On Tuesday, the clergy of the Diocese gathered for an afternoon of prayer before the Chrism Mass that evening. We do this every year in preparation for Holy Week. I always look forward to spending some time away with priests, praying together and learning from a reflection given by one of our brother priests. Over the years we have had many great insights from the wisdom of many of the priests.
This year the reflection was by Fr. Mattias, one of the Carmelites Friars from East San Jose. The Carmelite Monastery sits on the East San Jose hills. Few of us have ever been there since they are still a cloistered community, we have rarely seen those priests even though they pray for us every day. The young priest who gave the reflection leads their vocations office. He gave some thought-provoking reflections on the power of prayer and why we as priests need to persist in our prayer lives and teach others how to pray. His holiness and simplicity both touched me and challenged me at every level of my being.
At first, I found his challenges to be disconnected from the busy work of us priests in the parish but when I prayed about it later that night, I realized how easily the Evil One gets us priests to be busy and distracted even about the good ministry we do! The challenge to us was to remember we are more human “beings” and less human “doings,” and focus on being present to each other as brother priests, to our parishioners, and to God. “Return to God with all your heart.” Yes, it was a worthy challenge even if a little uncomfortable at first. We closed our afternoon by going to confession and preparing our hearts for the Holy Week.
Later that evening, we gathered with lay leaders and parishioners from all over the diocese at the Cathedral for our annual Chrism Mass. This is where we bless the holy oils that will be used throughout every parish in the diocese for the rest of the year. I always love this celebration as we gather as the Body of Christ from all parishes and pray for strength for another year of ministry. We priests, renew our promises to serve the Church again and remain obedient to the bishop and the Church’s teachings. It is a beautiful liturgy that transports us to another place. With the smell of the incense and oils, it brings me back to my ordination day when I first made those promises and vowed to serve Christ and his Church for the rest of my life. Funny how smells and sounds can move us so easily.
I recently read an article about the olfactory system in the body and how it can amazingly distinguish between millions of different odors and create associations with unique odors. A single whiff of a particular scent can bring us back to the very location where we first experienced that scent. I know that is true for me. When I smell freshly cut grass, it transports me back to my days in Ireland as a child praying rugby in the freshly cut grass fields of spring. When I bake my own Irish soda bread, the fresh aroma of home-baked bread brings me back to my mother’s kitchen (that’s partly why I love baking my own Irish soda bread.) Smells can bring us back to fond memories. This weekend, we will return to the use of incense at all Masses, and we will be using it for all of Holy Week. I am hoping it will carry you back to good memories. As the sweet scent of the incense fills the church, allow yourself to go back to times past and recall them with affection. I am also hoping that it will create good memories for your children and expose them to the beauty of “smells and bells” of our liturgies to come alive.
With that fond memory, I encourage you and your family to attend in person to all our Holy Week celebrations. Here is the Holy Week schedule. We start with Palm/Passion Sunday where we dress in red and remember Jesus’ passion and death after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Please bring your Rice Bowl boxes back and put them in the offering baskets. Christine Moore, parishioner and school parent, will share her testimony of the preciousness of time and explain how dark times can be our friend if we allow them during the 4 minutes. On Monday at 7pm, please attend the Parish Communal Reconciliation Service. We have invited several priests to join us so it will go fast. I can attest to the power of communal celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation as we priests just celebrated it together. It feels great to be washed clean again. Come and get your soul cleansed for Holy Week.
On Holy Thursday at 7:00pm, I especially encourage you to join us for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper where we will have an opportunity to wash each other’s feet and follow the Lord’s call to “do as he has done for us.” That Mass will be followed by an evening of quiet meditation before the blessed sacrament at the Altar of Repose in the Parish Center Gym until midnight. It will be beautifully decorated to foster silent prayer. Come spend an hour or 30 minutes with the Lord in silence. It is always a powerful experience.
On Good Friday at 12 noon and 7:00pm, we celebrate the Good Friday veneration of the cross and reception of the communion. The liturgy team does a phenomenal job proclaiming the Passion narrative in dramatic fashion. At the Easter Vigil on Saturday at 8:00pm, we will have the extended liturgy of the word sharing our salvation history and concluding with the baptism and initiating of our newest members of our community. While it is a large liturgy, it is the most beautiful liturgy of the year, and all our choirs are coming together to share different parts. Please join us and welcome our new members at the reception following Mass.
On Easter Sunday, we encourage you to bring your families and friends with you. We will recognize where everyone is visiting from at the beginning of every liturgy. Please greet visitors and introduce yourself to the people around and get to know their names. We need all the help we can get to welcome people back; many have not been here since COVID times. I am hoping that you can give your prayer stone to one of the people you have prayed for during the Lenten journey and tell them you prayed for them. It is a powerful Easter gift to give them—a prayer stone! It’s Donut Sunday this Sunday so I look forward to seeing you there and many times in the days ahead!
God Bless,
Fr. Brendan