6th Sunday in Lent

Palm Sunday

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Did you ever notice that no part of the Paschal Triduum is a holy day of obligation? It’s as though our annual celebration of the paschal mystery is too important to require obligatory participation. Rather, it is presented as a three-day event in which all Catholics want to participate. When is the focus of the liturgy more intense than? When else do we wash feet in church, celebrate something other than Mass as our principal liturgy, or make fire and water central elements of our worship? People of all ages can experience the richness of our Catholic tradition. I encourage you to participate in our liturgies this week, and I ask you to maintain a reverential silence in church until the conclusion of the Easter Vigil. Above all, I look forward to praying with you.

This Tuesday the clergy ministering in the archdiocese will gather at Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral to celebrate the Mass of the Chrism, at which Archbishop Pilarczyk will bless the oils to be used in congregations throughout the archdiocese, and at which the priests will renew their commitment to service. Few Catholics would contest the point that our Church is overly male and overly clerical in its leadership. Most of your bishops, priests, and deacons, however, with all their sins and quirks, and for all the dysfunctionality of the system, are good men who sincerely want and try to serve God’s people. Please pray for us this Tuesday.

Aside from participating in this week’s liturgies, I won’t be having much contact with you this month. I take off for Italy and Ireland the day after Easter, and I won’t be back at Saint Leonard until Saturday afternoon, April 25.

Peace and every blessing,
Loren, OFM