday, he offers to the Eternal Father the greatest sacrifice for our sin and dysfunction. When he dies on the cross, the enmity between us and God dies. As he lays in the tomb, he is definitively releasing us from the grip and stronghold of Satan. When he rises victoriously on Easter Sunday, he declares himself the triumphant Warrior who fights and wins. He wins for us. His victory is our victory. It calls for celebrations. May God bless your Holy Week. May this week become for you a week of healing at all levels— physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological. 

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

2021