Category: Archived

Holy Week Begins on Palm Sunday, March 20th

Posted on by Jenna Violi

Join us for Mass: Saturday, March 19th at 5:15 PM or Sunday, 7:30 AM, 9:30 AM  or 11:30 AM.    Palm will be distributed at all Masses.

Visitation: The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed immediately after the 11:30 AM Mass.  Solemn Evening Prayer will be prayed at 4:00 PM.

Palm Sunday Passion Play – Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 7:00 PM in the church.

This live Passion Play will take you through the moving journey of Christ’s Passion, death and resurrection.  Presented by the Xavier Company from Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in New York City, New York.

Monday – March 21st – Daily Mass at 8:00 AM – Confessions will be heard at 7:00 PM followed by Night Prayer at 8:00 PM.

Tuesday – March 22nd – Daily Mass at 8:00 AM – Confessions will be heard at 7:00 PM followed by Night Prayer at 8:00 PM

Wednesday – March 23rd – Daily Mass at 8:00 AM – The Living Stations will be presented by the 5th Grade class of Mother Teresa Regional Catholic School at 2:00 PM. Confessions will be heard at 7:00 PM followed by Night Prayer at 8:00 PM

Holy Thursday – March 24th – The church will open at 6:00 PM with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper being celebrated at 7:30 PM.   Visitation can take place all through the night.

 

Good Friday – The church will be open all day with the celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 3:00 PM.

 

Holy Saturday – 8:00 AM Morning Prayer followed by the Blessing of Food.  The Easter Vigil Mass will be celebrated at 8:00 PM.

Easter Sunday – Mass is celebrated at 7:30 AM, 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM.

Ask for mercy ‘on your knees’

Posted on by Father Cioppi

The story of the Prodigal Son reveals so much the Father’s intense desire to be reconciled with his sons. He is always pursuing them, becoming humble in their arrogance, confident in their doubt and hopeful in their reconciliation.

Jesus’ ministry was often about forgiveness, eating with sinners, forgiving sins publically, gently preaching about His Father’s unbounded mercy.

The Father even offered His Son’s life so we could wake up and hear His voice calling out in love: the cry of welcome, mercy and reconciliation.

Continue reading “Ask for mercy ‘on your knees’” →

Don’t be like the fig tree. Do something to change your life!

Posted on by Father Cioppi

Every person is born for a purpose. The Gospel reveals that we are like fig trees called upon to bear fruit.

In the parable the fig tree has produced no fruit. It is unfortunately wasting space. We can relate this situation to other Gospel images such as the light hidden under a basket, the squandered inheritance, or the salt that has lost its favor.

Each calls the Christian to act on faith and to complete the work Jesus set out to accomplish. If we can sit here today and admit that since last lent nothing has really changed in our living out the virtues, then the Gospel tells us to get on the move. Time is shortening with every breath.

We need to take responsibility for our faith or we will die, not by a sudden tragic event, but from inertia, from our own choice to do nothing, like the fig tree.

 

 

24 Hours for the Lord

Posted on by Jenna Violi

Held on March 4th and 5th, “24 Hours for the Lord” is an initiative of the Holy Father for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  During this time, the faithful will have the opportunity to pray before Jesus in the blessed Sacrament which will be exposed for this purpose.

As we celebrate this special time in our parish, we will begin with the live presentation of “Mary’s Way of the Cross” at 7:00 PM on March 4th. This live version of the Stations of the Cross is presented in Mary’s words.  Nancy Server-Thompson, Music Director at Camilla Hall will play the part of Mary; Sister Anne Phillip will be the narrator.  Our “24 Hours for the Lord” will continue immediately after this program as the Blessed Sacrament is exposed through Saturday at 5:00 PM.  Confessions will be heard on Saturday, March 5th at 4:00 PM.  The Blessed Sacrament will be reposed at 5:00 PM prior to the 5:15 PM Mass. Please be sure to continue your Lenten journey by participating in this special time.

Deacon Mark Dillon’s Homily – First Sunday of Lent

Posted on by Jenna Violi

Happy Lent everyone!  This liturgical season moves us to celebrate, with joy and thanksgiving, the wonderful gift of our salvation.  We often think of Lent as a time to make amends for our shortcomings.  We preform acts of self-discipline (such as giving up sweets or alcohol) in the hope of somehow balancing our spiritual scales with God.  But doing that can be a very humbling and sometimes frustrating endeavor.

