Holy Week - Palm Sunday marks the beginning of our Holy Week. As we recall Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem where He encountered His crucifixion and death, we are invited to make that journey with Him. In the crosses we bear, the loss of work, the illnesses, the broken relationships, we are invited to bring them all and journey with Him through death into new life.
Lenten Reconciliation Service – to prepare ourselves for this journey, you are invited to come to a Reconciliation Service on Wednesday April 20 at 7pm. With the Blessed Sacrament exposed, we are invited to spend quiet time with our Lord and to experience His loving mercy. Four priests will be available for this evening.
Holy Thursday – Then on April 21 at 7pm, we will celebrate Jesus’ last supper with his disciples where He washed His disciples’ feet, and instructed us to go and do likewise. In remembrance of what He taught us, the presiding priest will wash the feet of six parishioners and invite them to do the same with other parishioners. All in attendance are invited to have their foot washed and then to wash someone else’s foot. Our liturgy that evening will recall Jesus and the disciples going into Gethsemane garden to pray. So we will take the Blessed Sacrament and reposition it in the Hall, where we too are invited to pray with Him for strength to undergo the passion. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will end at 10pm.
Good Friday – As Jesus was on the cross from Noon until 3pm, our liturgy that day will also begin at Noon with the reflection on the Last 7 Words of Jesus. As we had favorable reviews last year, we will invite once again our own parishioners to reflect and share what each of those words mean to them. Then at 1:30pm, we will have the Liturgy of the Word with Veneration of the Cross. After this liturgy, from about 3-4pm, we will have confessions available again. Then in the evening, for those who were unable to take off from work, our youth will lead us in the Stations of the Cross. They will act out, through shadows, each of the stations.
Easter Vigil - With the death of our Lord, darkness has entered our world. So the Easter Vigil will begin in darkness at 8pm. It begins with the Service of Light, as each person processes in with a lit candle, and then we will hear the story of our salvation. Traditionally, seven Old Testament readings are used, then a New Testament and finally a Gospel. However, as we will be celebrating the sacraments of initiation for 10 adults, we will use only three Old Testament readings, 1 New Testament and the Gospel. Six adults will receive baptism. Three adults who have been baptized in another faith tradition will be received into the Church. And one other adult, who had been baptized Catholic, will celebrate Eucharist and Confirmation with the
other nine. It will be truly a special occasion as they have been preparing a while for this special day.
Easter Sunday - the journey of the cross does not end in death but in the resurrection of new life. Our Easter Sunday Masses will be at the same time but after the 9:30am mass, we will have an Easter egg hunt, hosted by our Youth Group. So I hope you will be able to join in one or all of these events of our salvation.
Fr. Dan
