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March 26, 2010
Holy Comforter Parish eNewsletter |
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This Week Holy Week
During Holy Week, there are two special liturgies. On Thursday, April 1, Holy Thursday mass will be celebrated at 7:00 p.m., and on Friday, April 2, the Liturgy of Our Lord's Passion will be celebrated at 7:00 p.m. For more information about Lent at Holy Comforter, visit the Lent 2010 section of the parish Web site. Bulletin The following are highlights from this Sunday's bulletin. To read the entire parish bulletin for March 28, 2010, view the attached PDF file or click here.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION: There are no regular Christian Formation classes on Sunday, March 28th (Palm Sunday) and Sunday, April 4th (Easter Sunday). Classes will resume Sunday, April 11th.
DESIGNATE CCS ON YOUR BISHOP'S APPEAL: If you would like your contributions to the 2010 Bishop's Appeal to return to our local community and assist your fellow parishioners in keeping a Catholic education a viable option for local families, please consider designating "Charlottesville Catholic School" on the appropriate line on your pledge card. Your money will go directly to the "CCS Catholic Education Fund" and provide tuition assistance for qualifying families in our local parishes. Thank you for your continued support of our ministry. EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS NEEDED: As four Eucharistic ministers have left this ministry for various reasons, the need for new ministers at all Masses has become urgent. Please give prayerful thought to volunteering your church service in this way. Training will be provided. If you are interested, please contact Margaret McElroy at 973-6429 or at mdm1909@embarqmail.com.
NEED FOR ALTAR SERVERS: There is a need for Altar Servers for the 5:00 p.m. Saturday Mass. Individuals should be willing to serve 1-2 times per month. Anyone from 9 to 90 should consider this important ministry. Training will be provided. Please call Jim Morrisard at 973-6570 if you are interested.
CANTORS NEEDED: We are in need of additional singers to serve as cantors for the 5:00 p.m. Saturday mass and the 8:30 a.m. Sunday mass. Any interested persons should speak to Bill Polhill, Minister of Music or contact him at gwpolh3@yahoo.com.
ANNUAL DIOCESAN HAITI GATHERING: Thank you again to all who helped host the Diocesan Haiti Gathering on March 20. Those who helped make the day run smoothly include, Judy Zacharias and Bridget Davis and some wonderful young people, Anna, Theresa, Ben, Becca, Maura, Chris and Thomas, as well as Nancy and Paul Dierdorfer, Jim Benedict, John Stack, Joan McDonald & Jerry & Mike from the Knights of Columbus, and Panera Bread for the bagels. WATER PUMP-IRRIGATION PROJECT: This project hopes to enhance the established agrarian economy of the village of our twin parish. Information on the project and on how to donate is available at the Haiti Table on the lower level at St. Thomas or at www.saltadere.org. BI-PARISH HAITI COMMITTEE: To learn more about the Bi-parish committee, please contact Laurie Duncan at Laurie.dncn@gmail.com.
Prayer Intentions The Holy Father's Intentions for March
Missionary: That the Churches in Africa may be signs and instruments of reconciliation and justice in every part of that continent. Pro-Life Prayer Intention That children may witness to their peers about the sanctity of life. The Holy Father's Intentions for April General: That every tendency to fundamentalism and extremism may be countered by constant respect, by tolerance and by dialogue among all believers. Missionary: That Christians persecuted for the sake of the Gospel may persevere, sustained by the Holy Spirit, in faithfully witnessing to the love of God for the entire human race. Pro-Life Prayer Intention That religious, by their consecration, lead many to discover that true freedom is found in obedience. Liturgy Calendar
Devotion
One of the greatest preachers of the early church explains the key penitential practices of Lent-prayer, fasting, and almsgiving or mercy. Saint Peter Chrysologus declares that Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. He shows how prayer, mercy and fasting are one, and they give life to each other. This reading is used by the Roman Catholic Church for the Office of Readings for Tuesday of the 3rd week of Lent and it excerpted from Sermo 43: PL 52, 320, 322. St. Peter Chrysologus was the bishop of Ravenna, Italy in the middle of the 5th century. His sermons were so inspiring that he was given the title "Chrysologus" (Greek for "Golden-worded) and was eventually declared a "Doctor of the Church." For an overview of the Early Church Fathers, click here. There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other. Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself. When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery. Let this be the pattern for all men when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you. Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defense, a threefold united prayer in our favor. Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart. Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving. To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit. When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others. Courtesy of the Crossroads Initiative. At the parish, there is a Stations of the Cross at 6:30 p.m. on the Fridays during Lent from February 26th through March 26th. Lenten Fast and Abstinence Rules Each Catholic is asked to preserve Lent's penitential purpose and character, which begins Ash Wednesday. Therefore:
 Excerpt from the Catechism You shall worship the Lord Your God and Him only shall you Serve, Part 1 The Catechism has an extensive treatment of the Ten Commandments. The first commandment regards our obligation to worship the Lord. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. It is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." 2084 God makes himself known by recalling his all-powerful loving, and liberating action in the history of the one he addresses: "I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." the first word contains the first commandment of the Law: "You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him.... You shall not go after other gods." God's first call and just demand is that man accept him and worship him. 2085 The one and true God first reveals his glory to Israel. The revelation of the vocation and truth of man is linked to the revelation of God. Man's vocation is to make God manifest by acting in conformity with his creation "in the image and likeness of God": There will never be another God, Trypho, and there has been no other since the world began . . . than he who made and ordered the universe. We do not think that our God is different from yours. He is the same who brought your fathers out of Egypt "by his powerful hand and his outstretched arm." We do not place our hope in some other god, for there is none, but in the same God as you do: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 2086 "The first commandment embraces faith, hope, and charity. When we say 'God' we confess a constant, unchangeable being, always the same, faithful and just, without any evil. It follows that we must necessarily accept his words and have complete faith in him and acknowledge his authority. He is almighty, merciful, and infinitely beneficent. Who could not place all hope in him? Who could not love him when contemplating the treasures of goodness and love he has poured out on us? Hence the formula God employs in the Scripture at the beginning and end of his commandments: 'I am the LORD.'" Church History
