This year's procession from Seabright to Rumson across the Shewsbury River was the biggest yet! Thank you to those who joined us for this public profession of our faith. Here is some video of the procession.
Mass today is typically in the evening hours, The Mass of the Lord's Supper. Every mass takes its form from the Last Supper, but tonight's mass marks the end of the Lenten season and begins the Sacred Triduum, (three days) of the Easter Mystery.
We usually think of Jesus' Two Commandments, to God and love neighbor, but Maundy Thursday is a shortened form of "commandment" or "sending" Thursday. When Jesus washed the disciples' feet, he set and example and told us to go and do likewise.
Please join us as we begin the Triduum at Holy Cross Church - three continuous days of grace-filled liturgies. The Mass of The Lord's Supper begins at 7 PM.
After communion, we will process with the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose in the chapel where it may be worshipped until Night Prayer at 11 PM.
By tradition, this day has been called Spy Wednesday because in today's gospel, the betrayal of Judas is related and his payment of 30 pieces of silver.
Today is a good day, not only to reflect on Jesus' generosity toward us, but to cherish true friends in our lives.
May we honor and trust our friendships with others and never betray them with needless gossip, tweets, twitters or worse - especially for a few more so-called friends on Facebook.
Thank you to all who joined in our procession from Seabright to the 10:30 AM Mass in Holy Cross. It was a blustery morning, but we avoided some of the light rain which fell throughout the morning and early afternoon.
What a perfect start to Holy Week! Please join us for one of the Holy Week Liturgies on Holy Thursday, Good Friday or the Easter Vigil Mass. Please pray for our priests as we gather Monday evening with our bishop to bless the Holy Oils and the renew our priestly commitment.
Join us tomorrow as we process from Seabright to Rumson for our Annual Palm Sunday Procession. We will gather for the blessing of the Palms in Seabright, followed by a procession to the 10:30 AM Mass at Holy Cross. The weather looks promising and it is always a brisk and joyful walk as we proclaim our faith. It is the perfect start of Holy Week.
Our Palm Sunday Procession is an exciting and colorful profession of our faith. Join us for the procession across the bridge. We will assemble in Sea Bright and begin our procession at 10:15 AM for the 10:30 AM Sunday Mass in Holy Cross Church.
Three Blesseds are on the Roman Calendar this morning. Cardinal Bishop Clemens von Galen, Blessed Marian Gorecki and Blessed Bronislaw Komorowski. Fathers Gorecki and Komorowski are numbered among the 108 Catholic martyrs of WWII so recognized by John Paul II ( The group comprises 3 bishops, 52 priests, 26 members of male religious, 3 seminarians, 8 female religious, and 9 lay people ).
They spoke out against the evils of Nazism, prior to and just after the invasion of Poland by the Germans in WWII. Gorecki and Komoroski were arrested and imprisoned the day of the invasion and died in concentration camps. Well before the Nazis began the genocidal "final solution," Bishop von Galen went on to preach several powerful sermons against the Nazis, condemning especially their euthanasia program for invalids and those who suffered from mental illness. He spent the war under virtual house arrest.
Speaking our against God seemingly few consequences in this life, but dare we speak out against the prevailing tide of popular opinion? Blasphemy against God is tolerated, even encouraged in our culture; speaking up in God's favor brings censure and condemnation.
Even though the predicted temperatures for this evening do not call for freezing, it seems best to cancel formal adoration this evening since our school has been closed. The church will not be locked until after 7 PM.
Don't travel to morning mass if a Snow Emergency is declared overnight.
St. Joseph's Oratory on Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec is worth a trip. It was begun by Brother Andre Bessett, recently declared a saint, in gratitude to St. Joseph for the many miracles wrought through St. Joseph's intercession while Brother Andre was porter for his religious community at Holy Cross.
An investigative journalist once eagerly asked a desert monk who spends most of the day in prayer, these questions:
Reporter: "Does God speak with you?"
Monk: "Why? He has already said everything."
Reporter: "Don't you speak with God?"
Monk: "I don't pray to speak with God. I pray to feel God."
Good to ponder as we pray during Lent.
We might get the impression from today's reading in which Moses pleaded mercy for the Israelites, that we too need to change God's mind toward mercy. Moses used two good arguments for God: you promised, and you'll look confused about your plan.
Since Jesus offered Himself for our salvation and took all our sins upon Himself, we needn't plead for God's mercy, although our contrition should be heartfelt and sincere, we simply need to express our sorrow and ask.
Call, Write or Email Congress This Week for
Conscience Protection Act
We call on all the faithful to pray and to act by emailing and calling Congress in the coming week especially on Monday, March 12 with the message that enacting the Conscience Protection Act is urgently needed to protect Americans from being forced to violate their deeply held convictions about respect for human life. Your calls and emails to your Members of Congress really do make a difference, so please act now to protect conscience rights!"
Members of Congress can be reached by calling the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and asking to be connected with your representative or senator.
Or you can email and call your Members of Congress quickly and easily at Notify Congress.
The USCCB has also created a YouTube channel video and Facebook.com/USCCB.
For additional information and videos featuring nurses who were forced by their employers to choose between their jobs and participating in abortions go to www.usccb.org/conscience.
Clear sky and beautiful weather without much wind made for a perfect banner carrying day - a blessing for us with our Irish Saints Banners for Rumson Borough's Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Thanks to all our marchers and banner-bearers for supporting the parish's contingent.
Whether you cheer along the line of march, or join with the contingent of our own parishioners who will be carrying the Irish Saints Banners from our windows, come enjoy the sunshine and the joy!
Blessed St. Patrick
We your spiritual sons and daughters
Remember the courage
With which you proclaimed
The Catholic faith throughout Ireland.
We ask you to inspire us
With the same courage
To witness our faith
To our own land.
You made the shamrock
A sign of the most wondrous
Mystery, The Holy Trinity.
Through your intercession
May this Trinity
Protect all who march
Under its banner
And give glory and honor
To God’s name
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Gratitude to so many for so much: to Pope Francis and Bishop O'Connell for the opportunity to participate in the world-wide worship of Christ, our Lord; to the parishioners who so graciously and readily signed up for prayer hours before the Blessed Sacrament; to our parish staff for their organization of the prayer times, setting up the hospitality spread, and keeping a prayerful quiet in the church for worship.
There was a steady stream of adorers both day and night. Penitents' most recent confessions ranged from days to decades.
There is an expression, sometimes attributed to Voltaire, "I wholly disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Removing certain words from public discourse or silencing debate all together is a powerful way to manipulate not only language, but ideas. The civility Voltaire advocated is gone. "Hate speech" has been defined by some groups as ideas with which they disagree.
In a pluralistic society, we must expect to hear some views with which we disagree, and as long as the speech does not incite violence, or diminish the intrinsic dignity of persons should be tolerated in a healthy democratic climate. This includes speech of religious belief and the moral values we hold as a nation.
Pope Francis has added a Marian celebration to the calendar of the church: Mary, Mother of the Church to be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost Sunday.
Holy Cross created a window entitled "Mary, Mother of the Church" for the North Transept Rose Window. It consists of a central representation of Mary with the Infant Jesus, emphasizing her maternity, surrounded by representations of the 12 apostles and the 4 evangelists.
After yesterday's storm, complete with thunder-snow, the sun was shining brightly today and so I snapped this picture.
We may be put off as was Naaman the Syrian by the simplicity of our Lenten practices for holiness:
Pray, Fast, Give Alms.
It's not complicated,
but it's not easy.