A Word from Your Pastor April 14 - Passion (Palm) Sunday

Dear Parishioners:

Lent has moved right along.  We are now in the midst of the most solemn celebrations of our Catholic Faith.  Easter is the most important event in the history of the world.  Please take time to appreciate that fact.  Thank the Lord Jesus for what He has done for us.  Give Him time this week.  He gave His life for us.  The suffering and death He endured was a powerful expression of His Love for God and for us.  We owe Him everything.

The schedule of events for Holy Week is full of wonderful moments.  As your Pastor, I invite you to let this year be the year you choose to experience as much as you can.  Bring members of your family to the different liturgies of Holy Week.  Individually, these liturgies open our eyes and hearts to important aspects of our Faith.  Experienced in succession, they offer us a way of interiorizing a more profound understanding of the full Paschal Mystery.  It is one thing to hear about what Christ did and to have a vague idea of the way the first Holy Week unfolded.  It is quite another to discover from the inside the depth of Christ’s Love by taking time to reflect and pray about it through the liturgies of the Church.

I want to highlight three opportunities:  The Chrism Mass on Tuesday at St. Joseph Cathedral is an impressive gathering of the Diocese of Columbus surrounding the Bishop.  Since this is Bishop Robert Brennan’s first Holy Week with us, it is an opportunity to get to know him and to learn something of his vision for our diocese.

The Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper is followed by a procession and then about three hours of prayer in the Presence of the Eucharistic Lord.  Plan to spend some time with the Lord as He invited His disciples to do the night before He died.  Don’t miss an opportunity to let Him know you are willing to keep watch with Him for an hour.

The Solemn Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday is the most impressive Mass of the year.  If you have been there before, you already know this.  If you have never come to the Easter Vigil, let this be your year.

Wherever you may be during these days, remind yourself of the Passion of the Lord and be ready to let out a true cry of joy on Easter.  The Resurrection of Jesus is the single most important gift of God.  It is worth our attention!

A Word from Your Pastor April 7 - Fifth Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

The 5^th Sunday of Lent invites us to open our eyes to the power of Jesus to bring us to a new way of life.  The fullness of Life is a share in the Resurrection of Jesus Himself.  God’s Mercy is at work in our world to draw out of sin and death into an experience of true joy.  “The Lord has done great things for us: we are filled with joy!”

Next weekend will begin Holy Week with the celebration of Passion Sunday, also known as Palm Sunday.  A procession at the start of Mass and a reading of the Passion according to St. Luke will serve to usher in the “high holy days” of our Catholic Faith.  It is important for us to set aside time to enter in.  I invite you to make the effort to celebrate the full reality of Holy Week and the Easter Triduum.  Don’t let this be an ordinary week for you and your family.

Come early to Palm Sunday Mass and bring your children.  We will start in the cafeteria with the blessing of the palms and then the procession.

Consider joining the whole Diocese of Columbus for the celebration of the Chrism Mass on Tuesday of Holy Week at St. Joseph Cathedral.  This will be Bishop Robert Brennan’s first Chrism Mass with us, when all the oils that are used in the celebration of the Sacraments are blessed and consecrated for their sacred purpose.

Holy Thursday will bring the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and the washing of feet to remind us of our call to serve.  Our Second Grade First Communion Class will be an honor guard for the Eucharistic Procession as the Mass closes.  We will have time in the Presence of our Lord for prayer and reflection following the process until Midnight.

Good Friday we experience the Lord’s Passion and Veneration of the Cross.

The Solemn Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday will be the highlight of the Triduum.  Easter Sunday Masses always welcome many visitors.

Make your plans now to give the Lord some of your best time next week in gratitude for the gift of Salvation and new life.

A Word from Your Pastor March 31- Fourth Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

The Fourth Sunday of Lent, known as “Laetare Sunday” is the Sunday that reminds us that our Lenten journey is well underway and our goal of Easter is just over the horizon.  Just as on “Gaudete Sunday” of Advent, the color rose serves as a reminder that no matter how difficult the journey has been, we are invited to rejoice in the certainty that the Lord will come to us.  Our eyes are set on Jerusalem, where the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection will accomplish our salvation.

This weekend you will notice that change in our prayer for our Bishop in the Eucharistic Prayers.  Bishop Robert Brennan’s welcome to the Diocese of Columbus and his installation took place with Evening Prayer on Thursday evening and the Mass of Installation on Friday afternoon.  At moments like this, we are invited to acknowledge the wonderful way God attends to His promise to shepherd His People.  We have a Bishop whose authority is given from the line of the Apostles, those sent out by Jesus Himself to proclaim the Gospel to the world.

We rejoice that the journey of Faith is guided by the Spirit through all of time.  Across the centuries and through the seasons of the year and the liturgical calendar, the Holy Spirit ensures that the Good Shepherd is present among us.  We have a shepherd appointed to us by the Lord through His Church who will guides us to discover together and to do God’s will so that we may serve as witnesses to the truth of the Gospel.

We pray that Bishop Brennan may guide us with wisdom as we continue our journey to the Kingdom.

A Word from Your Pastor March 24 - Third Sunday of Lent

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend, I am away for a Retreat with members of the Focolare Movement at Mariapolis Luminosa in Hyde Park, New York.  This retreat is for the wider community of Focolarini who are present in North America – the United States and Canada.  Priests, Religious, and Laity will be together to deepen an understanding of the Call to Unity that comes from Jesus’ Last Testament, His prayer “That All May Be One.”

As I have shared with you, the Focolare Spirituality has been a real encouragement to me in my own ministry.  The power of the Holy Spirit to move us out of our own narrow visions to begin to grasp God’s plan for all human beings is evident in the collective response of the members of the Focolare.

The Third Sunday of Lent invites us to consider the longings of our hearts for “something more.”  We are all called to commit ourselves to God as He reveals Himself to us.  Like Moses, we are charged to lead others to freedom.  The Call of God is personal.  It is also communal.  We are on a journey to the Kingdom that forms us as a real people.

I invite you to consider the longings of your own heart.  Can you perceive how the Holy Spirit is inviting you to a greater depth of commitment to Christ and His Church?  In our day, it is clear that the world is tempting many to leave the Church.

How is God revealing Himself to you?  Are you able to identify the people who are in Egypt that you are called to lead to the Promised Land?

If you would like to learn about the Focolare Movement and to experience something of it for yourself and your whole family, even those who are not Catholic, give some consideration to joining in the summer family retreat known as a “Mariapolis,” that is, a “City of Mary.”  The Focolare Community of the Midwest will hold their gathering at the end of June.  See MidwestMariapolis.org for details.  Now is the time to register.  May we all be one!