Renewing our Faith – Each year at Easter, Catholics from around the world have an opportunity to renew their baptismal faith.  We will affirm our belief in God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and even in the catholic Church.  So this renewal is not just saying we believe in God, but we’re also renewing our belief, our belonging to Christ’s Church, the Church Christ founded, entrusted to Peter and the other apostles, to continue His work of teaching the faith and building God’s Kingdom on earth to succeeding generations.  But what does it mean to belong to a Church?  What are some expectations of an adult Christian?  Albert Winseman, in his research with the Gallup Poll, found that most churches never discussed this with their people.  It was just assumed that everyone knew.  Their research found that churches that were successful, had several things in common, which included a clear membership covenant, so that members knew what the life of a mature adult Christian should look like.  St. Brendan Parish Advisory Board discussed this question and came up with a draft that we would like to invite you to consider, discuss and offer feedback.  Below is our DRAFT:

Membership Covenant

As a member of St. Brendan I will strive to be an intentional disciple of Christ by:

Being open to growth and learning, such as:

reading and praying with the Bible to help me come to know the mind and heart of God

reading spiritual books to nourish the soul

attending retreats and workshops to help me grow in the faith

Being open to ongoing conversion (making regular and frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation).

Praying daily

Talking to God about my life and listening to what He has to say to me.

Developing a relationship with God.

Praying for my church and fellow members regularly

Being faithful to God in little things.

Beginning with the basics such as observing the 10 commandments

Being present in worship on a regular basis

Supporting my church with my spiritual and financial gifts

Finding an area of ministry through which I can serve Christ and others

But the Church in turn also makes a covenant with her members.  The Advisory Board proposed the following DRAFT:

Church Covenant

As your Church family, we will strive to:

Provide opportunities for you to live your faith in service to others

Provide faith-building opportunities for you to grow as a Christian

Provide opportunities for you to develop deep and lasting friendships in community with others

Provide opportunities for lifelong learning as you deepen your understanding of the Bible and the Christian faith

Be good stewards of your financial contributions to your church

As you renew your faith in God and in His Church this Easter, what do you think of our proposal?  Let us know.  You can email me at frdan@stbrendanparish.org.  Happy Easter!

Fr. Dan

Our High Holy Days – The Church’s High Holy Days is not the election of a new Pope, although we’re happy to have Pope Francis I.  But it starts at the conclusion of the Season of Lent and before the Season of Easter.  It is the Triduum that means a period of 3 days of prayer.  Holy Thursday (4/17) is the 1^st of the 3 days.  On that day at 7pm in Church, we celebrate the Last Supper that Jesus had with his disciples.  The Presider, imitating Christ, will wash the feet of 6 parishioners.  They in turn, are then asked to wash the feet of others.  Each person who will have their foot washed is invited to stay and wash someone else’s foot.  So everyone is given the opportunity to do for others, what Jesus Himself did for His disciples.  We invite you to join us in that celebration, and to wear appropriate footwear, if you’d like to participate in the foot washing ceremony.  But the celebration does not end there.  After celebrating the Last Supper, as Jesus went into Gethsemane garden to pray, we will also empty the tabernacle and take the Blessed Sacrament into our Church Hall to pray with Him.  Jesus, at the garden, invited His disciples to stay with Him, even for just an hour, to watch and pray.  If your schedule allows you, we invite you to spend some quiet time with the Lord.  The Blessed Sacrament will be left out for adoration until 10pm in the Church Hall.

The prayer then continues on Good Friday (4/18) at noon.  We will not begin with the Stations of the Cross, so if you’d like to pray that privately, prayer books will be available before or after our liturgies.  We will begin instead with a meditation on “The Last 7 Words of Christ,” offered by Verbum Dei Missionary, Sr. Alyssa Meis.  At about 1:30pm, we will celebrate the Liturgy of the Veneration of the Cross.  From 3-4pm, the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) will be available.  The Via Matris – The Journey of Our Lady of Sorrows are offered at night at 7pm to remember and accompany Our Blessed Mother through her sorrows.  As we remember the death of Christ on Good Friday, there will be no mass the following day until the Easter Vigil at 8pm on Saturday night.  (Note, the regular Saturday vigil mass at 5pm will be at 8pm).  However, on Saturday morning at 8:00am, we will do Morning Prayer followed with decorating the Church in preparation for Easter.  If you have time to join us, I would be most grateful for your assistance.

The Easter Vigil mass begins in darkness, because of the death of our Lord on Good Friday (that’s why we begin it so late at 8pm).  As we begin in total darkness, the Easter candle is lit and blessed, and the fire from the Easter candle is used to light the tapers that everyone is holding.  During the Vigil, as we await the resurrection of our Lord, 5 selections from the stories of our salvation are read, from Genesis, to Exodus to the New Testament, and finally to the Resurrection of our Lord.  Beverly Bloodworth, Ping Ping He, Lucia Marques, Susan Miller and Yano Rhee who have been preparing during Lent to become Catholic, will be baptized that evening.  For our children, there will be an Easter Egg hunt following the Easter Sunday 9:30am mass.  In the meanwhile, we wish you all a Blessed Holy Week.  It is our High Holy Days.

Fr. Dan