|
Celebration of the Eucharist
Saturday: 5:00 pm Vigil
Sunday: 7:30 am; 10:15 am; 6:00 pm
Daily Mass: 8:15 am
Holy Day: 8:15 am; 12:00 pm; 7:00 pm. *
*Holy Day schedule may change - please consult the parish bulletin or call the parish office.
Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Saturday: 3:30 - 4:30 pm and by appointment
Sunday Religious Education:
Sunday: 8:45 - 10:00 am
Youth Ministry:
Sunday: 4:30- 5:45 pm - Choir Rehearsal
6:00 pm - Youth Mass
Junior Youth Group
Sunday: 4:30- 6:00 pm - Gathering
Senior Youth Group
Sunday: 7:30- 9:00 pm - Gathering
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
First Friday of Every Month:
9:00 am - 8:00 pm
with
Chaplet of Divine Mercy
3:00 pm
&
Eucharistic Prayer Service
7:00 pm
PARISH OFFICE HOURS:
Monday - Friday
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
LENT 2010
Lent 2010
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ;
It is time again to begin our Lenten journey, our season of renewal which will transition into Easter Season, our 50 days of joy celebrating the Resurrection of Christ. Before we celebrate however, we are called to renew ourselves in Christ, to revisit the beginning of the Paschal Mystery – the crucifixion, expiative suffering, and redeeming death of Christ and to ponder what this means for us.
This year we are very blessed to be adding a beautiful new Crucifix to our sanctuary, thanks to a special donation in loving memory of Mary D`Isernia. This new Crucifix is a poignant reminder that our work with Jesus is a daily effort to become more Christ-like, including our willingness to suffer and die with Christ, the prelude to rising with Christ in the Resurrection.
There is a prayer called The Crucifix Prayer which helps us to focus on the meaning and importance of the crucifixion in the Paschal mystery. The author is not known, but the prayer is old and well-used by Christians over the centuries:
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,
while before your face I humbly kneel,
and with burning soul pray and beseech you to fix deep in my heart
lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity,
true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment,
while I contemplate with great love and tender pity your five wounds,
pondering over them within me,
calling to mind the words which David, your prophet, said of you, my Good Jesus:
"They have pierced my hands and my feet;
they have numbered all my bones" (Ps 21, 17-18). Amen.
So in the coming weeks, as you travel through Lent, spend some time with the crucified Christ. Remember that our journey with Christ is not sentimental, but one of commitment, standing with Christ when it is both exhilarating and painful. At all times we are seeking to fix deep within our hearts “the lively sentiments of faith, hope, and charity” which embody the way Christ lived, died, and was resurrected.
We have many resources to assist you in your Lenten journey. We will pray the Stations of the Cross each Friday this Lent at 7:00 p.m. This prayer is a powerful remembrance of the Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. There will be Small Faith Sharing Groups meeting throughout Lent. We will also have our Lenten Penance Service on March 23 at 7:00 p.m. This is an appropriate time to examine our lives and seek reconciliation so we can adjust and reorder our lives in preparation for the joy of Easter. Finally, we are very pleased to have Fr. Paul Sims, CR join us for a Lenten Mission from March 20-24. Fr. Paul is a fellow Resurrectionist who teaches graduate students in the education field. He has enormous energy and love for his work as a Resurrectionist and he will share his spirituality with us through the celebration of Holy Hour, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and Mass. Please plan to come and participate as part of your Lenten preparation.
Our Lenten spiritual journey will conclude with the celebration of the Paschal Triduum. On Holy Thursday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m. we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will take place until midnight. On Good Friday, April 2 at 3:00 p.m. we will prayerfully reflect on the Stations of the Cross. We will celebrate the Lord’s Passion at 7:00 p.m. On Holy Saturday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. we will begin Easter Vigil with the celebration of the Sacraments of Christian Initiation and the reception of our RCIA catechumens and candidates into the full communion with the Catholic Church. On Easter Sunday, the Solemnity of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, April 4, we will celebrate the Eucharist at 7:30 and 10:15 a.m., and 6:00 p.m.
