Dear Brothers and Sisters,

St. Paul writes in Sacred Scripture: Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. (Col. 3: 12-15)

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.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It is such a wonderfully blessed day! After the 40 Days of Lent, today we celebrate the great Solemnity of Easter during which we ponder the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and His victory over sin and death!

Traditionally, the Easter Season is a time when we focus on the initiation of Christians into our faith. Usually, the Easter Vigil is the time we welcome new Catholics into communion with us after a long and fruitful journey in the Rite of Christian Initiation. Those to be welcomed into the Church will now enter into full communion with the Church at a future date to be determined by our bishop. There is an exception for baptizing babies. These will continue as usual as long as there are 10 people or less present. For all those preparing to receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Communion will occur when our bishop gives us permission to do so.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to Holy Week! Today we begin the holiest week of the year for the Catholic Church. This week the Church commemorates Christ's death and burial. Ancient writers called this the Great or Holy Week of Our Lord's Passion. The custom of keeping the Holy Week goes all the way back to the time of the Apostles. When the early Christians spoke about Jesus to others, they started with the Passion of Our Lord. Scholars believe that the Passion of Our Lord spread before the other parts of the Gospel were even written down. The Passion of Our Lord is really the starting point for building our relationship with Jesus.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

"I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

This passage from the 11th chapter of the Gospel of St. John is from the 5th Sunday of Lent. As we began this year 2020, St. Bernadette and St. John XXIII were making plenty of plans. In the parish, we were anticipating the parish beautification project. Our various ministries were in full swing. Church attendance was increasing, Bible study groups were meeting, children were attending school, parish life was vibrant, and life seemed good. And then … the coronavirus happened seemingly overnight.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Would God allow the COVID-19 virus to upend our lives? As I write this column on Tuesday morning, I should be hearing confessions and preparing to offer morning Mass which surely would be a good thing according to God, right? Instead I sit in my office trying to make sense of things.

It would be great if I could come up with a thoughtful response that would put things in perspective for people. But I have come to realize that the cross is not so easily and swiftly explained and managed. Jesus' walk to Calvary that we reflect upon during lent, was just that, a walk… a process… that was not understood until Easter Sunday.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I want to give you an update on our Charity and Development Appeal and the Together Let Us Go Forth Campaign.

First, the Charity and Development Appeal. Throughout our diocese, Catholics are being invited to participate in the holy work of transforming people's lives and people's circumstances through this Annual Diocesan Appeal. As of today, 84 generous donors have contributed for a total of nearly $ 45,428 towards our goal of $105,000.00.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on "almsgiving," which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity. As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and "a work of justice pleasing to God." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462).

Our Lord gives us three essential occasions for spiritual growth during the Lenten Season--prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I have already addressed the importance of prayer and fasting in previous bulletins. Today I want to focus on the third of the three pillars: Almsgiving.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I want to address the practical notion of how we are called to make use of the Communion rail. Currently, the people of God approach the priest, deacon or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to receive Our Lord. The problem is that once someone receives Holy Communion, the person is forced to make way for the person coming up next in line. The danger is that this way of encountering Our Lord in this intimate moment can be lost because the person may feel hurried, if not obligated, to move along so the next person in line can step up to receive Holy Communion. The feeling that you have to "move along" or "make way" for the next person in line can be problematic for several reasons. A feeling of being rushed may cause a person who is receiving Holy Communion to miss out on a chance to express a proper devotion to Our Lord. A person may rush by the décor, i.e., the nativity scene, flowers, the candles, the vestments, the statues located in the sanctuary. There is also the danger that Holy Communion becomes too individualistic and people forget the communal part of Holy Communion.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The season of Lent gives us a chance to strengthen our relationship with Our Lord. Through daily prayer, intentional fasting, and selfless almsgiving, our relationship with God and others can help us to grow in love. God is love and the two greatest commandments emphasize the love we are called to have as a disciple of Our Lord Jesus. These two commandments are: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31}

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The celebration of Holy Mass harkens back to the Jewish worship described in the Old Testament. It is good to remember that Christianity has its roots in the Jewish traditions. Christ, as a Jew, even said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). The Catholic Church, in her Sacred Liturgy, reaches back into the traditions of the past with great awareness of all that God has revealed throughout history. We don’t have to make up our own Mass, rather we are blessed to draw from the history of worshipping God as revealed in Sacred Scripture in connection with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In his book, "Nothing Superfluous" Fr. James W. Jackson, FSSP, takes a deep dive into everything that has to do with the Holy Mass. This book is for those who want to know the meaning, depth, and beauty of Sacred Liturgy. If you ever wondered why a church building has stained glass windows, high ceilings, or a tabernacle, Fr. Jackson does a great job of answering these questions and many more. I highly recommend this book.

For the next few issues of my pastor's notes, I want to focus on the function and purpose of a Communion rail. As you know, our beautiful church was built with a traditional Communion rail. The Communion rail (also called the altar rail) separates the sanctuary area from the rest of the church area. This rail is called the Communion rail because this is the place where faithful are able to kneel or stand while receiving Holy Communion.

This Tuesday the Church observes the World Day of the Sick. We invite those who are suffering with any sickness, their caregivers and any medical workers to attend the 8:30am mass which will include special prayers and the celebration of the Anointing of the Sick.

Pope John Paul II initiated this day of prayer in 1993 to encourage people to pray for those who suffer from chronic illness/disease, for their caregivers and for medical personnel who assist the sick. If you are old enough to recall it, the Pope himself had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease a year before and many believe that it was his own experience of chronic illness that led him to inaugurate this day of prayer.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This Sunday we celebrate a special feast day called the "Presentation of the Lord". The presentation took place 40 days after Our Lord's birth which is February 2nd. This special feast day is also the day the Church blesses candles that are to be used in your home throughout the coming year. Also recognized as Candlemas, this event invites us to reflect on the recent celebration of Christmas and the birth of Christ. We should also turn our minds to the approaching season of Easter. The feast of Candlemas, which we celebrate today, can be traced to the year 543 where we first hear of the "Feast of the Lighted Candles."