Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
"But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes
us whole, by his wounds we were healed."
—Eph 2:4-5
On Divine Mercy Sunday, the focus is on the healing power of Our Lord's Mercy. Through Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Confessions, praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy, we will draw special attention to God's Divine Mercy. Along with the regular Mass schedule, we will have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the main church and Confessions beginning at 2:00 pm. In honor of Divine Mercy there will be the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. We will conclude the octave day of Easter with Mass at 3:00pm in which we will ask for Our Lord's Divine Mercy to heal our hearts, our minds, and our bodies.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
A Blessed Easter to the entire world as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! I want to say how blessed we are as the Catholic Church to welcome, those men, women and children who were received into the Church at our Easter Vigil! I also want to especially welcome those who have been away from the church and may be visiting St. Joan of Arc for the first time. Please come again! It is my prayer that the light and love of our Risen Savior will be with you throughout this Easter season leading all to eternal life!
Easter Sunday is the most important day in the liturgical year. As St. Paul reminds us: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (I Cor 15:4) Resurrection was and is the central point of what St. Paul preached--for without the Resurrection we would not have faith. We also see in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which reminds us, "the Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christ community." So what the first Christians believed as the crowning truth of faith we as believers do today. Otherwise, as St. Paul implies so emphatically, what a huge waste of time and effort all of this would be!
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today, Palm Sunday, the drama of Holy Week begins as we recall Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This whole week is filled with beautiful signs and symbols that are meant to direct our attention to Christ's life, death and resurrection. The Church has been celebrating this season in this way for nearly 2000 years.
The roots of our liturgical observance of Holy Week go back to the second century and the core of the celebration of Holy Week is the Easter Vigil. In the beginning, it was a vigil in remembrance and expectation of Jesus' resurrection.
Soon, thereafter, the reception of the sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist were added. It became and is the great sacramental night of the Church. Over time, the Easter Vigil was transformed and elongated into the Triduum of the Lord's passion, death and resurrection as is mentioned in the writings of St. Augustine in the 4th Century. In the Triduum, therefore, the Church added Holy Thursday and the Memorial of the Lord's death on Good Friday to the Easter Vigil.
At one time, Holy Thursday included three masses, a Mass to reconcile sinners, the Chrism Mass and an evening Mass to commemorate the institution of the Eucharist. Today, the Chrism Mass is celebrated at some point during Holy Week at the Cathedral with the bishop and his priests who renew their priestly promises. In our case, the Chrism Mass will be held Monday night of Holy Week at 7:00pm. During the Mass, the Bishop also consecrates three oils needed for the sacraments: Holy Chrism, the Oil of the Catechumenate and the Oil of the Sick.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
This weekend is also the 5th Sunday of Lent and we observe the third of three Scrutiny Rites in the Rite of Christian Initiation at the 10:30am Mass.
These Scrutinies always happen in this time just before Easter to help our candidates to focus on leaving their old lives of sin behind. Interestingly, the Church's RCIA scrutiny process isn't just for the Catechumens and Candidates. The Church also asks us as fully initiated members of the Church to reflect, and scrutinize and examine our lives as well.
Our Lord gives these last few weeks of Lent to us as a gift. This is a time for us to reflect and discern how we need to repent from certain ways of living and acting. This is a time to look at patterns of addiction, of mediocrity, of selfishness that we must let go of for good. It is a time to uproot the weeds in our lives! Our Lord is always inviting us to scrutinize our behavior because it can lead us to conversion. Conversion is what leads us to a deeper relationship with Our Lord. Examining our lives helps us to be better disciples of Christ.
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