A year has passed as we approach Holy Week. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday or Palm Sunday of the Passion of our Lord. Our churches were closed and Holy Week liturgies were viewed via internet, without people present at the recordings, and for the most part, without the spiritual passion our great week normally offers. We were not allowed to offer the blessed palms, much less the hope of participation with the Triduum Masses of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil and Easter celebrations. Though we are still under certain guidelines to maintain the wellbeing of all, we welcome parishioners and visitors to our Palm Sunday liturgies within whether at Sacred Heart, St. Malachy or St. John. We will accommodate all who desire to participate in these special Holy Week liturgies beginning with next Sunday’s reading of the Passion and the offering of blessed palms as a symbol of faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for the healing grace in our lives, and all humanity. Our Mass schedule for Palm Sunday weekend will remain the same; next Sunday’s bulletin will have the times for Holy Week liturgies at all the churches beginning with Holy Thursday thru Easter Sunday. Though we are not permitted to engage in the traditional Palm Sunday procession or the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday or the traditional referencing of the cross on Good Friday, we nonetheless hope our schedule for Holy Week will allow for individuals and families to be present at any or all the liturgies. “The tragedy of the passion brings to fulfilment our own life and the whole of human history. We can’t let Holy Week be just a kind of commemoration. It means contemplating the mystery of Jesus Christ as something which continues to work in our souls.” (Saint Josemaria Escriva)

Alas, Spring has finally arrived this weekend. A comforting thought, and most significantly, a reminder of God’s creative Spirit unfolding within each season. Spring has always been the barometer for date of Easter: the first Sunday following the first full moon that falls on or following the first day of Spring. Our next full moon, “the paschal moon,” falls on Palm Sunday, the 28th. Easter Sunday could occur as early as the 22nd of March or as late as the 25th of April. For an interesting twist, the word “Easter” is referenced to St. Bede, the great historian of the Middle Ages, who determined it originated from the English word “Eoster,” the name of the Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and Spring. “At sometime around the eighth century the Church “baptized” the name to denote that first Easter Sunday morning when Christ, our Light, rose from the grave and when the women found the tomb empty just as dawn was breaking.”
Anticipating more individuals and families sharing in the Eucharist especially during Holy Week and our Easter liturgies, we will need ushers/greeters at each Mass allowing our churches to welcome and accommodate all who come through our doors. Please call the parish office if you desire or are willing to help out for this very special week within our Catholic Church. Our desire is to allow people to feel safe and welcome, with an invitation to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit within our Holy Week liturgies—and always when we celebrate the Eucharist. We will begin taking Communion to the shut-ins during Holy Week. Again, if you desire to help with precious ministry please contact the office. A blessing for those receiving, and the individual Communion ministers offering this Presence.
God Bless, Fr. Tim
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." (Anne Bradstreet)