Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

       This is it!  We come to the holiest week of the year for us as Catholics.  And as we begin Holy Week 2008 today with Palm Sunday, my deepest prayers are with each one of you, that this week would truly be one of the holiest of the entire year for you and for your family.

       I’d like to begin with a HUGE thank you to every one at St. Maria Goretti for their prayers, cards, Masses, and kind words on the occasion of the death of my Grandmother, Catherine Pasquale, last week.  Your support, prayers, and love will be forever treasured by this priest.  My Grandmother was an extraordinary person who greatly influenced my life by her Faith and service to others.  Having lived for ninety-eight years, hers was a blessed life full of family, faith, and love.  I give thanks to God for all of that.  And yet, for myself and my family, I mourn the wonderful times and beautiful example that my Grandmother was to all of us.  She will be greatly missed.  Her death reminds me that now it is time for me to step up even more, and that I should be more of that faithful example that she was to so many.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

       This week I offer once again my Holy Week challenge to all of our families to really keep this week Holy, and to take advantage of all of the opportunities to both show and grow our Faith.  There was a time not so long ago, when EVERY Catholic family took part in all of the Holy Week prayers, Masses, and devotions.  Holy Week was simply what all Catholic families did during the week before Easter.  For a period of time in the 1970’s and 1980’s, we lost a lot of our commitment to Holy Week.  The numbers at the Holy Week services dwindled.  All of a sudden, we had a bunch of Catholics who had never been to a Holy Thursday Mass or a Good Friday Solemn Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and Death.  How unbelievable!  The good news is that that the traditions of Holy Week are making a comeback, but it is taking a strong effort on the part of all of us to make it happen.  Many of us now did not grow up with the Holy Week traditions ourselves.  But it is now more important than ever that we revive these traditions in our families and our communities, so that our young people would know what exactly is expected of Catholics during Holy Week.   Please bring your family to all of our opportunities this week.  It will draw you closer together with one another and with God.

       Holy Monday Mass is at 5:30 PM.   Holy Tuesday Mass is at 8:00 AM with our school community.  In addition, on Tuesday, our Diocese is hosting the 2008 Chrism Mass at 7:00 PM at our Cathedral in Lafayette.  The new oils for the Sacraments will be blessed at that Mass, and all of the priests of our Diocese, including Fr. Dale and myself, will be renewing their priestly commitments.  If you are interested in going and would like to caravan up to Lafayette, a group will be leaving from in front of the school at 5:00 PM sharp on Tuesday evening.  Then Wednesday, Mass for Holy Wednesday is at 5:30 PM.

       The Holy Tridium begins on Thursday with Holy Thursday.  The only Mass that day is the Mass of the Lord’s Supper which will begin at 8:00 PM.  This last Mass before the Easter Vigil on Saturday night, includes the Washing of the Feet after the homily and ends with a Eucharistic procession around the church.  Eucharistic Adoration then continues in church until midnight, as the Church does what the Apostles couldn’t seem to do after the Lord’s supper: stay awake and pray with Jesus.  St. Maria Goretti steals a page from Mother Teresa of Calcutta, excuse me, BLESSED Teresa of Calcutta and her order, The Missionaries of Charity, and we listen to reading and litanies and sing hymns during our Adoration until midnight.   The Eucharist is then removed from the church.  The Tabernacle is empty until after the Easter Vigil on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

        Good Friday is a day of Fasting and Abstinence from meat.  The Seven Last Words of Christ will be prayed and meditated on from Noon until 1:30 PM.   At 1:30 PM, the Stations of the Cross will be prayed.  And at 2:00 PM, The Solemn Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and Death takes place.  It’s not a Mass, which is not allowed.  But it is a beautiful prayer that the Church prays all over the world on Good Friday.  Friday evening, we will have our last Stations of the Cross at 7:00 PM.  Followed by a repeat of the Solemn Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and Death at 7:30 PM, for those who were unable to attend the service in the afternoon.

         Holy Saturday is our day of transition from Lent and the Tridium to Easter.  The church will be decorated on Saturday morning.  The Easter Egg Hunt for the kids begins at 10:00 AM.  The Blessing of the Easter Foods is at 1:00 PM in church.   And the Grand Poo-bah of all Masses, the Easter Vigil Mass, begins at 9:00 PM, outside around the Easter fire.  Masses for Easter then are at 9:00 PM on Saturday night and at 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM on Easter Sunday morning.  PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THERE WILL BE NO 4:30 PM MASS NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT AND NOR WILL THERE BE A 5:00 PM SUNDAY EVENING MASS ON EASTER DAY.  Please plan accordingly!

         It’s going to be a great Holy Week.  We hope to see you and your family a lot this week.  If you haven’t taken part in these prayer opportunities before, why not start some new traditions of your own for your family.  Come and join us at as much as possible!  You’ll be glad that you did!

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

How come nobody ever puts out a sign that says “NICE DOG”?