“We do not want a Church that moves with the world.
We want a Church that will move the world.” ~G. K. Chesterton
A Note from Our Pastor:
March 15, 2024
Dear Parish households,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This Sunday is the feast day of St. Patrick. Liturgically it is not celebrated because Sunday liturgy always takes precedence. This Sunday is the Fifth Sunday of Lent. St. Patrick, died in the year 461. He is remembered and celebrated for his promotion of the Kingdom of God in Ireland which had the eventual effect of establishing harmony and prosperity among the people of Ireland. Ireland became known as the land of Saints and Scholars due to St. Patrick’s encouragement for everyone to take time daily to pray, study and work. St. Patrick considered himself a servant of Jesus and was recognized as such.
In the gospel this Sunday, John 12:20-33, Jesus makes an outstanding promise that the Father will honor those who serve him. Jesus’s servants strive to bring about what He labored for, namely, to create a world of unity and harmony – the Kingdom of God on earth.
St. Patrick imitated Jesus and was his servant. We are the followers of Jesus, his servants. We labor for the reign of God in our hearts, in our families, and neighborhoods. Therefore, we can take to heart the promise of Jesus and look forward to our heavenly Father bestowing honor upon us as did happen to St. Patrick.
With love for you all,
Fr. Bernard, OFM Cap.
P.S.
- Bishop Salvatore R. Matano will be the celebrant at our Easter Vigil, Saturday, March 30th at 8:00 p.m. at St. Francis Solanus Church, Interlaken. This is an honor and privilege for our parish.
- The bulletin for this Sunday, March 17, is available on the bulletin page or by viewing it from this link: March 17 2024 bulletin.
Gospel Meditation—Encourage Deeper Understanding of Scripture
Fifth Sunday in Lent ~ March 17, 2024
A middle-aged woman sat on the couch in my parish office and recounted to me a shocking list of terrible calamities in her life: addictions, terminal illnesses, financial loss, broken relationships, and so on. She smiled as she did so. “Please forgive me,” I asked, “but you seem to be smiling as you share this.” She said, “Father John, I am totally overwhelmed. But I’m smiling because I just can’t wait to see what good things God does with this mess.” She expected God would manifest His glory when she most needed it.
This week in the Gospel, God speaks from heaven for the third and final time in Jesus’s earthly ministry. It’s at a tough moment. Gentiles seek Jesus, who announces his terrible suffering, and then boldly prays, “Father, glorify your name!” John then writes: Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” Was the task of drawing the whole non-Jewish world to himself overwhelming? Or was it the terrible specter of crucifixion? Whatever it was, the crushing weight triggers his turning to the Father with an unshakeable expectation of divine glory to burst through. And indeed, it did on Easter Sunday. In our burdens, our greatest strength is to turn to God and boldly ask Him for His glory.
Lenten challenge: This week, I invite you to list out everything which is a burden to you. Write it down. Then add these words: “Father, glorify Your name in all these things!” Put that paper in your pocket or purse when you come to Holy Week liturgies next week. You might smile at the most unlikely times.
~ Father John Muir
©LPi
Mass Class for Helping Your Child Learn What We Say at Mass:
Even very young children can begin to follow along with what we do and say at Mass. It is helpful to get your child an age-appropriate Mass booklet that shows what is happening with simple explanations. Reinforce with your kids that Mass is a time to be reverent and prayerful, and model those attitudes for your child. Even though you are modeling reverence and listening, it is ok to give them simple explanations such as “now we are listening to the Bible” or “this is the most important and special part of the Mass when the bread and wine turn into the body and blood of Christ,” to help engage their attention in what is happening. On your way home from Mass, ask your child if there was anything that he or she did not understand.
Read and Discuss as a Family: The Family Zone provides a link for the readings that you will hear at the Sunday Mass for the coming two weeks. This will give you a chance to prepare your heart and mind for full and active participation in Mass this weekend. Picture Jesus sitting next to you as you review the readings. What would you say to him about what you read?
Family Faith Conversation: In the upcoming weeks we will be hearing the Passion of Jesus and will participate in the most sacred days of our Catholic calendar. Have a family conversation using similar questions:
- What do you like best about Holy Week?
- Do you have a favorite Holy Week ritual? There are many rituals that we don’t normally see when we go to Mass on Sundays.
- What types of emotions do you feel during Holy Week?
- How should our family pray together during Holy Week to make it feel like a special week in our regular lives?
Connecting to Our Church Year by Praying Through Holy Week:
There are several liturgies that take place during Holy Week. Your local parish should have information online or in the bulletin about the Triduum liturgies. Below is an overview of some of the main things you will experience at each:
- Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday begins Holy week and commemorates Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem where the crowd waved palm branches as he rode in humbly on a donkey instead of in a chariot of a king. At the Palm Sunday Mass there is a procession prior to Mass which begins in a separate gathering area that will be used for the blessing of the palms and a reading from the Gospels before the Church walks together waving palms. The liturgical color for Passion Sunday is red.
- The Chrism Mass takes place in our diocese at Sacred Heart Cathedral, on Tuesday of Holy Week at 6:00 PM. All are welcome to attend. At the Chrism Mass, we witness the unity of the Bishop with his priests, and, both priests and deacons renew their vow of obedience to the bishop. The Holy Oils (Oil of the Sick, Oil of Catechumens, and the Sacred Chrism) are blessed for use in all of our parishes.
- The Mass of the Lord’s Supper is on Holy Thursday and typically includes a “washing of the feet.” There is an altar of repose where the Blessed Sacrament is kept and the tabernacle is left empty. Holy Thursday Mass ends in silence with Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. We remember Holy Thursday as the day the Eucharist was instituted at Jesus’ Passover supper with his disciples.
- Good Friday Service: We do not celebrate a Mass on Good Friday. We experience the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross (which involves each participant coming forward to reverence the cross) and we receive communion without a Liturgy of the Eucharist. The altar, which was stripped bare after Holy Thursday Mass, remains bare.
- The Easter Vigil: The Easter Vigil begins in darkness with candlelight shared from every participant lit by a fire outside. During this Mass, we hear the scriptures of Salvation History. A prayer is sung, called the Exsultet, or Easter Proclamation, as the brand new Easter Candle is placed in its stand. The lights are turned on with great fanfare at the singing of the Gloria! At the Easter Vigil, we welcome those who are entering the church as new Catholics and they receive their sacraments at this Mass. A special song known as the Litany of the Saints is also part of this liturgy!
Serve Others: Holy Week gives us an opportunity to pause and consider why and how we serve others. Are we serving others to check off a community service requirement, get a break on taxes or declutter our homes, or are we serving others out of great love and humility? It can be a very humbling experience to live in solidarity with those we serve: to not only drop off food at a food cupboard but to eat with those you serve at a soup kitchen; not just to take a name on a giving tree, but to be invited into a family’s home to deliver those gifts. How can you help your family to learn the virtue of humility, like Jesus taught with the washing of the feet, in their experience of serving others? That is the type of service that helps our heart and minds to truly grow! And remember, Jesus even washed the feet of those who would betray him, so spend some time this week humbly praying for those who are most challenging to your life, be it a family member, co-worker, or neighbor. “Wash their feet” by praying your intentions for them.
The Family Zone is a newsletter for families to bring the faith alive at home and is brought to you by the Diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis. It is an online newsletter designed to help you prepare for full and active participation in the liturgy as well as formation within your families. It is an interactive newsletter that “takes parents directly to online sites they can use, themselves, to be the primary instructors of their children’s faith.” To stay up to date with opportunities around the diocese, sign up for the Family Zone newsletter on their web page.