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March 15, 2018Dear friends in Christ,
I trust the Spring Break that many of you enjoyed this past week was a good one. It is important to take those periodic breaks to recharge and refresh our bodies and minds. In a way, Lent is kind of a “spring break” for our spiritual souls as well. We “break” from sin (hopefully for good!) and refresh ourselves in God’s mercy and grace. It’s a time to slow down and recognize that there is something bigger going on here than just our own wants and desires. The dying to self and sin results in new life within us. These 40 days will be over before you know it, just like Spring Break. Let’s resolve to use the time wisely so that we might better come to know the Lord in our life.
Today is the 5th Sunday of Lent and we are now coming into the home stretch. We’ve got one more full week of Lent this week, and then next week we celebrate Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. If your Lent has been less than spiritually fruitful, fear not. There is still time to have “a good Lent.” Recommit yourself to your prayer, fasting and almsgiving the next two weeks and see if you don’t notice an improvement in your walk with the Lord. I’m always saddened by those who say, “Well, I broke my Lenten promise, so I’ll just wait until next year and try harder then.” Nonsense! Remember the words of Ash Wednesday: “Now is an acceptable time!” The time is now to return to the Lord. There are still plenty of good days ahead to prepare yourself for the coming Easter celebration.
Today at the 9 a.m. Mass we celebrate the third and final Scrutiny for our catechumens who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil on March 31. Please remember to keep them in your prayers, as well as our candidates (those who have been baptized already and now seek full communion with the Church). Those candidates will be received into the Church on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 8.
It’s not too early to begin looking ahead to next Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. Of course it begins with Passion (Palm) Sunday. Palms will be distributed and blessed at all Masses. Remember that the 9 a.m. Mass on Palm Sunday begins outside on the plaza as we remember Jesus’ procession and entry into Jerusalem. A nice tradition that has developed over the years at CtR is the wearing of the color red on Palm Sunday by members of the congregation. It’s the liturgical color of the day, of course, and a good reminder of the passion and suffering our Lord endured for us. (We’ll also be resuming the distribution of the precious blood at Mass next week. Thank you for your patience as we suspended it during the high point of flu season.)
We’ll cover more of the Holy Week schedule in next week’s bulletin, but, to help you prepare, our liturgy schedule for the Triduum will be as follows:- Holy Thursday, March 29, 7 p.m.;
- Good Friday, March 30, 3 p.m.;
- Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil), March 31, 8:30 p.m.; and
- Easter Sunday, April 1, 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., with additional Masses in the Parish Hall at 7, 9, and 11 a.m.
- Note that special time for the last Mass on Easter Sunday: 1 p.m. There is no 5 p.m. Mass on Easter Sunday. Again, we’ll have more details next week, but plan to join us for these most holiest of days.
We mentioned this in the Universal Prayers at Mass last weekend, but I wanted to invite you to join in prayer for the repose of the soul of Fr. Leonard Elder, SCJ, 76, who passed away March 6 in Mississippi from complications of a heart attack. Fr. Leonard served at CtR, first as vicar and later as pastor, from 1999-2004. He was much beloved at CtR, and fostered many new ministries that still serve today, including Eucharistic Adoration and Men’s Fellowship. Most of all, he was a kind and gentle soul to all he met. I am forever grateful to him for the time and care he took with me when I succeeded him as pastor in 2004. He was extremely helpful to me and helped to foster a smooth transition.
Raised in Kentucky, Fr. Leonard entered the novitiate for the Sacred Heart of Jesus Fathers, but instead of professing his first vows, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. After four years of service to his country, he returned to the seminary and professed vows as a religious brother in 1967. As a brother, he served for nine years as a missionary in Zaire (now, the Democratic Republic of Congo). He returned to the U.S. and earned his M.Div. at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in 1996. He was ordained shortly after, and served first at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church and then at CtR. After the Sacred Heart Fathers returned CtR to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, he served as pastor at St. Joseph Church in Holly Springs, Miss., from 2004-17, before retiring. He was still ministering there part time at the time of his death.
Fr. Leonard said that what he enjoyed most about his years in Africa “were the challenges; learning new cultures, languages, and the daily struggles to overcome the lack of almost everything I was accustomed to using. However, joined with those challenges was discovering a people eager to celebrate God’s love and to share in their lives and struggles.” Please remember Fr. Leonard in your prayers. May his soul and the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace.
Peace,
Fr. Sean
P.S.: Our final Lenten Fish Fry is from 4:30-7:30 p.m. this Friday, March 23. We've been enjoying record crowds this year, and the fish and service is better than ever. My thanks go out to all the Knights for their hard work. What a great community event it is! Come support them one final time before Holy Week, and stay for our last celebration of the Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m.
