The Fifth Sunday of Lent is our entry now into the deepest part of the Lenten Season. Our focus on the cross becomes clearer as we prepare for the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem with Passion/Palm Sunday next week. Let us take this opportunity to prepare ourselves well for the Triduum.
Pandemic restrictions in our churches, and certainly in the community around us, are easing to be sure, but the demands to be vigilant remain in place. We are still observing social distancing and also the wearing of masks in church, throughout the entirety of the Mass or service attended. It is easy to slack off a bit, but it still makes others around us uncomfortable. Those of us who have been fully vaccinated might feel more emboldened, but we need to be sensitive to those who are not vaccinated, or still feel vulnerable. The last thing we want is a post-Easter spike in numbers.
Holy Week and Easter will look much more normal than last year. We will observe Palm Sunday next week including the distribution of palms at the end of Mass. Holy Thursday will be celebrated almost per usual (no washing of the feet) and we will have an outdoor (weather permitting) Altar of Repose. Good Friday will be almost usual (no private adoration of the Cross) and the Easter Vigil (minus the outdoor gathering for the Paschal Fire). The Initiation Sacraments will be celebrated for our catechumen (Steve) and Confirmation/Communion for our candidate, Ramon.
To assist with the expected larger attendance on Easter, and with the social distancing requirements still in place, we will offer, as we did at Christmas, simultaneous Masses on Easter Sunday in the church and in the school gym. The Easter Schedule, then, is as follows: Holy Saturday (April 3rd) NO 5:00 p.m. Mass, Easter Vigil at 8:00 p.m.; Easter Sunday 6:30 a.m. in the plaza outside of the front of the church doors; 8:00 a.m. Mass (church and gym) 9:30 a.m. (church and gym); 11:00 a.m. (church and gym). We will be able to observe all of the necessary protocols with this schedule.
This week we celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for the eighth grade students in our school and the religious education programs. Thursday will be for the RE students, and Friday for the school. Please remember our Confirmandi and their sponsors in your prayers. This is an important juncture in their lives as they now complete the Sacraments of Initiation. It is difficult enough these days to practice our faith and to make the walk of discipleship. Even more so for these young people who are bombarded with so many disparate voices and with the pandemic protocols, have found this important period in their lives so sadly disrupted.
Also on Friday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation, probably the least well-known of the great Marian feasts on the liturgical calendar. We are again reminded of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God in our world and of the fragility of our faith and of human life.
Let us continue in our prayers to Our Lady of the Annunciation for the protection of life in the womb.
Hopefully we are seeing the worst of the pandemic behind us, yet we are still seeing parishioners who are sick and some who are passing away from the virus. We also continue our prayers of intercession for all of those who are yet suffering – remembering as well those who are also suffering from the many side effects of the virus, that they will know the Lord’s loving presence in their lives.
The holiest days of the year are fast upon us, let us continue in our vigilance and with great care, prepare to celebrate the Great Feast to come.