Homilies
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Join Archbishop José Gomez in a national moment of prayer on Good Friday.Family Activity for Tuesday of Holy Week: Decorating Easter eggs! #holyweekathome @sdfamilylife
TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
Today we reflect on Isaiah 49:6.
When I was seven, I was at a home improvement store with my dad, buying paint supplies. He handed me a list of things we’d need, along with a pen. He asked that I mark off items as we gathered them. It was a simple but essential task, perfectly suited for my limited, second-grade ability to assist with this errand. I followed him to the paint counter and watched, enthralled, as the colors were mixed and the can was pounded shut. The employee handed it over to my dad, who looked down at me. “What’s next?” he asked.
I looked at the heavy can housing the freshly mixed paint and then down at the scrap paper and pen I was holding. For some reason, carrying the paint struck me as a more valuable task than managing the list of supplies. I requested a switch of duties. My dad refused, explaining that the can was too heavy, but I was insistent. He eventually gave in and let me try. I didn’t make it ten steps before the weight of the can proved to be too much, and I dropped it. The pressure unleashed the cap, sending the paint out into a massive puddle in the center of the aisle. My determination to do it my way ended up leading to disaster.
Years later, not much has changed. I still frequently assign myself duties the Lord never intended for me. In the process, I neglect the unique and perfectly suited vocation I was created to fulfill. When I’m open to the movement of the Spirit and my place in God’s plan, it isn’t difficult to recognize my own responsibilities and crosses. Whatever is not mine to bear, may I surrender to God’s infinite wisdom and work of salvation.
—Elizabeth Pardi
In Holy Week, during the Sacred Triduum, there is actually only one mass and it is celebrated over 3 days - it begins on Holy Thursday, continues through the passion on Good Friday and concludes with the Easter vigil. It is an extended recounting and celebration of the Paschal Mystery, and the highest of holy days in our faith.
Holy Thursday ~ MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
Pray the Mass with us online at 7pm
Break bread together at home. You can share it together as a remembrance of Jesus and an expression of agape love each day when you pray the mass of holy week.
(You can make a simple unleavened bread together or use any bread on hand)
How can we follow Jesus’s example of service?
Good Friday ~ THE PASSION OF THE LORD
Pray the liturgy with us online at 1pm
Venerate the cross in your home.
(Choose a cross in your home and put it in a place of honor, any size cross will do, from your rosary to a wall cross) During the liturgy or on your own, pass the cross to each other, bow before the cross and give thanks to the Lord.
Pray for the needs of the world.
Holy Saturday ~ GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER
Hear the scriptures of salvation history and pray the mass with us online at 7pm
Light a candle. Place it by the cross from Good Friday.
(A white candle is traditional as a symbol of holy baptism but any candle will do, it’s flame is a reminder to keep the flame of our faith burning bright)
Renew your baptismal promises together during the mass; Share the story of your faith
Easter Sunday ~ THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD
Happy Easter
Celebrate with Mass online at 9am
Place flowers at your cross and light the candle. Break bread and Celebrate the Feast!
Christ the Lord is Risen Today!
Alleluia Alleluia
Graphic by #faithandfamilycollective
Thank you to all our Sacred Heart family for your support and diligence in practicing social distancing and every safeguard as we battle this pandemic. This Holy Week will be like no other. We are fortunate that we can pray these holy days together via livestream. We know that indeed we are the church and so together we bear the heart of God to the world. God bless you and keep you and your loved ones safe as you shelter at home. Link for all livestream services: sacredheartcor.org/worship/live-broadcast/
“I don’t want to make a distinction between believers and nonbelievers. We are all human beings and as human beings we are all in the same boat. And no human thing must be alien to a Christian. Here we cry because we suffer. All of us. What helps us is synergy, mutual collaboration, the sense of responsibility and the spirit of sacrifice that is generated in many places. We don’t have to make a distinction between believers and nonbelievers, let’s go to the root: humanity. Before God we are all children”.
Pope Francis in an interview March 28, 2020
#together #stayhomestaysafe
A few more beautiful Palm Sunday shares. Blessed Holy Week. #newtraditionatsacredheartcor
#StayHomeStaySafe
#domesticchurch
Today’s reflection from Pray as you go. Imagine the love of Mary, the attitude of Judas, and the young John who is watching it all play out. Listen to the prayer of St. Teresa.
prayasyougo.org
Daily prayer whenever you need it. Ignatian inspiration, Jesuit Prayer on the goA Blessing for all our healthcare workers:
You, the one in the scrubs,
The one breathing in a mask meant for a moment but kept all day,
Guarding gloves like gold.
You, the one who peels off your clothes like onion skin at the end of your shift
To keep your house safe from microscopic hitchhikers,
To keep your home a sanctuary.
You, essential one,
Caretaker of our community;
Self-isolating, sanity-doubting, hand scrubbing,
angry and hungry, giddy and tired,
helpful and hopeful and scared, all in a whirl.
This blessing is meant for you.
It’s a hard-won blessing,
An awkward online offering of our very real hearts,
A tumbling gratitude that bursts from our balconies,
scribbled in signs of thanks pressed against the hospital windows.
We are hoping you can hear us from our many separate rooms,
Calling down a blessing on your head, your hands,
into all of the alveoli in your lungs
where oxygen and pathogen might meet.
We bless your stubborn faith in life,
your willingness to walk toward trouble,
your intolerance of unnecessary death,
your impatience with our slow understanding.
We bless your families,
who keep watch over your comings and goings and hold your humanity in safekeeping.
We bless all of you, the whole of you,
from the head surgeon to the brand new nurse,
the night shift janitor and the laid-off clinic staff.
May you be safe, may you be well, may you be healed and held as you heal and hold others. May you know that you are loved.
Written by Rev. Julia Hamilton
Holy Week, Monday: Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem
This strange Holy Week has begun in tears: tears of frustration, tears of lament, and for so many bereaved, tears of grief. It's hard to see through tears, but sometimes its the only way to see. Tears may be the turning point, the springs of renewal, and to know you have been wept for is to know that you are loved. 'Jesus Wept' is the shortest, sharpest, and most moving sentence in Scripture.
I have a God who weeps for me, weeps with me, understands to the depths and from the inside, the tears of things.
JESUS WEPT
Jesus comes near and he beholds the city
And looks on us with tears in his eyes,
And wells of mercy, streams of love and pity
Flow from the fountain whence all things arise.
He loved us into life and longs to gather
And meet with his beloved face to face
How often has he called, a careful mother,
And wept for our refusals of his grace,
Wept for a world that, weary with its weeping,
Benumbed and stumbling, turns the other way,
Fatigued compassion is already sleeping
Whilst her worst nightmares stalk the light of day.
But we might waken yet, and face those fears,
If we could see ourselves through Jesus' tears.
Reflection & Sonnet: Malcolm Guite
Art: Enrique Simonet - Flevit super illam - 1892
