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Fr. EJ Reflections

“Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia”, Easter Sunday Gospel Reflection By Fr. Efren Jimnez, OFM

Once again, we hear this beautiful and most solemn strain! Like an outburst, it lifts us up to the realm where God reigns triumphantly. It is a victory song of the great assembly in heaven before the throne of the exalted Lord (Rev. 19).

We are truly an Easter people!

Easter is, however, a momentous experience beyond human words! Even those who were first witnesses did not manage too well to explain in words what that event was, that so completely changed their lives and their perceptions.

We, too, in Holy Eucharist and community also eat and drink with the risen Christ are hard pressed to give an account of the hope that is in us, and the basis of that blissful hope.

The rich symbolism of the Easter Vigil (Creation Stories, Liberation, hope of the covenanted people) speaks powerfully enough with their symbolism. Thus, the kindling of new fire, blessing of water, the lighting of candles, the radiance of new garment (for those to be baptized), the haunting melody of the Exultet, the midnight timing – are all themselves so elegant, so powerful, we can pause and feel that Christ’ victory is indeed multivalent.

Easter symbolism is so rich that our Christian worship attains its highest form of recognizing God’s absolute transcendence as Creator-Redeemer savior.

Easter message is summed up in one word-life! Life, this profound, sacred, joyful, gracious, divine, peaceful, tender gift is nonetheless vulnerable. It is the law of life that life is poured out, unfinished, disrupted. Easter then becomes a promise of hope for everyone, who seek eternal life.

1. Easter is Jesus’ faithfulness to the Father.
Jesus was an impressive witness to God because he would not allow his heart to be put to death. It was not the torment of the body of Jesus but the aliveness of his heart which is the sign of his faithfulness. The sacrifice of Jesus thus becomes the bread and wine by which the spirit of man is nourished.

2. What is this life which Jesus gives in his Resurrection?
It is the life that comes from his blood. When the soldier pierced his heart with a lance, St. John wrote: “blood and water flows from his side.” The blood of Christ poured out to give us spiritual birth. We receive this at the fountain of the Church and Sacraments. There God pours out his substance. We are enlivened to seek out such grace in his life-giving word. Jesus poured out to us “a last supper of infinite sharing together with the empty loneliness of the cross and tomb”.

Happy Easter to all!
Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay!

About Fr. EJ and his reflections…

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SYA

29th SYA Weekend Retreat (March 13-15, 2015) By Mara Boquiren

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People find themselves attending our retreat for different reasons. Many come to deepen or restore their relationship with God. Others are there to find respite, gain clarity, or join a faith family. Some were compelled by a friend or relative to be there.

Whatever their reason for joining, they finish the retreat consistently receiving far more than they hoped for.

Such was the case at the recent 29th SYA Weekend. 24 young adults from around Metro Manila emerged from the retreat refreshed, renewed, and riding on a spiritual high. They were led by this Weekend’s Team A, who served as facilitators and speakers: Javier Gomez, Karina Escano, Pisha Banaag, Stephen Ang, Ellen Tabios and Hani Roa. Team A gave some of the most powerful talks I’ve heard in my life. They were very brave to have shared what they did – all for the benefit of our community. SYAers and retreat participants alike were deeply moved by them.

Here’s what some participants had to say about their retreat:
I met so many wonderful people this weekend that my heart is full of joy and love and I just want to say thank you God for bringing them into my life! You guys are awesome! – Sabina Santiago

My biggest takeaway from the 29th Weekend was that I realized that I’m now in a space of being happy and grateful for what’s happening in my life now. How the topics were arranged was perfect plus the openness and vulnerability of the speakers made us share more about ourselves with complete strangers. These strangers are now good friends and I can consider them as family. I am beyond grateful for the SYA Weekend experience and for the gift of friendship and family! – Argel Tiburcio

An opportunity to reflect on scriptural passages and witness how it affects the lives of others through their sharing. The sharing of fellow participants inspired me by their strengths and reminded me of humility and understanding by their weaknesses knowing that each of us have our own crosses to bear. – Joel Tirona

