Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Welcome to our celebration of Palm Sunday this weekend and the beginning of Holy Week 2005! This truly is an awesome week that provides each one of us with so many opportunities to grow in our Faith. It is my sincere hope and prayer that you will take advantage of as many of the opportunities that you can this week. Next Sunday should be the culmination of a wonderful week of prayer, reflection, sacrifices, sacraments, and a renewal of the Pascal mystery in our lives, and not just another excuse to have a big meal and eat some chocolate Easter eggs. How you spend this Holy Week will have a direct affect on how much and what next Sunday will mean to you. Trust me on this. Even if you haven’t done much of anything so far this Lent, now it’s time for all of us to do more than ever before this week.

In a special way this week we pray for our Elect, our Catechumens and Candidates for full-membership in our Church, who will come into the Church next Saturday night at the Easter Vigil. This year’s class is not only our largest yet, but it is a class of truly exceptional people, who have prepared well for their big night. It is so important for all of us to keep our new brothers and sisters in our prayers this week. We pray they would not be put to the test and that God would grant them complete peace leading up to their receiving the Sacraments next Saturday night. The RCIA and RCIC classes will meet with their sponsors in church on Monday evening, to practice for the Easter Vigil. This is a special Easter for all of us, as it is our first in our new church. It’s going to be great!

On Tuesday night this week, our Diocese will host the annual Chrism Mass at our Cathedral in Lafayette. At this Mass, the Bishop will bless all of the new oils that will be used throughout the Diocese in the next year. It is a neat thing to see. In addition, all of the priests of our Diocese, including myself, and a certain priest who is still on loan to our Diocese from his religious order, Fr. Dale, will be renewing their priestly vows during the Chrism Mass. Please pray for all of the priests of our Diocese on Tuesday. If you would like to come along with us to the Chrism Mass, the St. Maria Goretti delegation will be leaving at 5:00 PM sharp from in front of our school on Tuesday afternoon. If you have never been, it is a nice experience and we would love to have you join us. The Chrism Mass and the celebrations of Ordinations to the Priesthood and the Diaconate, are still the principle liturgical celebrations of our Diocese, and some of the few times that we all get together as a Diocesan family to pray together. Again, if you can, come and join us.

This coming Thursday evening at 8:00 PM is the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This Mass and its celebration help us to recall each year, Jesus’ institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. This is one of the most awesome Masses of the entire year. Thirty or forty years ago, every Catholic in the country would have been at Mass on Holy Thursday. Over the years, for some, this has become less important. And that’s a shame. We need to rebuild this tradition and all of us should be here on Thursday night. Following Mass, there will be Exposition of the Sacrament until midnight. Once again, our high school students will be leading us in prayers and mediations with music, as we stay awake with Jesus on the night before we remember His death.

On Good Friday, we will once again commemorate the Tre Ore – The Three Hours - that Jesus spent on the cross. We will begin at Noon with the seven last words of Christ. We will have Stations of the Cross at 1:30 PM. And we will have the Solemn Commemoration of the Passion and Death of our Lord at 2:00 PM. Then Friday evening, for those unable to attend the afternoon services, we will once again have the Stations of the Cross at 7:00 PM and a second praying of the Solemn Commemoration of the Passion and Death of our Lord at 7:30 PM. Again, we hope that you can join us for as much as you can.

Saturday morning at 10:00 AM, the Holy Name Society will sponsor its annual Easter Egg Hunt on the North sports fields. At 1:00 PM, we will have the Blessing of the Easter Baskets and Easter Foods in the church. And then at 8:00 PM, we will begin our Easter Vigil Mass and our celebration of the great Feast of Easter!

Please note that there is NO 4:30 PM vigil Mass next weekend. The only Mass that is allowed next Saturday night is the Easter Vigil with all of its rites, readings, and prayers and blessings. The Easter Vigil is approximately three hours long, which is a good thing to know if you have small children. On Easter Sunday we will have our regular 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Masses. But please also note that there will NOT be a 5:00 PM Easter Sunday evening Mass next Sunday. Please plan accordingly for when you and your family will be attending Mass next weekend.

It is going to be a great week! Let’s enjoy it all and get as much out of it as possible.

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

For all you do, His Blood is for you !