Love God, Love Others, Share the Good News!

           This Week's Letter From Father

Holy Thursday                       

April 2, 2026
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
With the celebration of Holy Thursday, we enter the Holy Triduum in the liturgical calendar. Holy Thursday commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood. After Mass, we will adore the Blessed Sacrament at the Altar of Repose. There will be no celebration of the Eucharist until the Easter Vigil, which proclaims the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
 
The Eucharist is the foundation and pinnacle of our Church life. The term “Eucharist” derives from the Greek word “eucharistia,” meaning “thanksgiving.” It is called the Eucharist because it is an act of gratitude to God (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1328). In the Eucharist, we find the promise of salvation and embrace the message of love, compassion, and hope it conveys.
 
By partaking in the Eucharist, we become the body of Christ on earth. The Eucharist also symbolizes unity. In this sacrament, Jesus unites himself with all of us, drawing people from various walks of life and diverse experiences.
 
The institution of the Eucharist is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew (26:26-30), Mark (14:22-30), and Luke (22:1420). Our second reading, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, was written fifteen years before the first gospel, which is the Gospel of Mark. This passage provides the earliest description of the Eucharist we have. Saint Paul reminds us that every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the death of Jesus until he comes again.
 
The distinguished Sri Lankan theologian Tissa Balasuriya emphasizes that “The Eucharist is spiritual food insofar as it leads to greater love, self-unity, and communion among persons and groups … The Eucharist must lead us to a response to the suffering of the masses often caused by people who take a prominent part in the Eucharist.”
 
Saint Therese of Lisieux words serve as a poignant reminder for us today: “It is not to remain in a golden ciborium that He comes down each day from Heaven, but to find another Heaven, the Heaven of our soul in which He takes delight.” Let us continually welcome Him to dwell in our souls and hearts. Let us nurture this sacred connection and experience the joy and love it brings.
 
The excerpt from Saint Faustyna Kowalska’s “Prayer Before the Eucharist” is truly inspiring: “O Christ, let me glorify Your goodness and mercy to the last moment of my life, with every drop of my blood and every beat of my heart. Would that I be transformed into a hymn of adoration of You. When I find myself on my deathbed, may the last beat of my heart be a loving hymn glorifying Your unfathomable mercy.” We can adopt these words as our prayer, too.
 
Wishing everyone a very blessed and prayerful Holy Thursday,

Fr. Ryszard

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Good Friday                                  April 3, 2026
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
This year, Good Friday coincides with my Name Day. In Poland , we celebrate both name days and birthdays because both are significant. The name your parents gave you is something to wear with pride.
 
Good Friday and Palms Sunday are the only two days in the Church’s liturgical calendar when the Passion of our Lord is proclaimed.
 
Unfortunately, in the name of the crucified Christ, many men, women, and children have been slaughtered and erased from the history of the world. Sally B. Purvis points out that the cross, while central to Christian faith, has sometimes been associated with injustice and pain: “The ethical objections to the cross as a symbol of life note that in the history of Christianity, the cross as a symbol has served to valorize both abuse and suffering.”
 
Asia’s eminent theologian, Tissa Balasuriya, O.M.I., passionately emphasized a vital idea decades ago that remains highly relevant today: “We are still awaiting a history of the Church written from the point of view of the oppressed and marginalized of the world.”
 
Today, once again in our lives, we venerate the cross. Jacob Parappaly, MSFS, points out that “the cross reveals that the suffering of humans and their world, whatever its causes and whatever forms, affects God.” He also emphasizes that “any spiritualization of the cross that takes place without revealing a God that suffers with humans who suffer and that does not demand a radical commitment to the integral transformation of society would empty the cross of its absolute significance. The Christ who suffers resurrects in those people and movements that strive for a better human life.”
 
Jesus died because of his unconditional love for all of us. He accepted the consequences of being truly human in an inhuman society and in a world of our making.
 
Good Friday is Good. It reminds us not to fear being human. At the hour of our death, we should allow the Lord to do what Gerald Manley Hopkins, an English poet and Jesuit priest, expresses in his poem “The Wreck of Deutschland”: “Let him Easter in us”.
 
Wishing you a prayerful Good Friday,

Fr. Ryszard

Welcome Message

Greetings in Christ Jesus!

Whether you are just visiting for a short while, have moved here and are joining our parish, or are returning to your Catholic Faith, on behalf of our parish community, we welcome you to St. Egbert Catholic Church and the beautiful Crystal Coast of North Carolina.

When Jesus was asked which of all the commandments was the greatest, he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great, and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These two Commandments form the foundation of our mission to Love God, Love Neighbor, and to Share the Good News.