The Weekend started as decision to keep a promise made to my best friend but by the time Sunday rolled around, it was so much more than that. It was one of only two transformative processes I’ve ever gone through in my life and I am so grateful that I took the leap of faith that was needed of me. Taking a leap of faith requires courage and will, trust and openness; and the people I spent my Weekend with made it easier. They also made it infinitely worthwhile. –Madi Belen

Operations were run by Team B heads Alla Raval and Brian Medina. Workshoppers were our SYA Council: Vic Rufino, Shelli Tomacruz, Marly Laraya, Caran Zuluaga, LM Zuluaga, Mike Yuson, Oskie Dolendo, Pabs Suarez, Simon Villalon, Tricia Monsod, and Voltaire Tayag. Food was provided by Melo’s catering, care of Caron and Paul Macasaet as well as the generous donations of SYA members.

What is the Weekend Retreat?
The retreat itself is beautiful.

It starts out on a Friday night with a group of strangers (ages 21-39) of different backgrounds. Most of them with no idea of what’s to come. They are eased into the rhythm of the retreat by 6 SYA leaders, whom we refer to as Team A. The participants are then led through a sequence of talks, prayers and sharing sessions that unravel their minds, hearts and spirits.

Over the next 2 days, they come to terms with who they are and all that separate them from God.

It may be hard to imagine how a retreat that lasts only a little over 2 days can have such a profound impact on a person’s life. But this truly does happen to our participants – whether or not they’ve detected it. As you can see from their responses above, they finish with a mixed bag of emotions and realizations. Filled to the brim with joy, hope, and love.For most, the effect is immediate. For others, it takes just a bit longer. This only underscores the potency of the experience.

What is a faith family?
A faith family is exactly that. A family with whom we share our faith, values, time, and love for God. Our bond as a family is forged through serving our community and ministering tothe sick, needy, and imprisoned.

Why would you want to be a part of one?
You would want to have a faith family simply because it will make you a better and happier person. This happens because of two things: 1) Spiritual Growth and 2) Community

At SYA, we attend mass and worship God together. We visit and tend to sick children at the Philippine General Hospital as well as dejected prisoners at Taguig City Jail. We also teach young children and JPIC college scholars Catechism. At any given time, we answer calls to serve and share our blessings.

Because of the strong bond we develop over time, it is common for us to find friends, mentors, significant others, or spouses within our faith family. Our faith is the foundation for our lifelong relationships with one other.

Personally, I consider SYA as an extension of my own family. We value the same things. They know me well and accept me for who I am. I can turn to them for almost anything – fantastic conversation, sensible advice, or just some company whenever I want it. They are some of the best people I know. That’s why I continue to do what I do.I fell in love with the community. And I’ve been in SYA for only a year.

Strong faith families like ours are invaluable to a healthy conscience and our general well-being. And I am certain that they make the world a better place.

With that in mind, the retreat was also designed to be a microcosm of what we do in SYA as active members – mass, prayer meetings, and Eucharistic adoration (save for our work with different ministries). It is the participants’ first taste of what life as an SYAer is like. From the moment they enter the retreat and for as long as they are active, they are enveloped in our culture of warmth, openness, love, courage and acceptance.

If any of the above resonated with you, then perhaps it is time you consider doing something for God and yourself. Taking the Weekend is a terrific way to start.

How do you join an SYA Weekend?
Anyone ages 21-39 can sign up for an SYA Weekend retreat. We are on our 15th year and our next retreat will be on September 18 to 20, 2015. To reserve a slot for yourself or a friend/loved one, please contact me, Mara Boquiren (Smart 09985467175), or Ramon Blanco (Globe 09175201025). Registration fee is at PhP1,500.00; inclusive of all meals, snacks and materials.Come with an open mind and heart.

And see you at the 30th SYA Weekend!!

Categories
Cathechism of the Catholic Church

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Why was Christ transfigured on the mountain?
The Father wanted to reveal the divine glory of his Son even during Jesus’ earthly life. Christ’s Transfiguration was meant to help the disciples later to understand his death and Resurrection.

