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 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We welcome you to our 2007 celebration of Palm Sunday! This is
such a beautiful and emotional day as we begin our “keeping” of
the Catholic traditions of Holy Week. Today we read together the
Passion Story of Jesus, the story of God’s great love for His
people. May all of us be inspired to love God even more as we
take our parts in this story!
I pray that we all work together to truly make this the Holiest
Week of the Year in each of our lives. We have daily Mass at
5:30 PM on Holy Monday, at 8:00 AM on Holy Tuesday, and again at
8:00 AM and 5:30 PM on Holy Wednesday. Please note that our
regular Tuesday evening 5:30 PM Mass is cancelled this week
because of the Chrism Mass. The annual Diocesan Chrism Mass will
be held this Tuesday evening, April 3rd, at 7:00 PM in our
Cathedral in Lafayette. The Chrism Mass is one of the most
beautiful prayer experiences that you can have all year long.
There’s a reason why once you go to the Chrism Mass, you are
already looking forward to going back again next year.
Attendance grows each year. If you would like to go, a group
will be leaving from in front of the main entrance to our school
at 5:00 PM sharp on Tuesday. We will carpool up and sit together
at the Mass. Please consider joining us this year.
The Holy Tridium begins on Holy Thursday. We will celebrate the
Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 8:00 PM Thursday night, with
Adoration, reflections, and music to follow until Midnight, when
the Eucharist will be removed from the Church. Then on Good
Friday, everything begins at Noon, with the Seven Last Words of
Christ, as we keep the tradition of praying throughout the Tre
Ore, or the “Three Hours” that we believe Jesus hung on the
Cross for us. The Seven Last Words of Christ are readings,
songs, and meditations, that have been specially prepared for
this year, by some of St. Maria Goretti’s most awesome examples
of Faith and spirituality. We will pray the Stations of the
Cross at 1:30 PM, and then at 2:00 PM, rounding out the Tre Ore,
we will have the Solemn Commemoration of the Passion of our
Lord, Jesus Christ. This is not a Mass, as Masses are not
allowed after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper until the Easter
Vigil Mass, but rather the Commemoration is a very somber
service of readings, prayers, the Veneration of the Cross, and
Holy Communion. In the evening, for those who can’t join us in
the afternoon, the Stations of the Cross will be repeated at
7:00 PM and the Solemn Commemoration will be repeated at 7:30
PM. On Holy Saturday, the Parish Easter Egg Hunt for the kids
will begin at 10:00 AM. And at 1:00 PM, in church, we’ll have
the blessing of the Easter foods. This is an Eastern European
tradition where the special Easter breads, foods, and Easter
baskets are brought to the church and blessed by a priest. I
have always liked this tradition because it makes a connection
between our celebration here at church with our celebration at
home the next day. How cool is that?
Finally then, the Easter Vigil, the Mass of all Masses, begins
on Holy Saturday night at 9:00 PM. Catholic liturgical law
dictates that it be dark when the Easter Vigil begins, so again
this year, the earliest that we can begin is 9:00 PM. This Mass
will be over three hours long. And it won’t be because of the
homily! And yes, it’s going to be very late when we get
finished. But the Easter Vigil Mass is truly a once-a-year
event. Our Catechumens will be Baptized, and our Candidates for
full-membership in our Church will be Confirmed, as we welcome
our Elect, our newest brothers and sisters into the Church. Many
have come to realize that it just isn’t Easter until you’ve been
to the Easter Vigil. There’s water, there’s fire, and there’s
smoke. It’s better than an action/adventure movie! And it does
meet our Easter Sunday obligation, so you can sleep in the next
morning… or hunt for Easter Eggs at home. Never been to an
Easter Vigil? Why not come and join us this year and see for
yourself.
We do want to remind EVERYBODY that we do have different Mass
schedule for next weekend. There will NOT be a Saturday evening
4:30 PM Mass NOR a Sunday evening 5:00 PM Mass. On Easter
Sunday, next weekend, the only Masses are at 8:00 AM and 10:00
AM. Please plan now accordingly.
The Holy Week services and traditions are some of the most
beautiful of the whole year. As I mentioned last year, thirty or
forty years ago, our churches were packed with Catholic families
keeping these traditions. Sadly, in the sixties, the seventies,
and the eighties, the emphasis on Holy Week was minimal, and
many of us didn’t grow up attending these services and events.
Holy Week became “just” another week. It’s really time we
re-claimed this week. Every Catholic family should do their best
to attend as much of the Holy Week offerings as possible. Holy
Week is what WE do as Catholic Christians during this last week
of Lent, and as our final preparation for Easter. Next weekend
is the greatest Christian Feast of the Year, Easter!, the
celebration of the Lord Jesus’ Resurrection! Let us be
spiritually ready! Let us take advantage of these opportunities
this week.
May we all have a truly “Holy” week!
In Christ
Fr. Kevin
Crosses are ladders that lead to Heaven.
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