Third Sunday of Easter
April 30, 2026 Bulletin Column Father De Celles
Easter Continues. The Easter Season continues through Pentecost, May 24, reminding us that the power of the Resurrection of Christ extends throughout the year, i.e., to every day of our lives. When I was younger it was popular to hear Catholics say, “we are an Easter people!” Of course this is true, but in doing this many were trying to avoid the fact that we are also a “Good Friday people,” as St. Paul reminds us, “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” Nevertheless, the Resurrection is real, and has enduring effects: “by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.” So, let this be a time of remembering with great joy the Lord’s power revealed in His death and resurrection, and that His grace makes that power effective in our own lives.
Time to Catch-Up, and More. Thanks to the good work of Fr. Bergida and Fr. Horkan Lent gets less and less stressful for me every year. Even so, with the extra attention paid to the special activities of Lent and the Triduum, I found myself postponing or overlooking some of the ordinary “business” of the parish. Because of this, I am now playing catch up, going back and discovering all the things I didn’t do during Lent. This includes emails I might not have responded to. In this regard, if I have neglected an email or other request from you, I apologize, and if I owe you a phone call or email, please remind me: I consider that an act of kindness. And thanks for your continuing patient charity. Especially as your priests also try to squeeze in some downtime/vacation.
Virginia March for Life. The (peaceful!) battle to defend the right-to-life has moved to the statehouse, as the Pro-Choose-Death Party dominates our Virginia government and continues to try to force Pro-Death laws on our Commonwealth. I encourage you to join your fellow parishioners and thousands of other Pro-Lifers in Richmond this Wednesday, April 22, for the Virginia March for Life to show our pro-abortion governor and legislators that Virginia is for lovers of life, especially the life of unborn babies! St Raymond’s is sending a bus, and the sign-up sheets are in the narthex. Please sign up and defend the right to life!
Time to Vote. This Tuesday, April 21 is Virginias vote on a proposed Constitutional Amendment to establish new Congressional District maps. Our current maps were determined by a bi-partisan commission and are very reasonable and fair with a 6 – 5 Democrat advantage in the US House of Delegates, which closely matched the 2024 Presidential vote. The new proposal would replace the bi-partisan map with a map determined by the state legislature, and tilt the balance to 10 Democrat and 1 Republican seat. The ballot language is intentional confusing, so let me simplify it: Voting yes supports the Democrat Pro-Death Party. I think it’s pretty clear we should vote “NO.”
Trump, War, and Rhetoric, Part 2. What follows is my opinion, so, of course, feel free to disagree.
Last week I wrote about how our President’s rhetoric is often misconstrued by literal interpretation of what is simply hyperbole used to drive home his underlying point. I pointed out how many other beloved speakers use this technique, including Jesus and Pope Leo.
This week, however, President Trump used very clear language to insult Pope Leo. I’m among the many Catholics who are offended by this. The Pope is not just another politician that Trump can bash at will: to Catholic Americans the Pope is our Holy Father. And the leader of American should not insult the Father, of 60+ million Americans. Even if we may disagree with the Pope’s opinions or actions, we still give him our filial love and expect our elected officials to show him proper respect. For once, Donald Trump should apologize.
If Pope Leo were just another world leader, a politician, we might not be concerned with Trump’s statement. Pope Leo has, after all, recently implied that God doesn’t listen to Trump’s prayers, that Trump has “hands full of blood,” and has “delusions of omnipotence,” and that Trump has treated illegal immigrants with “inhuman indifference.” And one, especially a non-Catholic, could interpret the Pope’s advocacy against Trump’s policies regarding illegal aliens and the war in Iran are more than simple exercises in moral authority, and more in voice of a political world leader.
But out of respect for Catholic Americans, especially those who voted for him 2024 (53% of Catholic voters), the American President should show greater respect, even as he disagrees, and even if those Catholics disagree, with our Holy Father.
My Growing Concern. I’m afraid all this plays into a potential rise in anti-Catholicism in American, and not just from the Marxist-Woke Left. I am concerned about the potential return of the historical anti-Catholicism of our some of our Protestant brethren. For the last 50 years or so Evangelical Protestants and orthodox Catholics have found united to defend traditional Christian moral value, e.g., pro-life, sexuality and marriage. But as this partnership rises in influence in our country I’m afraid of the potential rise in “orthodoxy” tests of Christianity, which could result in divisions in the Evangelical-Catholic partnership.
For example, consider the rise of “dispensationalism” among Evangelicals, which is sort of a Christian-Zionism that promotes the State of Israel as being part of God’s plan revealed in Scripture. This “dispensationalism” is 19th century invention of Protestant theology, and not in line with Catholic teaching. If this becomes a “orthodoxy” test on the part of Evangelicals, what will that do to the partnership?
But the division could also come from us Catholics, with a rise in a sort of anti-Protestantism. For example, consider the rhetoric of Bishops and the Pope advocating in favor of illegal aliens (is this what Trump meant’ by the Pope is “weak on crime”?), and declaring capital punishment and all war as immoral. As I’ve tried to clarify many times, these positions are not official Church doctrine/teaching, but merely the Bishops’ own personal prudential judgments (and in the case of the Pope, hyperbole). But if Catholic Americans who otherwise disagree with these Bishops and the Pope come to wrongly think they must change and “obey” them on these issues in order to remain “faithful Catholics,” then they find themselves in opposition to their former allies/partners, and things will degenerate from there.
Let me be clear: if your well-formed Catholic conscience leads you to a oppose or support President Trump on specific issues, that’s up to you. You are free, as faithful Catholics, to do that. But let’s be careful to recognize our allies and our opponents. Let’s defend the legitimate doctrine of the Church and the Pope’s and Bishops’ authority to teach that doctrine and as well as express their personal judgments and opinions. And let us always show and demand proper respect for our Holy Father. And with the grace of God, and in fidelity to true Catholic doctrine, let us strive for the true good of our beloved country.
Oremus pro invicem. Fr. De Celles