From Our Pastor's Desk
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From Our Pastor's Desk
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Readings: Mark 11:1-10, Isaiah 50:4-7, Psalm 22 “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”, Philippians 2:6-11, Mark 14:1 - 15:47 Dear brothers and sisters, May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you. May your heart sing with the joy and hope of the Lord as we enter the Holy week. This Sunday is Palm Sunday and our song is “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!” St Andrew of Crete, in his sermon 9 on Palm Sunday says “Come, and as we make our way up to the Mount of Olives, let us go out to meet Christ, who is returning today from Bethany, and of his own will makes haste towards his most venerable and revered passion, whereby he will bring to fulfillment the mystery of the salvation of mankind.” This week, we recall the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and we hear again the story of the passion. But why should we remember the passion of Jesus? Why keep alive the memory of such anguish and pain? Aren’t we supposed to forget about the past pain and hurt, and let them disappear if they can? As Christians we are committed to be a people who remembers the passion of Jesus. Remembering it encourages us to take the decision that this should not happen again. There should be no innocent victims. That memory also serves to make us aware of the crosses that are in our midst. It encourages us to pay attention to the suffering of others. But above all it reminds us of what God has done for us. As we enter into this Holy Week, I would like to encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities the Lord has gifted us. Receive most devout Our Blessed Lord in the Holy Communion on the great days of the week, Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and surely on Easter Sunday, that your peace and joy may be as full as possible. I wish to thank you sincerely for your kindness and generosity at this time. Have a blissful Holy Week. Fr. Paschal Chester, svd Sunday, March 21th, 2021 – Fifth Sunday of Lent - Cycle B
Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 51“Create a clean heart in me, O God”, Hebrews 5:7-9, John 12:20-33 May the peace and love of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. I wish to thank each one of you for your dedication and love to our parish. With your support and labor, we were able to put in the church the new carpet. May the almighty bless and replenish your zeal and generosity a thousand-fold. Friday March 19thwas a special day as we celebrated the feast of St. Joseph in the Year of St. Joseph. The Church grants plenary indulgence for the year of St Joseph. So that during this period, the faithful have the opportunity to commit themselves “with prayer and good works, to obtain, with the help of St. Joseph, head of the heavenly Family of Nazareth, comfort and relief from the serious human and social tribulations that besiege the contemporary world to-day.” The plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions). The Plenary indulgence is granted to those who will meditate for at least 30 minutes on the Lord’s Prayer, or take part in a Spiritual Retreat of at least one day that includes a meditation on St. Joseph. Also, by those who, following St. Joseph’s example, will perform a spiritual or corporal work of mercy. The recitation of the Holy Rosary in families and among engaged couples is another way of obtaining indulgences. Those who entrust their daily activity to the protection of St. Joseph, and every faithful who invokes the intercession of St. Joseph so that those seeking work can find dignifying work can also obtain the plenary indulgence. The plenary indulgence is also granted to the faithful who will recite the Litany to St. Joseph or any other prayer to St. Joseph, for the persecuted Church ad intra and ad extra, and for the relief of all Christians suffering all forms of persecution. St. Joseph “encourages us to rediscover the value of silence, prudence and loyalty in carrying out our duties”. May he intercede for us. Amen Fr. Paschal Chester, svd Forth Sunday of Lent - Cycle B
Readings: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23, Ps 137 “Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you! ”, Ephesians2:4-10, John 3:14-21 My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we celebrate the fourth Sunday of Lent, which is traditionally called Laetare Sunday from the opening words of the Entrance Antiphon. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and beglad for her, all you who love her”. This Sunday speaks to us of joy, because as we journey to the Calvary with Jesus this Lent, we are reminded that the moment of our redemption is coming closer. Joy has a spiritual origin, arising from a heart that loves and feels itself loved by God. Today, rose-colored vestments are permitted in place of purple. In this way the church reminds us that joy is perfectly compatible with mortification and pain. It is sinlessness and not penance which is opposed to happiness. In today’s Gospel, a Pharisee talks to Jesus about God. Nicodemus went to Jesus under the cover of darkness. Through their encounter Jesus tells him and us that “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son”. God’ supreme gift was given out of love, not out of desire to humiliate or condemn the world. The Gospel expresses the hope that if we really believe God loved us we would surely emerge from our darkness. It the dark and it is difficult to see God; it is difficult to think about him. Perhaps we would come into the light more readilyif we believe that the light we are entering is not the light of condemnation. As we celebrate the love of God in the sacred liturgy let our hearts be filled with joy. The joy that no one or nothing can take from us. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, svd Readings: Exodus 20: 1-17, Psalm 19 “Lord, you have the words of everlasting life ”, 1Corintios 1: 22-25, John 2: 13-35
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we just had our parish Lenten retreat with the theme “The year of St Joseph: aninvitation to the desert.” I believe that those who were able to participate found it uplifting and very resourceful as Idid. I wish to express our sincere gratitude to our retreat directors: Fr Justin Arockiasamy, SVD (English retreat), and Mr. Jose de Jesus Garcia Padilla and Mrs. Norma Velez de Garcia (Spanish retreat). On March 19, the church celebrates the feast of St Joseph. Pope Francis with his apostolic letter “Patris corde” (With a Father’s Heart), recalls the 150thanniversary of the decla-ration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark that, he proclaimed a “Year of St Joseph” from December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2021. The Holy father wrote “Patris corde” against the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic, which, he says, has helped us see more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, they resemble Saint Joseph, ‘the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,”who nonetheless played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.”He describes St Joseph as a beloved, tender, obedient father. He welcomed the will of God by accepting Mary uncon-ditionally. He is a creatively courageous father, example of love: he was able to turn problem into a possibility by rusting in divine providence. St Joseph is a father who teaches the value, dignity and joy of work. He is a father “in the shadows”, centered on Mary and Jesus. In his letter, Pope Francis notes how, “Every day, for over forty years, following Lauds [Morning Prayer]” he has“recited a prayer to Saint Joseph taken from a nineteenth-century French prayer book of the Congregation of the Sisters of Jesus and Mary.” This prayer, he says, expresses devotion and trust, and even poses a certain challenge to Saint Joseph,” on account of its closing words: “My beloved father, all my trust is in you. Let it not be said that I invoked youn vain, and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power.” St Joseph, intercede for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, svd |
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