Also, prior to our weekend liturgies we will provide quiet time for prayer and reflection as we did in the Advent Season, and we will conclude each celebration of the Eucharist with instrumental music that will send us forth to continue our prayerful reflection through the week.
We will begin our journey next Wednesday with ashes. I hope that this Lenten Season you will embrace the crucified Christ and grow in your love and understanding of what it means to die with Christ, and to rise with him in the joy of Easter. When we finish our Lenten journey we will truly be renewed and ready to bring the hope, joy, and peace of Christ’s resurrection to all people. Please be assured of my prayers for each of you during this Lent.
Sincerely yours in the Risen Christ,
Rev. Jerzy Zieba, C.R.
Pastor
Lenten Season
Lent is the penitential season of approximately 40 days set aside by the Church in order for the faithful to prepare for the celebration of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. During this holy season, inextricably connected to the Paschal Mystery, the Catechumens prepare for Christian initiation, and current Church members prepare for Easter by a recalling of Baptism and by works of penance, that is, prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Even in the early Church, Lent was the season for prayerful and penitential preparation for the feast of Easter. Though the obligation of penance was originally only imposed on those who had committed public sins and crimes, by medieval times all the faithful voluntarily performed acts of penance to repair for their sins.
Ash Wednesday is the clarion call to “Repent and believe the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). For the next forty days, the faithful willingly submit to fasting and self-denial in imitation of Our Lord’s forty-day fast in the desert. It is in these dark and still nights, these desert-times, that the soul experiences its greatest growth. There, in the inner arena, the soul battles the world, the flesh and the devil just as Our Lord battled Satan`s triple temptation in the desert. His battle was external, for Jesus could not sin; our battle is interior, but with a hope sustained by the knowledge of Christ’s Easter victory over sin and death.
His victory is our renewal, our “spring” — which is the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon word, “lengten” or Lent. In this penitential season we have the opportunity to make an annual spiritual “tune-up”, a 40-day retreat with Our Lord. Have we allowed worldly cares and the “daily drama” to obscure our call to holiness? Have self-love and materialism eroded our relationship with God? Then let us renew our efforts, and through our Lenten observance, discipline the body and master it as we “follow in the footsteps of the poor and crucified Christ” (St. Francis of Assisi).
Lenten Fasting Regulations
All Christ’s faithful are obliged by divine law, each in his or her own way, to do penance. However, so that all may be joined together in a certain common practice of penance, days of penance are prescribed. On these days, the faithful are in a special manner to devote themselves to prayer, to engage in works of piety and charity, to fulfill their obligations more faithfully, and to deny themselves, especially by observing fast and abstinence according to the laws of the Church.
The following are the Lenten penitential regulations issued for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee:
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast. On days of fast, one full meal and two lesser meals are allowed. Eating between meals is not permitted. Catholics who have completed their 18th year are bound by this law until the beginning of their 60th year.
Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent are also days of abstinence. On days of abstinence, meat may not be taken. The law of abstinence binds all Catholics who have completed their 14th year.
All of the faithful are obliged to do penance, but not all may be able to observe the above regulations of fast and abstinence because of ill health or other reasons. Persons legitimately excused from the laws of fast and abstinence are urged to practice other forms of penance and self-denial suitable to their condition. In addition, the faithful are urged to participate, if possible, in Holy Mass during the week; in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; in Lenten devotions, family prayer, and Scripture reading; and in sharing of their time and resources with the less fortunate.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
FRIDAY - 7:00 PM
SOUP SUPPER - 6:00 PM - PARISH HALL
+
LENTEN MISSION
March 22-24, 2010
Reconciliation: An Invitation to Grow in God`s Grace
by Father Paul Sims, C.R.
