Something Beautiful for Easter

Something beautiful is happening at Mary, Queen of Peace, and most of you are likely not aware of it. I’m here to fix that. At the Easter Vigil at MQP on April 4, more than 40 people will enter the Catholic Church. Among those, more than 20 will be baptized. This amazing number includes adults, teenagers, children, and some entire families. The Holy Spirit is moving powerfully, opening hearts to life-changing encounters with Jesus.

If you were at the 6 pm Mass on February 22, you witnessed this abundance at the Rite of Sending. During this Rite, the “catechumens” – those to be baptized – signed the Book of the Elect; the “candidates” - baptized in another Christian faith - committed to their continuing conversion to come into full communion with the Church. This was followed by the Rite of Election at Most Holy Trinity on February 23, where the catechumens and candidates from MQP and other Northshore parishes gathered with Archbishop Checchio to commit to the final phase of purification and enlightenment before Easter.

In these final weeks of Lent, please join me in praying for each of these catechumens and candidates as well as all those across our Archdiocese. More than 700 people will enter the Church in our archdiocese on April 4. What a blessing it is to be part of a new springtime in the Catholic Church! It is not only our parish nor our archdiocese that is seeing growth in conversions; in fact, it is a national trend. According to data from 2025, annual conversions stood at around 175,000 in 2000. Over the following twenty years, the numbers steadily diminished, reaching a low of 70,000 in 2020. Since then, the trend has reversed. In 2025, nearly 160,000 adult Americans entered the Catholic Church. In 2026, that number will likely be higher as several large archdioceses such as Atlanta, Washington, DC, and New York report record numbers. 

Behind each of those numbers, of course, is a soul. And here is the flip side of this good news: The dramatic increase in Catholics is not mirrored by an increase in priests to shepherd these souls. The number of priests of retirement age is growing, not met by increased ordinations. Please join me in praying for more vocations to the priesthood, and if you know anyone who has felt the nudge to explore this call, please have them reach out to me. 

In addition, please see Archbishop Checchio’s letter in this bulletin  about next weekend’s second collection for Seminarian Support. Your generosity will help ensure we form shepherds for the Church’s burgeoning fold.