News - March 2023 RSS Feed

Today, we begin Holy Week, the days which we journey with Jesus on His way to the Cross and anticipate His Resurrection on Easter. The Liturgy (Mass) begins with the procession with palms to remind us of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. The Paschal Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, are the holiest days of the Roman Catholic Church’s Calendar. The Sacred Triduum (three days) begins on Holy Thursday evening with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 P.M. At this Liturgy, we celebrate the institution of two Sacraments: Holy Orders and the Eucharist. Adoration will follow the Mass until 10:30 P.M. On Good Friday, we commemorate the Lord’s Passion at 3:00 P.M., with the Liturgy of the Word, Veneration of the Cross and reception of Holy Communion, which was consecrated at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening. On Holy Saturday evening we gather in the darkness of the night at 8:00 P.M. to begin the Easter Vigil Liturgy with the blessing of the fire and the lighting of the new Paschal Candle. At this Mass, Tavin Jackson, a seventh grade student from St. Peter School will be fully initiated in the Roman Catholic Church. He will receive the sacraments of Baptism-Confirmation-and Holy Eucharist.

If you can donate palm fronds for our Passion Sunday liturgy, please bring them to the rectory by March 30th. If you have some to donate, but can’t bring them, call 536-2887.

Brand/ Safeway scaffolding up for lighting repairs in day chapel. Thank you for helping St. Peter’s.

Welcome Father Chris Krymski, O.S.M. who will lead our Parish Mission on Monday, March 27th and Tuesday, March 28th. The theme for the Mission is: Jesus Christ is Our Real Presence of God in the Eucharist. The Mission begins at 6:30 P.M. The Mission talks will take place during a Holy Hour with Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Monday’s Mission talk will be How do We Prepare Ourselves to Receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist? Tuesday’s Mission talk will be How do We Share Jesus in the Eucharist with Others? Please make every effort to attend the Mission. Invite your family and friends to the Mission!! Our Eucharistic theme for the Mission is in response to the Bishops of the United States implementing a “Eucharistic Revival.”

The coir is in need of some extra voices for the Holy Week Services.  If you like to sing, would you consider joining the choir, even if it’s for only the Holy Week Services.  A special practice for the Sacred Triduum Liturgies will be on Wednesday, April 5th at 10;00 A.M.

As we did last week, we are reading from the Gospel of John. Today, we will listen to the story of the healing of the blind man to which we turn for insight into the spiritual life. For people in the Bible, isolation from the community was a form of death. Life was re-entry into the community. As we celebrate the blind man’s healing, we celebrate his acceptance and return to the community. What is it that needs healing in our lives? How do we need to change our hearts and let Christ’s gifts of freedom, light, and life enter us?

On this Third Sunday of Lent and for the next two Sundays, we take a break from reading the Gospel of Matthew to read from the Gospel of John. In today’s Gospel, the dialogue between Jesus and a woman from Samaria is among the most lengthy and most theological found in Sacred Scripture. The most startling aspect of the conversation is that it happens at all. Jesus an observant Jew of that time, was expected to avoid conversation with women in public. Jesus and the Samaritan woman speak of their thirsts, their shared human need. Jesus offers the woman “life-giving water!”

As we journey with Jesus on this Second Sunday of Lent, we move from Jesus’ retreat in the desert to His Transfiguration. Each year on the Second Sunday of Lent, we are told the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration from the Gospel writers of Mark, Matthew and Luke. The Transfiguration follows Jesus’ first prediction of His death and His teaching about the cost of discipleship. Jesus’ Transfiguration is a promise of Jesus’ glory—His Resurrection. On the mountain in today’s Gospel reading, a voice affirms that Jesus is God’s Son: “This is my Beloved Son; with whom I am well pleased, listen to Him.” During our Lenten journey, let us fine tune our listening skills to hear and respond to the voice of God.