As Lent comes to an end, we have finally reached the holiest week of the year. Today, Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, the crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem waving palms and shouting: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is come! Hosanna in the highest!" On Holy Thursday, Jesus celebrates the first Mass by offering his disciples bread and wine that he changed into his Body and Blood and told them to do the same in his memory. He later prays and suffers the agony in the garden as he is arrested by a band of people led by Judas. On Good Friday, many of the same people who welcomed him into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, call out "Crucify him." Pilate has him scourged and crucified. Jesus dies on the cross for our sins. He is taken down and buried after being held in his mother Mary's arms. He is in the tomb until Easter Sunday morning when he rises from the dead and tells us through his apostles that we can rise, too. The Church once again sings the Gloria and Alleluia! Both signs of our great joy.
You are invited to meditate on these earth changing events all week. We will celebrate them with special liturgies. Our Holy Week Schedule is: Palm Sunday Masses at 8:15 and 10:30 AM. Holy Thursday Mass of the Last Supper at 6 :00 PM. The Good Friday Service at 1 PM. There will also be Stations of the Cross on ZOOM at 7 PM. Because we have no adults entering the Church, there will not be an Easter Vigil on Saturday. Our Easter Masses will be at 8:15 and 10:30 AM.
Congratulation on a job well done to Robbie Poe, Ben McVeigh and Jacob Petersen who received their Confirmation at St. Patrick's on Friday, March 26. Congratulation to Mo Henley who attended the classes, even though he was already confirmed.
During this Holy Week, let us continue to pray for an end to the pandemic and let us help end it by getting vaccinated as soon as we can. I received my second shot over a month ago. We will still follow protocol with masks and social distancing at all our services. Things will be a little different due to the virus, but I'll explain things as we go along in the Holy Week Services. It won't be the same but remember we had no services last year. Celebrate Holy Week!