Fifth Sunday of Lent
5 April 2003
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
We have a happy problem: Lots of people want to come to Mass at St. Mary’s. In fact, we have more people than we have seats available for them, and the overcrowding extends to the parking lot as well. To meet our need for an orderly transition between Masses, the Sunday schedule will change next week on Palm Sunday. The new schedule is Mass at 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 11:00 am, and 1:00 pm. The Saturday afternoon schedule and the 5:00 pm Sunday Mass are unchanged. I know that the new schedule will be an inconvenience for some parishioners, but given the enormous demands being made on our physical facilities every week, I do not see any other solution . . . .until, that is, we build a new church with over three times the capacity of our present structure! I ask for your patience and understanding as we experience the growing pains associated with a booming parish.
As it is every year, the schedule for the Paschal Triduum and Easter Sunday is unusual. Please pay careful attention to each day of Holy Week, so that you’ll know when and where to find the sacred liturgy. I am delighted and grateful that we will be joined this year by three priests to assist with the complex liturgies of Holy Week; all three men are friends of mine who have been to St. Mary’s before. Father Thomas Buffer is Dean of Men and Assistant Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio; Father James Garneau is Interim Rector, Academic Dean, and Assistant Professor of Church History at the Josephinum; and Father Eugene Morris is Director of Worship and Assistant Professor of Sacramental Theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. I will be joined by these three outstanding priests in presiding and preaching at the liturgies of the Paschal Triduum and Easter Sunday.
Today we enter Passiontide, the final phase of Lent and proximate preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Passover; His passion, death, and Resurrection. Please pray for the men and women who will be baptized and for those already baptized who will be received into full communion with the Church at the Easter Vigil. Their experience of surrendering their whole lives in the obedience of faith to Jesus Christ should remind all of us that the promises of Baptism reveal the pattern of discipleship for all ages. Repent, and believe in the Gospel!
Father Newman
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.