The Easter Vigil is the holiest night in all the year, and yet Christmas Eve seems to get all the attention. At Christmas Eve, so many people come to church that we have to three Masses. Tonight, our church is only 2/3 full. I imagine this is the case because of all the excitement of receiving gifts at Christmas. And, as you know, we exchange gifts at that time as a sign of the great gift we receive at Christmas – our Lord, Jesus. But, at Christmas, the full importance […]
We begin tonight the Sacred Triduum, the three days that call us together to celebrate the mysteries of our redemption. In order to help us enter more deeply into these mysteries, each celebration that occurs on these three days has its own unique character and particular points of emphasis. They move us from the events that occurred at the Last Supper, to our Lord’s Passion and death on the cross, and finally to the Easter Vigil, when we joyfully celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection from the dead which gives each of […]
How quickly things can change, and how fickle people can be! We begin our worship today with the joyous arrival of Jesus in the holy city of Jerusalem like a king coming in peace astride a colt with palm branches waving and the crowd chanting words forever enshrined in our Eucharistic celebrations: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Then, we end our readings from Scripture today with Jesus having been betrayed and tortured, denied, mocked and crucified. Some people are uncomfortable that we hang crosses with […]
“Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” (Mt 21:9). On Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we are called to join with our Lord, Jesus Christ, as he makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and then suffers derision and mockery, scourging and finally crucifixion because he comes to offer a new way of life and claims to be who he truly is – the Son of God. This week is, indeed, what we Christians call it: […]
“O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them. …Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” Our readings today go straight to the heart of our Christian faith. They speak of death, and new life in Christ. We hear it promised in the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel and we hear about it actually happening in today’s powerful Gospel account. In a world where we spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to look young and doing everything medically possible to avoid […]
PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS (PART III)
On Thursday, the Parish Pastoral Council will meet with the candidates who were nominated to fill the four Council positions that will become vacant in May. Almost 30 parishioners were nominated and I want to take this opportunity to thank those who submitted nominations and to encourage those who were nominated for the Council to prayerfully consider this call to serve our parish in this unique ministry. It is, indeed, an important one as the Pastoral Council offers me invaluable insight and counsel in the […]
Today’s Liturgy of the Word – where God reveals himself to us – starts out with the Israelites and Moses in the desert. After gladly accepting God’s invitation to abandon slavery for freedom, the people quickly started complaining. They missed the food the Egyptians let them have, they feared they would die of thirst … and on and on. Acting as if God had made no plans and was incapable of providing for them, they groused so much that Moses feared for his life. In response, and to show how […]