Mass for Holy Thursday will be celebrated at 7:00 p.m. on April 1st. Introduction Jesus shared the final meal with his disciples, called the Last Supper, on the night before he was crucified. The institution of the Holy Eucharist occurred during this meal, as indicated from the gospel excerpt below: Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26:26-29 RSV) Since Scripture and Tradition tell us that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Jesus shared the important Last Supper with his apostles on a Thursday. The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) seem to suggest that the Last Supper was a Passover Meal. However, John suggests that Jesus was crucified before the Passover Meal, on the Day of Preparation. Perhaps the Last Supper was done in anticipation of the Passover Meal, or was a Kiddush or some other religious meal. The gospel of John does not record the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, while the synoptic gospels do. However, John's gospel records Jesus washing the disciples' feet. Holy Thursday traditions are derived from all four gospels. Thus Holy Thursday, also known as Maundy Thursday, is the Thursday of Holy Week, commemorating the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Ordination. Holy Thursday also celebrates the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, events that took place on the night before Jesus' crucifixion. The Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday begins the Triduum, which is the three-day celebration of the heart of the Christian faith: Christ's death and resurrection. The Paschal Triduum begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and concludes with the Evening Prayer (Vespers) of Easter. Thus the Triduum includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and reaches it high point at the Great Easter Vigil. The name "Maundy" comes from the Latin antiphon Mandatum Novum, i.e. "a new mandate." This new mandate from Jesus is taken from John 13:34: love one another as I have loved you. Various traditions and customs are associated with Maundy Thursday, including the reciting of the creed by Catechumens from memory, the washing of feet, reconciliation of penitents, and the consecration of holy oil (chrism). The modern Western Holy Thursday service has an option for the blessing of chrism and the washing of feet. After the Maundy Thursday evening Mass the altars are stripped, the holy water stoups are emptied, and the Blessed Sacrament is carried through the church in procession to a place of reposition,. Traditionally the Pange Lingua (the last two stanzas which are known as Tantum Ergo) is sung during this procession. Adoration of the blessed sacrament for an extended period of time is then encouraged. The consecrated host is then used for Good Friday Masses. The alternate and uncommon name Shear Thursday comes from the ancient custom of trimming one's beard and hair that day as a sign of spiritual preparation for Easter. History A special commemoration of the Institution of the Eucharist on the Thursday of Holy Week is first attested to in the documents of the North African Council of Hippo (AD 393). References to Holy Thursday celebrations are abundant after this date. Since 1955 in the Catholic Church, the Maundy Thursday Mass is only celebrated in the evening, although in earlier times as many as three Masses a day were said. Traditionally, Maundy Thursday fell within the Lenten Season, although in post-Vatican II Catholic practice, Maundy Thursday is not liturgically a part of Lent, although it is still reckoned as part of the "forty days of Lent." In many Protestant churches, Holy Thursday is still liturgically part of Lent, since many Protestant churches do not recognize the Triduum as distinct from Lent. From ChurchYear.Net Link of the Week Catholic Heritage Curricula
From Catholic Culture. |
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STATIONS OF THE CROSS: On Good Friday, April 2nd, there will be a Stations of the Cross at 2:15 p.m. If you are able to volunteer to be the cross bearer or one of the two candle bearers, please sign up in the Credenza.
PHILOSOPHY CLUB: The Philosophy Club continues to meet the second Sunday of the month at 12:30 p.m. (right after the 11:00 a.m. mass) downstairs in the Bernard Moore Room. All are welcome to join us at our next meeting, April 11th, as we continue to discuss St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, Question II and Question III, Articles 3 and 4, on the existence of God, which can be found online: 
BOOK CLUB NEWS: For the past year, nine members of Holy Comforter have been part of the book club. They met every other month for interesting and faith filled discussions. Are you interested in joining them? If you are please contact Therese Stong (296-9961, 
PANTRY: With the coming of warm weather many of those who have been depending on us for supplemental food are hoping for seasonal employment. But even if 25% of those who come to us find jobs, that still leaves a lot of people for us to help. Please continue your generous pantry donations.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE GATHERING: As twinned parishes from across the Diocese assembled to share the admiration, concern, love and prayers for the people of Haiti, we were struck by the eloquence of Bishop Simon Pierre Saint-Hillien, Bishop of Hinche. Bishop Saint-Hillien and fellow keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Maguire of Trinity Washington University, stressed the need for Haiti to develop its Agrarian Economy. They also encouraged the decentralization of resources and government functions. The capital, Port-au-Prince, should not be the only place to seek employment, to interact with the government or to obtain a university education.
IMPACT: Although Holy Comforter did not meet its attendance goal at the Nehemiah Assembly, parishioners and their friends and neighbors who attended heard positive results both in the areas of interpretive services and preschool education. There is more to be done, but there has been a good start.
General: That the world economy may be managed according to the principles of justice and equity, taking account of the real needs of peoples, especially the poorest.
