Lent V – Passion Sunday
Daily Sermons
March 8 – Bp. Dolan – A Healing Mass
March 13 – Bp. Dolan – Be a Mediator
March 14 – Fr. McKenna – The Font of Mamertine and the Pool of Siloe
March 15 – Bp. Dolan – It I Don’t Do It…
March 17 – Bp. Dolan – Ireland and The Mass
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✠ The Bishop’s Corner ✠
How quickly now Lent has passed, finally. I am already publishing the Palm Sunday Servers’ Schedule. Laetare week proved a difficult one with piercing cold weather and dark days, and yet another round of flu-like illness. Here’s hoping yesterday’s grand St. Patrick’s Day Mass brings us Heaven’s favor and a bit of the luck of the Irish.
Today’s somber mournful Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord, with its heavy shrouds hiding our images, and the image of Christ’s sufferings imprinted on our imagination, is bookended this year with two joyful feasts, St. Patrick and St. Joseph. That’s life, and it is certainly the life of a Christian. Thus we rejoice “with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” That would be us, who follow the Catholic calendar and the Church’s liturgical year.
We Catholics never separate. The world does that. For them, all is division and opposition. How many and how heavy were the crosses and contradictions of the life of St. Joseph and St. Patrick. How blessed and joyful is the painful Cross of Christ, which is our “salvation, life and resurrection.” Our life, at any given moment, is a combination of both joy and sorrow. How much we need a deep faith, along with a bit of Irish wit and humor, and above all the silent, awed serenity of St. Joseph, as he lived with God and the Mother of God.
Thanks to the Legacy Choir for a magnificent Mass Saturday. The beloved Convent Mass was sung again in full, with beautiful organ music and hymns. A moving St. Patrick’s Day to be sure. Afterwards, we all enjoyed a fine convivial “Irish” breakfast.
We have an excellent program planned for a truly Christian St. Joseph’s Day, once a holy day, and still a “day of devotion,” or should be. Tomorrow at the school Mass we’re honoring two dear ladies who were as wedded to their work, church work, holy work, as ever anyone could be, Katie Bischak and Sharon Patton. How much they gave, to church and school, how lovingly, and for how many years!
Speaking of giving, thanks to our Friday evening cooks who’ve given us great meals to fuel our recollection and prayers. Anne Marie Omlor emerged from the sick house, quiche in hand this past Friday. Thank you! This Friday is already our final evening. It worked very well this year. “Great attendance!” as Trump might tweet.
And a big thank to you to everyone who made the Sister Sunday such a success. It’s a great fundraiser for the good Sisters of course, but it’s also a fine mid-Lent social. I’m always happy to see Helfta Hall jammed with stuff (where does it all come from? Where does it all go?) and people both, waiting for the conclusion of the silent auction and the drawing. A good time was had by all. What more can we say? Oh, congratulations to little Matthew McConnell, a toddler with the luck of the Irish to be sure.
Next Sunday is Palm, with its slightly adjusted schedule and so moving ceremonies. Bring or stay with the children for the Procession. They get to march with a new little donkey, which makes its debut. Plan now for the Sacred Three Days: Holy Thursday (children to escort Our Lord to the Altar of Repose) and your Holy Communion, Adoration by day and by night, Tenebrae and the Great Vigil of Saturday, with its crashing Gloria of Resurrection, and a fine lunch afterwards. Oh, and the Easter Egg Hunt! Mark your calendars for the most special days of the year. May they bring you grace, and lead you to glory.
Love and live your Mass!
– Bishop Dolan