Pastor’s Letter: April 10, 2022

Pastor’s Letter: April 10, 2022

8 Apr 2022 | Posted by: chadmin

The April 10 bulletin is available online

Dear friend,

This weekend we enter Holy Week. Everything we celebrate as Christians relates in one way or another to this week. We are encouraged to deeply reflect on His Life, His Death, and His Resurrection. Holy Week represents a culmination to the Lenten journey. Every year, Lent takes on a more significance for me as a priest. Because of the infinite nature of God, there is always something new to discover about God and ourselves.

The Holy Week liturgies begin with our recalling the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. The Jews that accompanied Jesus from Galilee waved palm branches to celebrate the one who comes in the name of the Lord. This entrance was obviously protested by the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem, who told the followers of Jesus to be quiet. The response of Jesus is the invitation for all of us. If they were quiet, Jesus said, the stones would cry out. This entrance of Jesus into His own city was so significant that all nature recognized it. The days that lead to the Passion are filled with Jesus proclaiming truth which increased the tension between Jesus and the religious leaders. Liturgically, Lent ends with the beginning of the Triduum. The Triduum is a liturgical season by itself, even though it’s only three days. In these three days, we recall the Last Supper in which Jesus recalled the Jewish freedom from Egyptian slavery with the Passover and instituted the Eucharist and the Priesthood. The supper leads to the agony in the garden, betrayal, trial, scourging, crucifixion and death. The quietness of Holy Saturday invites us into the tomb with Jesus and prepares us for the Easter Resurrection. In three short days, we recall and liturgically experience the great mysteries of our faith.

The Triduum begins with the remembrance of the Last Supper by our parish Mass at 7pm on April 14. This leads to the Good Friday liturgy at 3pm on April 15. The Resurrection is first proclaimed at the Easter Vigil starting at 8pm on April 16. I can’t stress enough how the liturgy of the Church allows us to truly experience this Holy Week walk with Jesus. The Triduum is truly a parish retreat built into the liturgical calendar. Please do your best to attend these liturgies.

At the end of the Holy Thursday Mass, we will have the traditional Altar of Repose in order to enter the garden scene with Jesus. The Altar of Repose is set up on the left side of the church at the Mary statue location. The Eucharist is reserved in a Tabernacle and the church will remain open until midnight for private prayer. Bishop Lou will visit St. Philomena between 10-10:30pm with a number of Catholics to pray at our Altar of Repose for a few minutes. You are all invited to attend this time of prayer.

The Easter Vigil starts at 8pm. This is the most beautiful Mass of the year. Fifteen adults have prepared to join the Church at the Vigil. It’s always nice to have a big crowd pray with them and officially welcome them into the Church. The liturgy is a little longer than the typical Mass because we recall the whole story of salvation and celebrate the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. The Mass is typically under two hours and includes a nice party to welcome the new Catholics after the Mass in the banquet room. If you are free Holy Saturday night, please consider joining us for the beautiful liturgy of the Easter Vigil.

We have extended confession times this week. Monday evening Fr. Henderson will be here to help hear confessions at 6pm. Confessions will also be heard at 5pm Monday – Wednesday and then Friday and Saturday 12-2:30pm. Confession is one of the best ways to prepare to celebrate Easter.

God bless,

Father David