PASTOR'S CORNER
Father Raymond D. Tyohemba, V.C.
April 2, 2023
Palm Sunday of the Passion of Jesus
Today is Palm Sunday of the Passion of Jesus. Our Holy Week journey starts now, as we celebrate Jesus’ victorious entry into Jerusalem, the city where he soon will be rejected, publicly tortured, and executed. Can we experience the JOY of Jesus’ presence with us when we are remembering Jesus’ passion and death? Surely on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, when Jesus is absent even from our church Tabernacles, we, his friends, feel this absence?
Yes, I think we do. And we must. We are called to walk with Jesus, even to the cross and to the tomb. Today, our liturgy guides us along this path; today, our church vestments and linens are blood red; today, the gospel places us firmly in the unfolding drama of the terrible, wondrous events of Holy Week. Later this week we will feast with Jesus and pass over with him into the garden of agony. We will literally adore the very instrument of Jesus’ execution, and follow Jesus’ lifeless body from cross to tomb.
As we walk this lonely path with Jesus, we walk in the footsteps of centuries of his dearest friends, beginning with his mother and the other faithful women at the cross. We walk with the Apostles, remembering their debilitating fear, knowing the burden of our own sin.
This week, may we remember that Jesus’ suffering and death are the gifts Jesus gives us so we can be united to Jesus in joy forever! God is in us and with us forever because this week overcomes the very thing that has long divided us from God: Sin. We enter this week knowing that when Jesus left us for three days, he made possible our ultimate joy:
his immortal presence with us for all our days.
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2 de abril de 2023
Domingo de Ramos de la Pasión de Jesús
Hoy es Domingo de Ramos de la Pasión de Jesús. Nuestro viaje de Semana Santa comienza ahora, mientras celebramos la entrada victoriosa de Jesús en Jerusalén, la ciudad donde pronto será rechazado, torturado públicamente y ejecutado. ¿Podemos experimentar la ALEGRÍA de la presencia de Jesús con nosotros cuando recordamos la pasión y muerte de Jesús? ¿Seguramente el Viernes Santo y el Sábado Santo, cuando Jesús está ausente incluso de los Tabernáculos de nuestra iglesia, nosotros, sus amigos, sentimos esta ausencia?
Sí, creo que lo hacemos. Y debemos Estamos llamados a caminar con Jesús, hasta la cruz y el sepulcro. Hoy, nuestra liturgia nos guía por este camino; hoy, nuestras vestiduras y sábanas de la iglesia son de color rojo sangre; hoy, el evangelio nos coloca firmemente en el drama que se desarrolla de los terribles y maravillosos eventos de la Semana Santa. Más tarde esta semana festejaremos con Jesús y pasaremos con él al jardín de la agonía. Literalmente adoraremos el instrumento mismo de la ejecución de Jesús y seguiremos el cuerpo sin vida de Jesús desde la cruz hasta la tumba.
Mientras recorremos este camino solitario con Jesús, seguimos los pasos de siglos de sus amigos más queridos, comenzando con su madre y las otras mujeres fieles en la cruz. Caminamos con los Apóstoles, recordando su miedo debilitante, conociendo la carga de nuestro propio pecado.
Esta semana, ¡que recordemos que el sufrimiento y la muerte de Jesús son los regalos que Jesús nos da para que podamos estar unidos a Jesús en alegría para siempre! Dios está en nosotros y con nosotros para siempre porque esta semana vence lo mismo que nos ha separado por mucho tiempo de Dios: el pecado. Entramos en esta semana sabiendo que cuando Jesús nos dejó por tres días, hizo posible nuestro mayor gozo:
su presencia inmortal con nosotros durante todos nuestros días.
Palm Sunday begins Holy Week with the remembrance of the triumphant entrance of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey as the crowds hailed Him with acclamations. “Hosanna to the Son of David.” On Palm Sunday, like those who witnessed the Lord resolutely enter Jerusalem, we praise God, who has given us our Savior, who intentionally entered Jerusalem to accomplish the Paschal Mystery for us. In imitation of the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem, Palm Sunday's procession celebrates God's determination to save humanity from sin.
At the conclusion of Mass, we take palm branches as a reminder that we are a people whom God has saved by the Death and Resurrection of the Lord. By faith, we walk with Christ, who goes into Jerusalem to do battle for us. On the Thursday of Holy Week, we enter into the sacred Triduum.
Reflection: What is one thing you will do this week to make it a “holy week?”
The SACRED TRIDUUM, a three-day liturgy, takes place on HOLY THURSDAY, GOOD FRIDAY, AND THE EASTER VIGIL. Three days that celebrate the Paschal Mystery of our Lord Jesus Christ, the culmination of what makes us Christians.
Holy Thursday:The Institution of the Holy Eucharist & Sacred Priesthood
With the MASS OF THE SUPPER OF THE LORD on Holy Thursday, we remember what Jesus did at the Last Supper. He gave Himself, His Body and Blood, His real presence as an everlasting covenant, and He gave an example to His followers, to us, by washing the feet of His disciples. As part of this celebration, we also commemorate the institution of the Sacred Priesthood. Holy Thursday concludes with a procession carrying the Blessed Sacrament to an Altar of repose for Adoration.
