Our mission is to build a civilization of love and life which upholds the dignity
and inviolability of all innocent human life, seeks objective moral Truth,
embraces the value of redemptive suffering, and yearns for the fullness of life
in eternal communion with God the Creator.
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Bishop John O. Barres Easter Letter 2019
Dear Friends:
As we celebrate Holy Week, the Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday and, indeed, the entire Easter Season on Long Island, we remember the power ofthe Risen Christ so eloquently captured in the Resurrection narratives of the four Gospels.
These Resurrection accounts put us in the presence of the Risen Lord and open us up to his power. These narratives reveal the Risen Christ’s glorified wounds.
The light that streams from the glorified wounds of the Risen Jesus touch the wounds of the Church, the wounds of survivors of clergy sexual abuse, the wounds of our families and the wounds of the human family.
The power of the Risen Christ rolls back the stones of spiritual inertia and lukewarmness from our hearts, so that we can embrace a new and compelling spiritual vitality and commitment to advance dramatic missionary growth on Long Island and beyond.
It is my role as your Bishop, as your successor to the Apostles on Long Island, and as your servant, to be a teacher of prayer. Every Pastoral Letter, every Catholic Faith Network Encounter program, every YouTube video, and every Twitter message I share with you, is designed to open us all to a deeper spirit of prayer, holiness and evangelization.
