Next Sunday will be Palm Sunday, the beginning of the most solemn week of our Church year. We will be blessing and distributing palm at both of our Sunday liturgies. For the 5:15 PM Mass on Saturday evening and the 10:30 AM Mass on Sunday morning, we will invite the entire congregation to gather outside for the blessing of Palm After the palm is blessed we will then have our solemn procession into church where we will continue our Liturgy.

In our procession with the palms, we commemorate Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday many years ago. We walk with Him and acclaim Him "Lord and Savior", just as His friends and supporters did the week before He died. As we process, we acknowledge Jesus’ presence in our own Christian journey and pledge our support and fidelity to Him in our daily living.

Pal Sunday is also the day on which we traditionally read the Gospel account of the passion and death of Jesus. Through a prayerful reflection on the reading of the Passion, we become more conscious of how much Jesus suffered personally because of His love for His Father and His love for us. We also unite our own sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus. In this way we begin to set the stage for the celebration of that one great event that we celebrate on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday . . . .

the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the source of our Redemption.

This year, with the ongoing unrest in Iraq and the Middle East, the terrorist attack in Madrid, we have an ever deeper need for God’s grace and God’s peace. We ask the Lord to guide world leaders to quickly and justly resolve this unending conflict in Iraq and all other troubled places in the world. We pray for the safety of our armed forces, the protection of all innocent people and eternal rest for those who have died.

As your pastor, I join with Bishop DeSimone, Father Hamilton, Father Russell DeSimone, Sister Mary Sarah, Sister Eileen Marie and all the members of our parish staff in asking you to give serious consideration to your participation in the Holy Week ceremonies. By taking part in these most sacred celebrations, you will grow in your appreciation and your experience of the love that God has for you. By this time, you all should have received a schedule for Holy Week in the mail.

For those who wish to receive the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation before Easter, Confessions will be heard next Saturday afternoon, April 3^rd, at 4:00 PM These will also be a Penance Service at St. John Vianney Church on Wednesday evening, April 7^th, at 7:30 PM. Mark your calendar so that you can take advantage of these graced opportunities that the Lord offers all of us during Holy Week.

Have a good week ahead. God bless you all.