He is Risen, Alleluia! This weekend is the Second Sunday of Easter, which is also the day we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. The church emphasizes today the magnitude of God’s love and His boundless mercy.
Easter has always entailed choices. People always had to make a decision whether to believe or not to believe. The good news is that even if our first impulse, like Thomas’, is to disbelieve, if we give it a chance, if we are open, just like the sign, we can revise our reading.
Good morning! It's now Holy Saturday, a quiet day that is given us to pray and reflect on the mystery of Christ's suffering and death while we await for His resurrection.
Our Holy Week journal continues. Good Friday: The Six Trials of Jesus As we now know, Jesus was arrested by around 12 midnight. Judas Iscariot led the Jewish leaders and the soldiers to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was praying after the Last Supper. Upon the arrest of Jesus, most of the disciples flee for fear of the Jews. Peter and John secretly followed Jesus.
Blessed Holy Thursday to you! I am writing this early morning to send you a beautiful note that could be of great help to you to make this Holy Thursday holier and fruitful.
May the peace of Christ crucified be with you and your family. We continue on our journal of Jesus’ last days here on earth. As we have learned, Holy Tuesday was a grueling and tiresome day for Jesus. He spent the whole day in the temple teaching and preaching to His followers.
Holy Tuesday Waking up early morning, Jesus started his two-mile walk back to Jerusalem. His intent was to go back to the temple. He wanted to go there maybe to check if the business people, the merchants, money changers, robbers and thieves were back. He was on a mission to spend the whole day in the temple.
May the Blessed peace of Christ crucified be with you and your whole family! During the Holy Week, the Church accentuates a very essential doctrine of our faith, which is the Paschal Mystery: the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
It is good to know that many of you are happy receiving my emails and extremely appreciative, especially the recorded streaming of the concelebrated Mass of Bishop David O’Connell in our very own church in St. Ann last week. Well, you should be excited because you are going to have another concelebrated Mass this Sunday, the 5th Sunday of Lent with the Bishop and myself in our church again.
As we enter this final week before Holy Week the narrative of Jesus’ life on earth builds to a climax. In the Gospels of the last two weeks, Jesus gave water to those who thirsted and light to those who could not see.
Dear Parishioners and Friends, On the Solemnity of Saint Joseph (today, March 19th), it is the custom in some places to bless bread, pastries, and other food and give portions of these items to the poor. We encourage families to do this simple rite in their homes, and whenever possible share our blessings with our neinghbors who are most in need, always of course observing the protocols being imposed during this period of quarantine - social distancing and washing of hands and the like.
In response to this pandemic and in line with our Bishop O’Connell’s latest directives dated March 16, 2020 (please see below) and the guidelines from national and health authorities, the Parish Office of Saint Ann continue to be open BUT with very limited staff only, around 1 to 3 people effective tomorrow, March 17, 2020. Office hours remains from 8:30AM to 4:30PM.
Lord Jesus, at your command, the sick were made well! Come to our aid now, in the midst of the Global spread of the Corona Virus, that we may experience your healing love...continue reading for rest of prayer