Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Spring is on the horizon! The weather this past week was a wonderful taste or perhaps tease for Spring, and with the thawing of the snow we were finally able to put the Lenten crosses on Bethany Road and to install the outdoor Stations of the Cross. If you go to the Lent page of the website the audio prayers for the Stations can be found there. Please feel free to come and drive through the property and pray the Stations of the Cross. We continue with the public prayer of the Stations on Wednesday evening at 5:30 pm in the church, followed by the speaker.

Next weekend we will celebrate the Sacrament of Confession around the Mass Schedule – beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. We will utilize, as we did in Advent, the Adoration Chapel and the old choir room, each of which has an external door making it easier for cleaning and for maintaining social distance. Please take advantage of this opportunity. We have not received a dispensation from the Easter duty this year even though the dispensation from attending Mass is still in force.

As we are in the Year of Saint Joseph, I want to make special note of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph which is celebrated this Friday, March 19th. In keeping with a customary practice, the Bishop has granted an exemption from the ordinary Friday Lenten observance of abstinence from meat to all of the faithful for the Solemnity. It is incumbent upon us, however, to choose another day – preferably either Wednesday or Saturday (traditional days of fast and abstinence) – to observe the Lenten obligation.

Of course, this week also sees the observance of the Memorial of St. Patrick, so there is plenty of reason this week to celebrate.

Another reason to celebrate involves the heritage of faith of many of our parishioners, including our parochial vicar Father JM Patilla. As we all remember from our study of world history Ferdinand Magellan embarked on the first voyage to circumnavigate the world. This daunting adventure took him deep into the Pacific Ocean and, in March of 1521 – exactly 500 years ago – he became the first modern European to set ashore on the islands that are known now as the Philippines. It was specifically on Easter Day, March 31, 1521, that the first Mass was celebrated on the small island of Limasawa where the Spanish and the Portuguese first arrived on the Philippine Islands. That year the first Filipino Catholics received their gift of faith.

This has been a year-long celebration – curtailed a bit by COVID – for the Filipino community. We have celebrated in solidarity with Father JM’s home diocese of Borongan. Pope Francis is celebrating a commemorative Mass this weekend (March 14th) and other celebrations will continue through early April. There is a link on our website for the Mass from Borongan to be celebrated this week on Wednesday, the 17th, the anniversary of the first landing on the islands.

It’s not only the Irish who have reason to celebrate faith on March 17th!

Next week we will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for our eighth grade students on Thursday (25th) and Friday (26th). Let us take this week as an opportunity also to pray for their intentions.

Blessings this Fourth Week of Lent,
Fr. Garry