Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Welcome to our celebration of Palm Sunday 2006! This is such a beautiful and moving day as we begin our Holy Week and as we read together the Passion Story, the story of God’s great love for His people.

Let us 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 Monday, at 8:00 AM with the school community on Tuesday, and again at 5:30 PM on Wednesday evening. In addition, the annual Diocesan Chrism Mass is set for Tuesday evening, April 11th, at 7:00 PM at our Cathedral in Lafayette, IN. 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 on Tuesday. We will carpool up and sit together at the Mass. Please consider going 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 that Jesus hung on the Cross for us. The Seven Lasts 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. At 1:30 PM, we will pray the Stations of the Cross. 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, but rather 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.

Finally then, the Easter Vigil, the Mass of All Masses, begins on Saturday night, at 9:00 PM this year. One thing that our “man” Mitch probably didn’t consider when he led the fight for Daylight Savings Time was the fact that it was still going to be light at 8:00 PM on Holy Saturday now that we have changed our clocks. Catholic liturgical law dictates that it be dark when the Vigil begins, so this year, the earliest that we can begin is 9:00 PM. This Mass is nearly three hours long. And yes, it’s going to be late when we get finished. But the Easter Vigil is truly a once-a-year, extraordinary event. Our Elect, our Catechumens will be Baptized, and our Candidates for full membership in our Church will be Confirmed, as we welcome 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 a disaster 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 the Easter Vigil? Why not come this year?

We do want to remind EVERYBODY that we do have a 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 our only Masses are at 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM. Please plan accordingly.

The Holy Week services and traditions are some of the most beautiful of the whole 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 Catholics 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!

May we all have a truly “Holy” week!

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

“For those who love, nothing is hard” - St. Jerome