Three Gospels relate how Jesus, on the mountaintop, begins to shine (is “transfigured”) before the eyes of his disciples. The voice of his heavenly Father calls Jesus his “beloved Son,” to whom they are supposed to listen. Peter would like to “make three booths” and capture the moment. Jesus, however, is on the way that leads to suffering. The vision of glory is only to strengthen his disciples.

Did Jesus know that he would die when he entered Jerusalem?
Yes. Three times Jesus had predicted his suffering and death before consciously and voluntarily (Lk 9:51) going to the place of his Passion and his resurrection.

Why did Jesus choose the date of the Jewish feast of Passover for his death and Resurrection?
Jesus chose the Passover feast of his people Israel as a symbol for what was to happen through his death and Resurrection. As the people Israel were freed from slavery to Egypt, so Christ frees us from the slavery of sin and the power of death.

The Passover was the feast celebrating the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Jesus went to Jerusalem in order to free us in an even deeper way. He celebrated the Paschal feast with his disciples.

During this feast, he made himself the sacrificial Lamb. “For Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7), so as to establish once and for all the definitive reconciliation between God and mankind.

Why was a man of peace like Jesus condemned to death on a Cross?
Jesus posed a decisive question to his contemporaries: Either he was acting with divine authority, or else he was an impostor, a blasphemer, and a violator of the Law and who had to be called to account.

In many respects Jesus was an unprecedented challenge to the traditional Judaism of his time. He forgave sins, which God alone can do; he acted as though the Sabbath law were not absolute; he was suspected of blasphemy and brought upon himself the accusation that he was a false prophet. All these were crimes punishable under the Law by death.

Are the Jews guilty of Jesus’ death?
No one can assign collective guilt for the death of Jesus to the Jews. Instead, the Church professes with certainty that all sinners share in the guilt for Jesus’ death.

The aged prophet Simeon foresaw that Jesus would become “a sign that is spoken against” (Lk 2:34b). And in fact Jesus was resolutely rejected by the Jewish authorities, but among the Pharisees, for example, there were also secret followers of Jesus, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Various Roman and Jewish persons and institutions (Caiaphas, Judas, the Sanhedrin, Herod, Pontius Pilate) took part in Jesus’ trial, and only God knows their guilt as individuals. The idea that all Jews of that time or living today are guilty of Jesus’ death is irrational and biblically untenable.

Did God will the death of his only Son?
The violent death of Jesus did not come about through tragic external circumstances. Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). So that we children of sin and death might have life, the Father in heaven “made him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Cor 5:21). The magnitude of the sacrifice that God the Father asked of his Son, corresponded to the magnitude of Christ’s obedience: “And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour” (Jn 12:27). On both sides, God’s love for men proved itself to the very end on the Cross.

In order to save us from death, God embarked on a dangerous mission: He introduced a “medicine of immortality” (St. Ignatius of Antioch) into our world of death – his Son Jesus Christ. The Father and the Son were inseparable in this mission, willing and yearning to take the utmost upon themselves out of love for man. God willed to make an exchange so as to save us forever. He wanted to give us his eternal life, so that we might experience his joy, and wanted to suffer our death, our despair, our abandonment, our death, so as to share with us in everything. So as to love us to the end and beyond. Christ’s death is the will of the Father but not his final word. Since Christ died for us, we can exchange our death for his life.

What happened at the Last Supper?
Jesus washed the feet of his apostles on the evening before his death; he instituted the Eucharist and founded the priesthood of the New Covenant.

Jesus showed his consummate love in three ways: He washed his disciples’ feet and showed that he is among us as one who serves (cf. Lk 22:27). He symbolically anticipated his redeeming Passion by speaking these words over the gifts of bread and wine: “This is my body which is given for you” (Lk 22:19ff). In this way he instituted the Holy Eucharist. When Jesus commanded the apostles, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24b), he made them priests of the New Covenant.

