Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of Saint Benedict:

Twice this week we will hear the solemn proclamation of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ: this weekend we hear the narrative from Saint Matthew and on Good Friday the narrative from Saint John. While they each offer specific details not found in the other, they share the common point of emphasis – Jesus is betrayed, denied, abandoned and left for dead.

We observe these most sacred of days with solemn liturgy and procession. Lent ends on Thursday with the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This begins the shortest and most intense of the Liturgical Seasons, the Easter Triduum.

On Monday evening, at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Robert Bellarmine (61 Georgia Rd, Freehold) Bishop O’Connell will celebrate the Chrism Mass. At that time the priests of the diocese will gather to celebrate the sacrament of the priesthood and to publicly recommit themselves to the sacred office. He will also consecrate the holy oils (chrism) that are used for the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Priesthood, and Anointing of the Sick throughout the year.

While morning Mass is not celebrated on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we will again celebrate Morning Prayer together at 9:00 a.m. This is the prayer of the church, and it is a beautiful way to begin our day. On Thursday we will present the Oils from the Chrism Mass to the community. They will be displayed prominently in the Sanctuary for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. On Saturday the catechumens will receive the first anointing and also publicly pronounce the Lord’s Prayer. On Holy Thursday, after the Mass itself, we have the Eucharistic Procession followed by the stripping of the Altar. The Blessed Sacrament moves solemnly from the Altar of Sacrifice to the Altar of Repose for adoration until midnight. This is the first procession of the Triduum. The entire assembly will follow the Blessed Sacrament and the ministers outside the church and to the Altar of Repose. The sense that we have is that we accompany Jesus to the garden. After the Last Supper Jesus and his disciples walked from Jerusalem and across the Kidron Valley to be with Jesus in the garden as he prayed. We then stay with Jesus for the three hours until the Sacrament is moved again, this time to a hidden place while we await the resurrection. We will celebrate Night Prayer at 11:45, to bring the period of reposition to a close.

Good Friday we will celebrate Morning Prayer (9:00 a.m.), the Lord’s Passion and Veneration of the Cross (3:00 p.m.) and then we will again have the service of the Seven Last Words, where different parishioners will offer a reflection on each of the seven last words (actually sentences) that Jesus speaks from the cross. This is a powerful evening, one that truly connects us to the passion of our Lord.

On Holy Saturday we will celebrate Morning Prayer (9:00 a.m.) and the blessing of the Easter Food (10:30 a.m.) just before the Easter Egg Hunt. The evening begins with the procession of the Light. As we begin in the darkness (8:00 p.m.) the Easter fire is lit and the Light of Christ, raised from the dead, enters the church, penetrating the darkness. This Mass opens outside in the courtyard in front of the church and we process in bearing witness to the Light.

May this Holy Week bring us many blessings and draw us ever closer to our Divine Lord,
Fr. Garry