Mass of the Lord’s Supper At the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday (7:00 PM) sufficient hosts are consecrated for that Mass and for the next day. These consecrated Hosts remain in a ciborium on the corporal in the center of the altar until the end of Mass, after which they are carried in Solemn Procession to the Altar of Repose, with the priest vested in a Cope and Humeral Veil, and covered with a canopy. The Blessed Sacrament remains in the temporary tabernacle at the Altar of Repose, and the Holy Thursday service concludes with the stripping of all altars except the Altar of Repose. Holy Thursday is a day of exceptional devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and the repository is the center of the love, prayers and aspirations of the faithful. After the Good Friday service, … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2026
The Story of the Palms
It was a common custom in many lands of the ancient Middle East to cover in some way the path of someone thought worthy of the highest honor. In 2 Kings 9:13 Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, was treated to this honor. Each of the four Gospels report that the people of Jerusalem gave Jesus the honor of walking on a covered path. However, in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) we hear that the people lay their garments and cut rushes to place on the street. Only the Gospel of John specifically mentions palms. So what is the significance of the palm? The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and of victory in Jewish tradition, and is treated as such in other parts of the Bible (e.g. Leviticus 23:40 and Revelation 7:9). Based on this significance, the scene of the crowd greeting Jesus by … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – March 29, 2026
It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last. (Lk. 23:44-46) “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion” begins Holy Week. If it has been a while since you have experienced all of the services of Holy Week, consider doing so this year. Commemorating the events of the Lord’s Suffering and Death help us to have a greater understanding of the importance of the Resurrection and Easter Sunday. Jesus had to suffer and die before he rose! On Holy Thursday we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 p.m., which commemorates the … [Read more...]
Annual Good Friday Collection for the Holy Land
Pope Leo has asked our parish (and every parish throughout the world) to support the Pontifical Good Friday Collection, which helps maintain a Christian presence in the Holy Land. Your support helps the Church minister in parishes, provide Catholic schools and other religious education, and preserve the sacred shrines, such as the recent restoration of the Tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The collection helps to support Christians who are the victims of increasing persecution in the midst of broader wars, unrest and instability that threatens to drive them out of the land where Jesus walked. When you contribute to the Pontifical Good Friday Collection, you become an instrument of peace and solidarity with the Christians in the Holy Land. It is our collective privilege … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – March 22, 2026
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” (Jn. 11:21-27) At a recent school Mass, I spoke to the students about fear. I mentioned that I had been afraid of the dark when I was younger, and that I was still scared of snakes now that I am older. And I asked them … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – March 15, 2026
Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”(Jn. 9:39-41) The Gospel this Sunday is about the cure of the “man born blind.” Jesus did so by making clay out of dirt and saliva, by putting the clay on the man’s eyes, and then by instructing the man to wash in the Pool at Siloam. The closing words of this Sunday’s Gospel passage sum up the meaning of the cure of the man born blind. It’s not just a miracle cure of a physical illness. It’s about opening the eyes of … [Read more...]
St. Patrick
March 17, 2026 St. Patrick of Ireland is one of the world’s most popular saints. He was born in Roman Britain in the 5th century. When he was a young boy he was captured by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave to tend sheep. Ireland was a land of druids and pagans but Patrick turned to God for help. In his Confession, he later wrote: After I came to Ireland the love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountains; and I used to get up for prayer before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm, and there was no sloth in me-- as I … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – March 8, 2026
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”(Jn. 4:13-14) Most of us don’t know what it means to be literally “dying of thirst.” We may have used the expression before, but it might just have been a hot July afternoon. I would venture to say that there are very few of us who have gone entire day without something to drink, let alone a week. But to people living in the desert at the time of Jesus, water was something precious. Since rainstorms were few and far in between, water had to be found by digging or collected for storage in cisterns. The idea of a “running stream” was something that would … [Read more...]
Tradition of the St. Joseph Altar
The tradition of a St. Joseph Day altar came to New Orleans from the Italian people of Sicily. During the middle ages, Sicily faced a severe drought, and the people were reduced to eating fava beans, which were usually given to the animals. They prayed for the intercession of St. Joseph, and their prayers were answered: the rains came! In thanksgiving, the people of Sicily developed a tradition to decorate the St. Joseph Altar on the right side of most of their churches (or to make a small private altar at home) with flowers, fruit, candles, wine, fava beans, specially prepared cakes, breads, fish and cookies. Since the Feast of Joseph (March 19) almost always occurs during Lent, no meat is allowed on the altar. The custom of preparing an altar as a symbol of devotion to St. Joseph is … [Read more...]