On the Mount of Olives on the night before his death, did Jesus really experience fear of death?
Since Jesus was true man, he truly experienced fear of death on the Mount of Olives.

With the same human strength that we all possess, Jesus had to fight in order to consent interiorly to the Father’s will that he give his life for the life of the world. Abandoned in his darkest hour by everyone, even his friends, Jesus managed after a struggle to say Yes. “My Father, if this [cup] cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Why did Jesus have to redeem us on the Cross, of all places?
The Cross on which Jesus, although innocent, was cruelly executed is the place of utmost degradation and abandonment. Christ, our Redeemer, chose the Cross so as to bear the guilt of the world and to suffer the pain of the world. So he brought the world back home to God by his perfect love.

God could not show his love more forcibly than by allowing himself in the person of the Son to be nailed to the Cross for us.

Crucifixion was the most shameful and most horrible method of execution in antiquity. It was forbidden to crucify Roman citizens, whatever crimes they were guilty of. Thereby God entered into the most abysmal sufferings of mankind. Since then, no one can say “God does not know what I’m suffering.”

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Random Thoughts by Peachy Maramba

R A N D O M T H O U G H T S Voices from yesterday and today . . . by Peachy Maramba

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ST. FRANCIS of PAOLA:
Founder of the Order of Minims,
Patron of Mariners
1416-1507
April 2

Early Life
Our Franciscan saint St. Francis of Paola is interestingly the namesake of our beloved St. Francis of Assisi.

Francesco Alessio (his real name) was born at Paola, a small town in Calabria, Italy on 2 April about the year 1416. His parents Giacomo d’ Alessio and ViennadaFuscaldo were very poor but outstandingly holy, virtuous and industrious people who made it their chief aim to love and to serve God.

After many years of childlessness they were finally blessed with a son through the intercession of St. Francis de Assisi to whom they had incessantly prayed and appealed to. Naturally they named him Francis.

When St. Francis brought about the healing of infant Francis’ eye they vowed that he would don his “little habit.” This meant that they would send their boy to spend an entire year in a Franciscan monastery. This was in keeping with medieval practice.

Educated by Franciscans
This he did at the age of 13 after having received his early education in the Franciscan friary at San Marco, a town in the same province. In that year he spent with the Franciscans he proved to be an exemplary model to all not only in his abnegation and love of prayer but by his extraordinary humility.

His parents then took him on a pilgrimage visiting Rome, Assisi and other shrines.

Becomes a Hermit
Because he was “horrified by the worldliness and wealth of Rome” though merely 15 years old Francis decided that he wanted to live according to the ideals of poverty the life of a hermit modeled after his namesake.

Choosing to austerely live in a lonely cave by the sea about half a mile from Paola the young eccentric but charismatic fifteen-year-old hermit quickly won the hearts and admiration of his neighbors.

Thus when attracted by his holiness two other men who also wished to live as anchorites joined him. Before he was twenty his neighbors in 1452 helped them build three cells to live in and a chapel. Here they sang psalms and heard Mass said by a nearby priest. The date 1452 is considered to be the foundation of his order.

The three formed the nucleus of what they first called the Order of the Hermits of St. Francis. When many disciples followed him, to accommodate their burgeoning community in 1454, once again neighbors, friends and acquaintanceswho greatly loved him came to the rescue to help them build a church and a monastery. Both common people and nobles personally and enthusiastically carried the building materials to the site.

The Order was confirmed by a bull of Sixtus IV in 1474 as the Order of Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi with Francis as Superior General.
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It was not till 1492 that they formally changed the name of their ever rapidly growing community to the Order of Minims. They chose that name to signify their desire to be considered the minimi or least important in the Church of God. Like their founder’s namesake and model HUMILITY was to be their hallmark. Because Francis believed with all his heart that obedience is the backbone of faith, his followers were all to always obey with humility. This was the foundation of the Minim Friars.

