Easter III – Solemnity of St. Joseph
Our Ninth Graders visit Washington DC with Fr. Lehtoranta
Daily Sermons
March 20 – Fr. McKenna – Babylonian Musings
March 21 – Fr. McKenna – Actions Speak Louder than Words
March 22 – Fr. McKenna – St. Isidore and the First Fruits
March 29 – Bp. Dolan – Why the Foot Washing?
March 29 – Bp. Dolan – At the Maundy
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✠ The Bishop’s Corner ✠
Friday I left for my annual Confirmation visit to Milwaukee. A beautiful, rare Spring morning. Sunshine, Robins, rabbits and cats in the cool early hours. The first lawn of the season is luxuriously green. The dandelions (“lions’ teeth,” remember, from the French) look like charming Spring flowers, little naturalized narcissus, not enemies at all. But good Brendan was out Thursday evening to do a little mowing. ’Tis time, I’m sure.
Our High Schoolers, two parents and one priest, will have returned from their Spring trip to Washington, D.C. Fr. Lehtoranta has been texting a McFather with a daily report as they accomplished their daunting agenda. A lot to see.
The school year will soon be over now. I think our Gertrudians have had a really educational year, with challenging classes and our own Fr. Cekada for music appreciation, and the trip to the capitol, as well as some concerts. Many of the homeschoolers get in on the music. Some of them will be graduating this year, and we hope to organize a Mass for them, as we did before.
Our First Communicants did well for the test, with Fr. Cekada, who calms frayed nerves as needed, and distributes a handful of candy at the day’s conclusion. Father is our guest preacher this morning.
Weather permitting, the roofers have been roofing. They work quickly. Their hammering made a fitting background for the St. Joseph Solemnity Wednesday, for he was a tektón, a carpenter, a builder, a contractor even. He taught the Boy Jesus how to work with nails, which was His life’s work.
The lilies this year were elegant and are lasting a long time in the cold April. But I wondered why there was no fragrance? Usually the smell was overwhelming, and Katie would suffer terribly with her allergies. But for the first time, nothing. Katie would be pleased. A sign? Perhaps, but maybe just a reminder, like the crocuses for Sharon’s funeral. The Weeping Cherry Blossom tree which Beckie Mattingly put in my garden bloomed on Easter Sunday, all in white. Easter Monday saw it doubly white, under the snow. Well, let us remember our dear dead. Remember to pray for them. “They are as close to us as a prayer.”
The cats take turns methodically patrolling the high grass for little eatable animals, a threat if ever there were one. Caravaggio has been depositing medium size viscera on my porches. He must think me a pagan priest who reads entrails…. I’m afraid he eats the rest. He’s been overdoing on Easter Bunnies of late, and suffers for it terribly. But things always have a way of working out as he sleeps it off.
Wednesday we process for the Greater Litanies, which like this feast of St. Joseph, are powerful prayers for the Church, and for Rome our spiritual home. Next week it will be May, and a busy May it will be indeed. Rest up and prepare.
May St. Joseph keep you close, so close, to Jesus and Mary!
– Bishop Dolan