March 26, 2023
Dear Friends in Christ,
This weekend is the 5th Sunday of Lent. In the Roman Missal (the red book the priest uses for the Mass), it states, “In the Dioceses of the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from [the fifth] Sunday [of Lent] may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.”
Note that the rubrics state the crosses & images may be covered, but it is not mandatory to do so. Some parishes do cover such images; other parishes do not. Sometimes, it depends on how difficult it may be to do so, the height of the image, the safety in covering, etc. In our parish, though it takes much work, most of our images are “easy” to cover, except it is much more challenging / difficult to cover the large crucifix. The church’s custom is not to cover the Stations of the Cross & stained glassed windows. In some family traditions, they even cover the images in their households.
Why do we cover up images that are beautiful? Images like the cross only 1 week before Holy Week when we should be extra aware of what Christ did for us on Good Friday? The rationale is the coverings alert us to a stark reminder of something “different or special” is about to occur. That we are entering a sacred time right before Holy Week, especially when many “take for granted” the images. Hopefully, the coverings encourage a heightened sense of anticipation of Easter Sunday. The uncovering prior to the Easter Vigil is symbolic, a reminder of our life on earth. We live in a “veiled” world, exiled from our true home of heaven. Christ lifts the veil through His Resurrection. It is only through our death that the veil is lifted, and we are finally able to see fully the beauty of everything in our lives.
If you have not gone to confession, I encourage you to do so ASAP, whether here at our parish (see p. 5) or at another parish. Do not wait until the last moment. Most parishes do not offer confessions during Holy Week because plenty of times have been offered earlier and just because how busy the priests are in preparation for all the Holy Week liturgies (and yes, how few priests we have today). Last weekend, I ran an examination of conscience for you. For several weeks, I have been running on p. 5 “How to go to Confession.”
Again, we have the 7 pm Friday Stations of the Cross with confessions 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm. Also, partake in the Friday Lenten Fish dinners (6 pm - 8 pm). The last Friday of March, plan on attending the 7 pm Stations, the Lenten Fish dinner, as well as the 8 pm movie, The Iron Giant (see p. 9).
To our youth (grades 5th-8th grades), register & attend the Good Friday Retreat, April 7th: 9 am - 4:30 pm. The youth will have a pilgrimage outdoors on Good Friday, praying the Stations of the Cross, 10:30 am - 12 Noon. Though the youth will be leading the Good Friday Stations, everyone (of all ages) is invited to come & pray the Stations with the youth!
Thank you to the Catholic Daughters who sponsored the St. Joseph’s Altar last Sunday. Remember the Spiritual Adoption for 9 months, praying for an unborn child to be saved from a possible abortion (see p. 8). To all high school seniors who need a possible scholarship to assist with college, refer to p. 8 & apply to the Knights of Columbus & Catholic Daughters of America educational scholarships.
To keep you informed, the parish office building was burglarized one night during Spring Break. The office was broken into from the back side, with their vehicle parked along the bayou. Various offices were rummaged through, & the safe that weighs more than 200 pounds was stolen. Unfortunately, the counted but not deposited collection from March 11th - 12th was still in that safe. We estimate about $5,500 cash was stolen, as well as all the checks. Fortunately, all cash donations that were in envelopes were documented to the donor, & every check was stamped “For deposit only: St. Maximilian Kolbe Church.” We have a complete list of every check donation. We are contacting you ASAP that your check was stolen & will be asking you to re-issue a new check. The good news is our insurance will re-imburse us for any losses/damages beyond our $5,000 deductible. But we have lost $5,000. Since the collection was documented by donor, that will help us to recover as much as possible.
I have given an update to the Pastoral Council this past week, and I will be giving an update to the Finance Council this coming week. As the Sheriff Department, as well as our insurance company stated, thefts occur all too often, regardless of protections. Fortunately, no staff member or parishioner was hurt in this burglary. We all can “second guess” now what occurred or should have occurred. We are formulating better security methods to be implemented, including more cameras, etc. We will be “re-keying” all the buildings. I have been told that our key system has never been re-keyed since our parish was founded. Unfortunately, the list of people who supposedly have keys was stolen also.
Have you made your Diocesan Services Fund pledge yet? See p. 7 for info on how your DSF pledge supports necessary, daily hospital ministry, primarily in the Medical Center. This invaluable ministry allows so many Catholic patients to receive the Sacraments & patient care regularly. Donate to DSF to meet our mandatory amount by June 30th!
St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!
Fr. Lawrence W. Jozwiak
Pastor
“The Cross is the school of love.”
“The most deadly poison of our time is indifference.”
—St. Maximilian Kolbe
“There is no greater love, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.”
John 15: 13