Holy Week!

From the Pastor:    Holy Week!

       I hope you realize that this weekend, when we celebrate Palm Sunday, begins what we call Holy Week. The Mass readings are long since we focus on the Passion of Our Lord, and Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday either have a changed Mass schedule or no Masses at all (this is real Catholic liturgical stuff, not the pastor’s whim!). Tenebrae prayer services happen three times, extra confessions are scheduled, the Masses and services are complicated and the priests and staff are busy, busy, busy, trying to make sure they know what they are doing for these important once-a-year celebrations. On Tuesday there is a special 11:00 am Mass, the Chrism Mass, held at the Cathedral of St. Jude, to which all of you are invited, during which the Bishop blesses the three different oils that will be used for several sacraments during the rest of the year, the priests renew their promises, and our beloved Fr. Pierre Dorvil will be recognized for celebrating his 40th anniversary to the priesthood. Please find elsewhere in the bulletin the schedule for the week. Hopefully, we will have all of the times printed correctly. If you don’t pay attention to changes, you, along with a couple of other unfortunate people, will show up on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday morning expecting Mass when there isn’t one. Should you dare to ring the doorbell at the rectory or call/text a priest asking, “Where is everybody?” one or more of those mornings, you will not get a very nice reception! In past years I have put the schedule in this space along with my explanations of the meaning of—and reason for—each extra service; we have put the schedule on the front of the bulletin; we have put the schedule inside the bulletin; we have put the schedule on three pages of our website; and we have put the schedule out via farcebook and email, yet we always have dozens or more people calling the office or our cell phones asking for the schedule, complaining that they drove all the way in only to miss something, or worse, while holding in their hands the parish bulletin in which they found the office phone number and in which the times are clearly printed in several places, they ask what time something will be. 
       Just to drive this point home, here are some of the highlights of the week: We have three Tenebrae prayer services, the first on Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm, the second on Good Friday at 6:30 am, and the third on Holy Saturday, also at 6:30 am. The only Mass on Holy Thursday is the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 pm, followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until midnight. There is no Mass on Good Friday, but Adoration of the Cross and a Communion Service will begin at 3:00 pm. The traditional Blessing of the Easter Baskets will take place in the church at 10:30 am sharp on Holy Saturday. We have several people coming into the Church at the Easter Vigil and Mass, which begins at 8:00 pm that evening, and they will be receiving the Sacraments of Initiation, namely, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion. That Mass is the first Mass of Easter, and, yes, you do fulfill your Easter Sunday obligation if you attend it, although you are more than welcome to come back again the next morning when the normal Sunday Mass schedule will be in effect. 7:30 am low Mass and 10:30 am High Mass, in case you forgot!
       And now, looking back a week, I want to thank all of the many, many, people who did so much to make Archbishop Cordileone’s visit and Mass work so smoothly. We had a lighter crowd than on normal Sundays, similar to the last two Pontifical Solemn High Masses we held here, for many people decided once again to skip the crowds and attend Mass elsewhere. They don’t know what they missed! Of course, most of you don’t know all of what you missed, either, even if you were here, for much more happens than most people realize. Some of it is practice for the priests and altar boys, some of it is all the behind-the-scenes work making all of the arrangements for transportation, rooms, decorations, vestments, food, etc., and some of it is probably minor demonic activity. Let me give you two examples of that last type.
       During the time after the Mass when everyone was waiting to greet the Archbishop, one young boy, in the ladies' room with his mother, dutifully washing his hands after using the facilities, was suddenly doused with water as a pipe burst through the wall under the sink. When I was told of it, my first question/statement was, “Please, tell me that it was a water pipe and not a sewage pipe!” Fortunately for all involved, it was clean water. But it meant that we had to turn off all of the water to the school (where everyone was, of course) until we could get it fixed the next day. A couple of hours later, after all of the photographs were taken and everyone was clearing out, the priests finally got a chance to head back to the rectory for a quick sit-down before having to head out for the Archbishop’s next talk. The upstairs air conditioner was on the fritz and it was already 86 degrees in the bedrooms. The demons just can’t stand the extra holiness this special visit brought to us so they have to do something—anything—to try to mess things up!

With prayers for your holiness,
Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka

​