March 21, 2021 - Fifth Sunday of Lent - Passion Sunday
March19,2021
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
These last two weeks of Lent have been traditionally known as Passiontide. In the Ordinary Form there is only one Passion Sunday, which is Palm Sunday. In the Extraordinary Form there are two Passion Sundays: this week on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, and next week on Palm Sunday. A widespread custom is to cover all crosses and statues until the end of Holy Week. This custom is mandatory in the Extraordinary Form, optional in the Ordinary Form. This was done in all parishes at one time as I well remember in the parish where I grew up. I recall asking why we did this. The response was so that we could more fully focus on the Passion and Death of Our Lord. Again and again we must take in the Greatest Story ever told. We must own our Redemption in Jesus Christ our Savior.
Down through the centuries our Holy Mother the Church has called out to the faithful to focus on the Paschal Mystery, which means primarily the Lord’s Death and Resurrection, but also all that the Lord did to accomplish our salvation. So during these last days of Lent step aside with the Lord to stand at the foot of His cross and there weep for your sins. There the Mystery of the Cross is revealed to those who ask in humble faith. There at the foot of the cross is a particular message for each soul that dare ask. Are you ready? Open your heart to Him, who gave His all for you in His Most Sacred Heart. Ask Mary our Mother to walk the Stations of the Cross with you in your life, so that you may more fully enter the great mystery of our redemption in Christ. Pray for the attitude that St. Paul describes in his letter to the Philippians: “For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
Jesus, for Thee I live! Jesus, for Thee I die! Jesus, I am Thine in life and in death! Amen
Yours in Our Lord and Our Lady, Fr. Mark G. Mazza, Pastor