Order of Minims
Francis set a rather severe rule (though unwritten for the first 57 years) for his followers. In addition to the three monastic vows of penance, charity and humility he added one of fasting and a perpetual Lent with not only total abstinence from meat but from all animal products such as milk, butter and eggs. Thus did they have to observe a perpetual Lent. This was because he considered fasting to be the “royal road to self-conquest.” Charity was his motto and humility the virtue he constantly stressed.

They practiced a life of utter poverty and austerity. Francis himself slept no longer on a rock but still on the ground on a plank using a stone or a log for a pillow. Only when he was extremely old did he allow himself a mat.

In spite of the severity of its rule (penance, charity and humility) the Order grew rapidly with other monasteries being founded in southern Italy and Sicily. Even a Second Order for nuns and a Third Order for those who would continue to live in the world was founded by Francis for whom he also wrote a rule. All Italy was then full of praises for this saint, prophet and wonder-worker.

When Francis died his convents numbered over 400 spread over Italy, France, Germany and Spain.

The Fame of Francis
In the meantime the fame of Francis grew and grew. Numerous miracles were wrought through his prayers. Not only did he have the gift of prophecy but also the gift of reading consciences. It is said that he even had immunity from the effects of fire being able to handle burning coals with his bare hands. It is no wonder that he was regarded as one of the major miracle workers of this time.

Also said was that the “his success in converting hardened sinners was matched by his ability to avert a plague, by miraculous cures of physical diseases and the raising of several dead people to life!”

Francis had even gained a reputation for insight, compassion, wisdom and healing. However because of his outspokenness in reproving the King of Naples for his evil ways he was persecuted to a certain degree.

Goes to France
But it is because of his fame of insight, compassion, wisdom and healing reaching France that in 1482 when King Louis XI of France was at his death-bed Pope Sixtus II ordered Francis to come in answer to the call of the King as he felt that Francis could cure him.

So going there under papal command Francis tried to cure the deeply depressed monarch but was unsuccessful. But what he did was more remarkable. Not only did he effect the King’s entire conversion but he prepared him for a penitent death. He even comforted him when he said, “Even the lives of kings are in the hands of God and have their appointed limits.”

Francis explained to the monarch that praying for the king’s recovery would be against the will of God for even kings have limited life spans and should trust in God to take them at the right time.

In this way did the king learn from Francis how to die in peace with the Lord. During the many inspired conversations they had together it was as if the Holy Spirit was speaking through Francis as he was an unlearned man. This is why the king died peacefully in the humble monk’s arms.

This so delighted Charles VIII, Louis’ son that on his becoming king he chose the saint as his adviser. Because he and Louis XII his successor valued his counsel so much they did not permit Francis to leave the Court.

Francis thus remained in France for 25 years establishing his Order there with Charles VIII and Louis XII as his special benefectors. During that time he was able to restore peace between France and Brittany and to prevent war between France and Spain.

In the meantime the royal family threw their influence behind the Minims endowing them with several monasteries in France and Italy.

In fact Francis spent the rest of his life at the monastery of Plessis, France which Charles had built for him besides another at Amboise, at the spot where they first met. Knowing that his end was near he spent the last three months in complete solitude.

When he took gravely ill on Holy Thursday in 1507 he gathered his friars around him and lovingly encouraged them in their way of life. Then on April 2 on Good Friday after receiving Communion he stood barefoot with a rope around his neck and died. This was a practice developed by his order. He was ninety-one.

It was Pope Leo X who on May 1, 1519 canonized Francis. Because of his numerous sea-related miracles he was declared patron of sea-farers by Pope Pius XII on March 27, 1943.

Today the number of members of the Order of Minims is considerably reduced mostly found in Italy and Spain only.

When the Hugeunots dragged his body from it s tomb in 1562 they found it still incorrupt. Tragically in their ignorant malice they burned it.

