Hello everyone! Praised be Jesus Christ! Lent is coming to an end, but before that, we enter into our holiest of weeks. Be prepared for a longer Mass this Sunday as we have both a Gospel reading at the entrance of the church and the long Passion Narrative for Palm Sunday.

Thanks to all who came out to support the ONU Catholic students on their fish fry last Friday. The food was delicious and the students did a great job!

The following is our Holy Week schedule. Most of the Holy Week liturgies will take place at Our Lady of Lourdes this year. 

I will hear confessions on the Monday of Holy Week from 4pm-5:30pm at ICC and then from 6pm-7:30pm at OLL. That will be one of the last scheduled confessions before Easter. It will only be me hearing confessions as almost all parishes in the Diocese will be holding confessions during that time. 

Please remember the Church precept that we are to go to Sacramental Confession at least once a year. You do receive graces from the Sacraments which help you to be more like Christ. 

Bishop Earl Fernandes will be celebrating the Chrism Mass, this Tuesday, April 4, at 3:30pm at St. Paul Church, Westerville.

This annual Mass includes the blessing of the Holy Oils that are used in all of the churches throughout the diocese.  At this Mass, the priests of the diocese also renew the sacred promises that they first made at their ordinations.  The Laity are invited to join the Bishop and the priests of the diocese in this beautiful liturgy.

There will be no Mass that day at the parishes. 

Wednesday: Tenebrae at 8pm at OLL. We will still have Mass, Adoration, and confessions at ICC.

Holy Thursday: Mass of the Lord’s Supper: 7pm at OLL

Good Friday: Mime Stations of the Cross at 3pm at OLL

Good Friday: Regular Stations of the Cross at 3pm at ICC

Good Friday Liturgy: 7pm at OLL

Easter Vigil: 8:30pm at OLL

Easter Sunday Mass: 9am at ICC

Easter Sunday Mass: 11am at OLL

Note that the Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion liturgy is not a Mass. There are no Masses on Good Friday anywhere in the world. Holy Communion is distributed, however, at the end of the liturgy. 

Good Friday is a day of abstinence and fasting. For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.

If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.

Christians in the Holy Land rely heavily on our help. It is with funds from the Good Friday collection that the Franciscan Custody provides presence, care and service to the people who are living in the land of Christ. Funds collected provide senior care facilities in Bethlehem and Nazareth. You can make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters who live and work where Jesus walked on this earth. Please plan now to make your donation on Good Friday to this vitally important work!

The St. Vincent De Paul Society are sponsoring an Easter Egg Hunt for the children after the 9:00am Mass. This is for all children and grandchildren of parishioners from newborn to fifth grade. Bring your Easter Basket! 

I will be taking the week of Easter off. It will be part rest, part packing, part visiting family, and part work as I will be meeting with some of the staff and the principal at St. Mary’s school in Marion. There will be no Masses that week. We will still have Adoration on that Tuesday evening from 6-7pm at OLL and then on Wednesday at ICC. 

The Knights of Columbus are accepting applications for the 2023 Stahler Family Memorial Scholarship. Any graduating high school senior or current ONU student is eligible to apply for the scholarship. Applications are available in the narthex and are due May 5, 2023.

Please return your rice bowls sometime this week, either to the office or in the church. Thank you for participating in CRS Rice Bowl during Lent.  You can also make an online contribution at www.crsricebowl.org.

The Franciscan Catechetical Institute is available to everyone in the Diocese of Columbus. The available workshops are wonderful resources for individual use, catechist training, and small group Evangelization and Catechesis.  All parishes and schools within the Diocese have accounts. To sign up, visit https://franciscanathome.com/diocese-columbus and select your parish or school from the list.  Email Liz Christy echristy@columbuscatholic.org for more information.

The Newman Ministry connects graduating high school seniors to Catholic Campus Ministry on their college campus. If you are or know someone going off to college who wants to connect with other Catholic students, especially to stay connected to your faith while in college, check out this webpage for how to get connected. https://landing.newmanministry.com/outreach2023

Attached are the bulletins, Sunday readings, and Fr. Ferguson’s cat column .

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!      

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!   

God bless!       

Fr. Ed