Sunday, March 21
7:15 PM – Meeting with the Youth (old church)
+
Monday, March 22
8:15 AM – Mass / Morning Prayers
7:00 PM - Mission / Eucharistic Prayer Service
+
Tuesday, March 23
8:15 AM – Mass / Morning Prayers
7:00 PM - Mission / Reconciliation Service
+
Wednesday, March 24
8:15 AM – St. John Catholic School: Mass
7:00 PM - Mission / Mass
HOLY WEEK
The Easter Triduum
The Easter Triduum, marking the days of Jesus’ passion and resurrection, is the most important time of the church year. It begins with the evening Mass of Holy Thursday, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes on Easter Sunday evening. Prepared by the days of Lent, Christians celebrate on these holiest of days the saving work God has accomplished in Christ.
From the events remembered these days, so sorrowful and so joyful, the Church learns the deepest lessons. In rites and words the mysteries of Jesus` final hours are with us again; his passion, his cruel suffering, his rising from the dead. And we discover the answer to age-old questions: Does God loves us? Is God merciful? Does God care for us? We have only to look and learn from Jesus Christ.
These are days for fixing our eyes on the holy mystery of his cross and filling our ears with the words of his gospel. Nowhere else does God`s love appear so vividly. In the love Christ showed for a sinful world, we find the beginning of our Church, the source of our sacraments, the key to understanding the human story, and our hope for eternal life.
Holy Thursday
The Easter Triduum begins with Mass on Holy Thursday evening, when Jesus sacramentally anticipated the gift he would make of himself on the cross. His command to serve others is dramatically recalled this night in the ceremony of the washing of the feet, which he performed in the supper room for his disciples. Like the Paschal lamb, killed and eaten by the people, according to the Old Testament account read from Exodus this evening, he is a sign of God`s salvation.
Good Friday
The Good Friday rites center around the reading of the Passion of Jesus. With simple dignity that story is retold followed by prayers for the entire world, for this powerful mystery brings blessings to the world. According to ancient tradition, an image or relic of the cross is venerated this day, and the sacrament of Christ`s love for his Church is received. It is a day of fasting and quiet mourning.
The Easter Vigil
The Easter Vigil is the high point of the Easter Triduum celebrating the passion and resurrection of Jesus. With a rich display of symbols, rites and readings, the Church in worship expresses her faith in the mystery that brings her into being.
The vigil opens with a service of light. Like the Jewish Passover, our Easter celebration coincides with the beginning of spring, when the sun offers new warmth and earth is ready to flower again. Our words "lent" (from the Middle-English word for spring,” lengthening days") and "Easter" (possibly Germanic or Anglo-Saxon in origin, signifying "the east”,” the rising sun") point to the long tradition of seeing this holy mystery through signs of the natural world.
The lighting of the fire and the Easter candle go back to rites that long preceded Christianity. The candle, carried with loving reverence and lyrically praised in word and song, is a sign of Christ, "the light of the world," and celebrates the victory of light over darkness for which humanity has always longed.
A series of readings recalls the great interventions of God in history, from creation to the redemption of Israel from Egypt, and ends with the story of Jesus` resurrection. The great "alleluia" proclaims with quiet joy the triumph of God`s Son. Those preparing for Baptism then receive the sacraments of initiation. The blessed water sprinkled over others signifies the blessing of new life.
Rejoice! This night says as it brings before us the deepest symbols of our hopes and fears. The darkness, sign of evil and death, has been overcome by light. A lamp, a candle has been lit; a fire is enkindled in our hearts; a nourishing water flows through our lives; a baptism destroys what is unclean and brings to life again. Rejoice! This night says to all creation. The Word, who made all things, as a new Adam, freshly proclaims God`s promise of life. All creation celebrates God`s love.
HOLY WEEK 2010
April 1 – Holy Thursday – 7:00 p.m.
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament - 9:00 p.m. – Midnight
Morning Prayer – 8:15 a.m.
April 2 – Good Friday – 7:00 p.m.
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
Stations of the Cross (Garden) – 3:00 p.m.
Morning Prayer – 8:15 a.m.
April 3 – Holy Saturday – 7:30 p.m.
Celebration of Easter Vigil
Fellowship / Refreshments
Morning Prayer – 8:15 a.m.
EASTER
April 4 – Easter Sunday
Eucharist – 7:30, 10:15 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.
for more information about:
YEAR OF THE PRIEST
|