Reflection: What is one thing you can do this Holy Thursday to live Jesus’ command to love another? Who needs your love, your forgiveness, your compassion?
Good Friday celebrates the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. This is not a Mass (It is the one-day Mass is not celebrated). The ancient prophecies from the Jewish Bible that refer to a suffering servant Savior are proclaimed, as is the Passion according to Saint John. The assembled faithful adore the Wood of the Cross – the cherished sign of salvation and Holy Communion is received. On this day, we pause at the suffering and Death of the Lord on the Cross and His burial in the tomb.
Reflection: What needs to ‘die’ in you so that new life may take root?
Holy Saturday is a day of silent waiting and accompanying the Lord, who lies in death. Mass is not offered until the EASTER VIGIL, which begins after sundown in the darkness.
The Easter fire is lit; from its flame, a Paschal Candle is kindled. Scriptures from the Jewish Bible are proclaimed as is the Gospel account of the first Easter. Catechumens are fully initiated into Christ and His Church through the Sacraments of Initiation, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist; the renewal of the Baptism promises for all is celebrated. Candidates complete their reception of the Sacraments, and the Holy Eucharist is offered. This most holy night remembers that Christ rose to life after His Death and burial and that He shares with us His victory of passing over death to life. This is the night when the song of that victory of Christ over sin, ALLELUIA, is sung after a 40-day pause. It should joyfully ring out with the greatest of enthusiasm by those present.
I would like to remind all the faithful of the Paschal fast, which should be observed everywhere on Good Friday and continued, where possible, on Holy Saturday.
Paschal fast is an external expression of our effort to unite ourselves with Christ, who, abandoned by many, suffers on the cross and submits his entire life to the hands of the Father. Giving up earthly life opens a way to eternal life.
PARISH BULLETIN
April 2, 2023
RECTORY HOURS:
Monday - Thursday
9 AM - 4 PM
CLOSED ON FRIDAYS
SCHEDULE OF MASSES:
Saturday........4:00 PM (Vigil)
Sunday........9:00 AM (English) 11:00 AM (Spanish)
BURMESE MASS
Every 2nd Sunday: 12:30 PM Daily....... 9:00 AM (Mon-Fri)
EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
Thursdays 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
CONFESSIONS:
Saturday - 3 PM-3:45 PM
Collections: Weekly Goal: $5,000
Weekend March 25 & 26 .......... $2,876
Online............................................$202
Catholic Relief Services...............$851
Archbishop Annual Appeal 2023
2023 Campaign Goal ............$30,467
Contributions received.....$4,140 /14%
Thank you for your continued support!
Join us on Monday, April 3rd, 2023, for our Lenten Book Study
Venue: Parish Center
Time: 6 pm
2023 ARCHDIOCESAN ANNUAL APPEAL KICKOFF SUNDAY
I hope you received my letter highlighting this year’s Archdiocesan Annual Appeal.
On behalf of youth, young adults, seminarians, social ministries, and everyone, your gifts to the Appeal support, I ask you to prayerfully consider giving to the 2023 Annual Appeal. Through our support, we join others throughout our Archdiocese in answering God’s call to discipleship by supporting His work.
Thank you in advance for your prayerful consideration of this request. You impact lives.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Holy Week
Please take note of the times for the Holy Week
Palm Sunday, April 1 & 2
Saturday: 4:00 pm Vigil
Sunday: 9:00 am, 11:00 am(Spanish)
Holy Thursday, April 6 No AM Mass
Mass of the Lord’s Supper 5:30 pm (bilingual)
Good Friday, April 7, Morning Prayer: 9:00 am (no mass)
Stations of the Cross: 1:00 pm
Seven Last Words Reflection 2:00 pm
Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion 3:00 pm English; Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion 7:00 pm Spanish
Easter Vigil Saturday, April 8
Easter Vigil Mass 6:30 pm (bilingual) (Time change)
Easter Sunday, April 9
9:00 am (English)
11:00 am (Spanish)
1:00 pm (Burmese)
Next Sunday’s Readings
Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
April 9th, 2023
Reading I: Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Responsorial Psalm: 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Reading II: Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8
Gospel: John 20:1-9 or Matthew 28:1-10
or Luke 24:13-35
We incarnate the duty of hearing the cry of the poor when we are deeply moved by the suffering of others. …
This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the center of the Church’s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.
Pope Francis
Evangelii Gaudium #193, 198
1. The same women who came to anoint his body in the morning had been with Jesus when he died. Were they deterred from their task by fear? Compare and contrast their behavior with some of Jesus’ other disciples.
2. What is it that allowed John to “see and believe,” to have this kind of clarity? Does love give you knowledge about a person, insights into their behavior? In John, Jesus said “Whoever loves me … I will love him (her) and reveal myself to him (her)” (Jn 14:21). Is there a connection between Jesus’ statement and John’s “seeing and believing”?
MASS INTENTIONS:
We have openings for May & June.
LITURGICAL MINISTERS AND LECTORS:
April 1 & 2, 2023
SATURDAY: 4 pm SUNDAY: 9 am
EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS _____________________
Mercedes Acosta Margaret Lemus
LECTORS ___________________________________
Alice Abiva Ernie Llorente
WEEKLY READINGS
Thank you for your continued support of
our Parish during these trying times.
It is greatly appreciated.
