Dear Parishioners:
Holy Week is the most sacred time of the Church Year. Each year we have striven to empty the week
of all extraneous activities so that we can concentrate on the Liturgies of
this week as a Catholic Parish. Quite
honestly, every year that I have been a priest, we have failed completely to
empty the week. For so many, it was life
as usual.
Some items were on calendars just because of the particular
week of the month when Easter fell.
Others because there was an attitude of indifference to the week, just
as there has been a growing indifference to being present at church for Sundays
and Holy Days, only more so, because, apart from the Sundays (Palm Sunday and
Easter), these are not obligation days.
This is the very first year that we have succeeded in
emptying the week of other concerns.
Sadly, we are not able to conduct the Liturgies as we should due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
At St. Timothy, we will livestream only two Liturgies as
such: Holy Thursday evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, and Easter Sunday. We will forego the Liturgies of Good Friday
and Holy Saturday, inviting you to participate in the livestream events of the
Vatican or of St. Joseph Cathedral, in order to express our unity with our
Diocese and the Church Universal. We
will offer some other forms of prayer and reflection for Good Friday and Holy
Saturday.
Let us live this week as truly
Sacred Time, even though we cannot gather for the celebrations.
Make plans now to keep Holy
Week of 2021 completely open of extraneous activities so that we can live the
Liturgies intensely. Easter next year is
April 4. So Holy Week will be March 28-April
3. Let that be the high point of your
calendar and make all other appointments so that Easter Eucharist is truly the
Source and Summit of your life in Christ.
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