Pastor's Corner for Sunday, April 13th 2025, Palm Sunday

[Father Paul]

This is one of the most important weeks of the year in our Catholic faith: our Lord's passion, death and resurrection. I encourage you to join us for any or all of our services this week and next weekend. Here is a brief explanation of what to expect:

• Palm Sunday: This Mass commemorates the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week. At the very beginning of Mass, before the opening hymn, we read from the Gospel describing the event where Jesus is honoured as the "Son of David" as he returns to Jerusalem. Only a few days later, he will be crucified, which makes his entry all the more dramatic. At this Mass, we read the entire Passion narrative from the Gospel.

  
  

• Chrism Mass at the Cathedral (7:30 pm): On Tuesday of Holy Week, all the clergy of the diocese will gather at the cathedral for the Mass of Chrism. The clergy will renew their vows, and the sacred oils we use for baptism and anointing of the sick will be blessed. These oils will be brought forward and presented on Holy Thursday. All are encouraged to attend.

• Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord's Supper (7:00 pm): This Mass celebrates the last supper, the night before He died. At that last supper, He washed his disciples' feet, and we will do the same at St. Alexander. He also instituted the Holy Eucharist, where he changed ordinary bread and wine into His body and blood and asked us to "do this in memory of him," which we do at every Mass. After the last supper, Jesus and His disciples walked to the Garden of Gethsemene where he prayed and was later arrested to be crucified on Good Friday. We honour that journey on Holy Thursday by bringing the consecrated hosts in procession after Mass to the Inspiration Lounge for adoration until midnight. All are welcome to come to Adoration.

  
  

• Good Friday, the Passion of our Lord (3:00 pm): We silently enter the church and read the Passion from the Gospel of John, followed by veneration of the cross. Everyone in the parish can approach the cross and honour his crucifixion and death with a bow or a kiss. We leave the church in silence after communion is distributed.

• Easter Vigil (Saturday at 8:30 pm): This is our most important liturgy of the year. It begins with the blessing of fire and a candlelight service when I sing the excultet, and we read from some of the most important scripture passages in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Then, all the lights go on, and we mark the resurrection of the Lord as the lord of light and life, having defeated death once and for all. Then, at this exact moment, after the homily, I receive seven new members into the catholic faith, either through baptism or a profession of faith. Then, we will all renew our baptismal promises with a procession to the Holy Water font. Mass continues as usual, with coffee after Mass in the Vision Cafe.

• On Sunday morning, Mass continues as usual at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. We can expect many family and visitors, and we rejoice that they are joining us to honour the Lord's resurrection.

I hope you can journey with us for these next few days. They are a journey of suffering and victory over suffering, a journey of fear and a journey of trust. But most of all, it is a journey of faith in the resurrection of Jesus and faith in your own salvation. Have a blessed and happy holy week and easter!