Today is Palm Sunday. This is the day that we enter into Holy Week: the week when we enter Jerusalem with Christ, experience the Last Supper, go with Him to the garden to pray, and ultimately walk with Him to Calvary. It is an emotional and beautiful week that demonstrates God's wonderful love for us. We were created by God out of love, FOR love. Even though we fell from grace and are sinners, He had a plan to redeem us, and it was a plan that He had from the very beginning. This plan is summed up as Salvation History and it plays out through the entire Bible. It is good to reflect on God's divine plan for our salvation, particularly during Holy Week. It helps us to understand that moment on the cross on Good Friday; it helps us to understand the glorious gift of Easter. The following is a 20 minute video slideshow using music, art and Scripture to take you on a journey through Salvation History. From the creation and fall, through the Old Testament prophets, to the death and resurrection of Jesus, it is a beautiful reflection on God's divine plan for us. So, during this most Holy of weeks, take a moment to sit back and reflect on God's love and His plan for us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
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Over the last several years, we have made great strides in bringing the three parishes of LaPorte together in proclaiming Christ and our Catholic Faith. Much has been initiated by YOU as groups and ministries have chosen to merge together to better fulfill their mission. So many false barriers that in the past kept us from worshiping and ministering together have come down. I believe we are better for it. I have asked a diverse group of parishioners to come together as an ad hoc advisory committee. This Unity Committee has been tasked to continue the process of bringing us together as one parish family. They are working to ensure that we are focused on our Mission of proclaiming Christ and not stuck in a rut or status quo. One of the fruits of the committee is the new parish logo being presented here. This Logo proclaims both our diversity and our unity. Important symbols from each church have been incorporated into one logo to show how we have come together but yet also proclaim our unique identities.
I think you will find our new Logo to be beautiful and beautifully symbolic of who we are. This is a step in the continuing process we have been undergoing over these past years. My hope/dream is for our Catholic Parish to be united in such a way that celebrates our diverse history and traditions and provides a foundation on which we can build for the future. Blessings, Fr. Ian Since Adam and Eve fell from Grace long ago, we have never been the same: we all suffer from the pain and sorrow of sin. But we have been given a healing remedy: the Sacrament of Confession. Jesus gave us this wonderful gift to help heal our broken human nature and protect it against the wiles of sin and of the devil. We are in possession of a tremendous fortune with this wonderful Sacrament. Will you but come and claim it?
Meditation:
In our Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Jesus speaks about "the kind of death he would die (Jn. 12:33)." In less than two weeks we will celebrate Good Friday, the day of the Lord's Passion. We have been preparing for the Triduum throughout the whole of Lent, but the readings for this Sunday are clearly directed at the upcoming Good Friday, not just the spirit of Lent. When we hear of St. Joseph we don’t often stop to think about who he really was. A lot of the time our mind instantly rushes to think of the Nativity at Christmas or a statue we see in Church. But this year in the Church is a special one. It isn’t often that we have the feast of Saint Joseph in the month of Saint Joseph in the year of Saint Joseph, but in 2021, this is the case! Pope Francis has declared this year the Year of Saint Joseph, the month of March is dedicated to him, and March 19th is his feast day. This is a perfect year to discover who St. Joseph, the man, really was.
Meditation:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (John 3:16)." This is probably the most famous Bible verse of all time. When one contemplates its incredible meaning, it is no wonder that it is so well-known. This single Bible verse contains the Kerygma of our faith. The Kerygma is the central Gospel message and comes from the Greek word which means preaching. Celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph. Information about the
Novena (Spanish) and Mass (bilingual) below... Celebrar la fiesta de San José. Información sobre la Novena (español) y Misa (bilingüe) a continuación... Meditation:
" 'Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.' " These words spoken by Jesus in our Gospel for this Third Sunday of Lent sounded impossible to the people of Jesus' time. The beautiful and immense Temple of the Lord had taken forty-six years to build; Christ's proposal to rebuild it from ruins in three days was unbelievable. The Apostles themselves did not understand these words until after Christ's Resurrection. Do we understand them? When we think of the lives of the Saints, we are tempted think of them as stories - maybe good stories - but really more fictitious, even if they have a good lesson to teach. Especially the saints of the early Church. Saints Perpetua and Felicity, third century martyrs, shatter that narrative. Because we have the diary of St. Perpetua, we can see through her words what it was like to be a prisoner for her faith during the times of Roman persecution.
A beautiful and rich tradition in the Catholic Church is to walk with Jesus on His way to the crucifixion every Friday during Lent. It is a difficult walk, a humbling walk, a walk that reminds us of His immeasurable love for us and the great sacrifice that He made for EACH ONE OF US. The Knights of Columbus, Council #1542 in LaPorte, have made it possible for us to participate in this walk this year. They have filmed the Stations of the Cross in both English and Spanish and you are invited to participate here. Take a moment on your Fridays this Lenten season to walk the way of the cross with Our Lord. |
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