If we listen closely to the Lenten scripture readings, we hear a noticeably different tone.  We hear of God’s graciousness in freely giving us the gift of his love and our salvation.  Each of today’s readings assure us of just how much God loves. us.  They motivate us to take a deep look at our life, give thanks to God, and be worthy of the sacrifice Jesus made by giving his life for each of us. Continue reading “Deacon Mark Dillon’s Homily – First Sunday of Lent” →

Deacon Greg Maskarinec’s Homily for the First Sunday of Lent

Posted on by Jenna Violi

On a cross country trip many years ago my brother and I drove through the desert somewhere in the southwestern United States during the month of August. After driving for some time in the desert we stopped, got out of the car and looked around. It was hot…really hot. It was bright…no clouds to shield the burning sun and nothing to create shade except the care and our bodies.  There were no smells in the air.  There were no sounds in the air.  The cold bottles of Aquafina in the cooler seemed to be the only water around as far as we could see.  It was, or it seemed to be, a barren wasteland.  We drove off, disappointed that the desert didn’t offer more.  I’m not sure what we were expecting but whatever it was the desert didn’t meet our expectations.  The desert appeared to be a vast, barren, and uncomfortable wasteland not worthy of our time.

Years later I ran across an article in National Geographic Magazine entitled “Songs of the Sonoran” which is a desert in the southwestern United States.   The article began, “A desert can fool the eye.  A sun-blasted plain of death turns suddenly into a landscape of sound, water and life.” It wasn’t until I read the article that I realized that I had not experienced the realities of the desert and all that it had to offer on our cross-country trip.  Continue reading “Deacon Greg Maskarinec’s Homily for the First Sunday of Lent” →

“From now on you will be catchers of men!”

Posted on by Father Cioppi

In the second reading this morning, Paul summarizes the good news, which he first brought to the Corinthians. It was not news which he had invented but news rather which had first been delivered to him, and it was the news of the risen Lord. It was something that the Corinthians had received. No one ever invented the gospel and in a sense no one ever discovers it on his own. It is something one receives from another.

An old Church Father once wrote: “No one can have God as Father unless he has the Church for his mother.” The Gospel is, the Word received and communicated through fellowship. In the Gospel Peter receives the command of Jesus to ‘go out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’ With faith in the person of Jesus, Peter acts on that word and we witness the results of his faith – from now on, you will be catching men!

Continue reading ““From now on you will be catchers of men!”” →

Listen & See!

Posted on by Father Cioppi

Chiara Lubich in 1943 founded a movement in Italy called (Hearth) “Focolare.” She spread her message of unity in the crucified and abandoned Christ around the world. She gave this insightful meditation on the state of the world:

Humanity suffers from deafness, she said.  It can no longer hear the Word of God through speech because there is too much noise in the world. Parents and children are too busy to listen to Christ’s message. They have no time to listen for ways to heaven. They no longer hear the sounds of people crying or suffering even in their own homes.

Continue reading “Listen & See!” →

Announce a year of favor from the Lord!

Posted on by Father Cioppi

In the Gospel, we are at the beginning of the pastoral ministry of Jesus. He wants to lay out for us the scheme of things so we can understand the context in which he preaches by word and by deed.

He first tells us that it is the Spirit of the Lord that directs Him and has indeed anointed Him. He has anointed Him for a reason and that reason is ‘to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives; recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners.  He is to announce a year of favor from the Lord.’

Continue reading “Announce a year of favor from the Lord!” →

Miracles are events that reveal the mystery of God, John 2:1-11

Posted on by Father Cioppi

Miracles are events that reveal the mystery of God present in the world. The event announces, “God is here!”

When we meditate on the Wedding Feast of Cana, we discover the Face of God in very ordinary ways.

Consider Jesus being invited to a wedding. This must have been a family friend, because Mary was present as well. Maybe it was the son or daughter of one of Joseph’s business associates that Jesus knew well since he was a partner with Joseph as a carpenter.

Continue reading “Miracles are events that reveal the mystery of God, John 2:1-11” →