SOURCES of REFERENCE
Butler’s Lives of the Saints – Vol. II pp 10 – 13
Pocket Dictionary of Saints – p 197
The Watkins Dictionary of Saints – p. 92 – 93
A Year With the Saints – April 2
Butler’s Saint for the Day – pp 151 – 152
Illustrated Lives of the Saints – Vol. I pp 143 – 144
My First Book of Saints – pp 73 – 74
Saint Companions – pp 122 – 124
Saint of the Day – pp 71 – 72
Voices of the Saints – pp 448 – 449
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives Group I Card 30
The Way of the Saints pp 174– 175

Categories
Pope Francis The ABC’s of Catholic Doctrine

“Are We Afraid To Touch the Poor?” The ABC’s of Catholic Doctrine By Lianne Tiu

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Last February, Pope Francis asked pilgrims at St. Peter’s Square to reflect on how to help the needy. It is true we have dropped a few coins for the poor; we have given baskets to them during Christmas season; we have donated food and clothes during disasters; and some of us have organized foundations to alleviate poverty.

Pope Francis said that those of us who help the poor cannot be afraid to touch them. He said, “If we are to be imitators of Christ before the poor or the sick, we should not be afraid to look the afflicted person in the eye, and be close to the suffering person with tenderness and compassion.”
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It is possible we have been giving without loving the poor. We give out of obligation. We give to obtain peace. We give to feel good. Let’s be honest, we often think that we are superior, and we look down on them simply because they are poor and weak. We shudder at their external appearances for we are afraid to catch some contagious germs, to get dirty, or to be robbed. We are disturbed by their smell or their unrefined manners.

To love and imitate God, we have to learn to embrace and welcome the poor with compassion. “Contact is the true language of communication,” Pope Francis said, “How many healings can we perform if only we learn this language!”
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One day St. Francis was riding his horse near Assisi, when he met a leper. He had always felt an overpowering horror of lepers, but he realized that if he was going to devote his life to the poor he had to welcome him as a brother. So he dismounted from the horse, gave him a coin, and kissed him. This encounter with the leper was the turning point of Francis’ life as he became a champion of the poor.

Blessed Mother Teresa wrote, “To serve the poor, we must love them.” Yet we know it is not easy to love them when we are bothered by their distressing outward appearances. Mother Teresa advised us that we have to look into their hearts and see human beings in need of love and understanding. We have to see the face of the crucified Jesus in those who are suffering: the poor, the sick, the prisoners, the abandoned, including the sinners. We will be able to do this only when we look through the eyes of faith and through the eyes of love.
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Jesus said: “For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was naked, and you clothed me.” (Matt 25:35,36)

May our whole lives be a concern for others especially the poor. May we fearlessly reach out to help them; for when we look into their eyes, we can only exclaim, “It is You, Lord!”

(Reference: Pope Francis: When you help the sick, are you afraid to touch them? (Feb.16, 2015); Catholic News Story: Pope tells new cardinals to evangelize fearlessly (Feb. 16, 2015); Mother Teresa’s Lessons of Love & Secrets of Sanctity by Susan Conroy; ChristianHistory.net ”Meet St. Francis (Aug. 8, 2008))

Categories
Holy Days

Papal Program of Liturgies for Holy Week and Easter

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The Vatican’s office for liturgical celebrations, headed by Archbishop Guido Marini released the full schedule of events that Pope Francis will be presiding over during Holy Week.

On Palm Sunday, March 29th, starting at 9.30am* the Pope will bless the palm and olive branches in St Peter’s Square before presiding at the celebration of Mass. Palm Sunday also marks the XXX World Youth Day with the theme taken from St Matthew’s Gospel ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’.

On Holy Thursday, April 2nd, starting at 9.30am* in St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis will preside at the celebration of the Chrism Mass, during which the oils to be used during the coming year will be blessed.

The following day, Good Friday, the Pope will preside at the celebration of Our Lord’s Passion in St Peter’s Basilica starting at 5pm.* Later in the evening, beginning at 9.15pm* he will travel across Rome to lead the traditional Via Crucis or Way of the Cross at the Colosseum and impart his Apostolic Blessing before returning to the Vatican.

On Holy Saturday, April 4th, Pope Francis will preside at the Easter Vigil in St Peter’s Basilica beginning at 8.30pm.* After blessing the new fire and the Easter candle in the atrium of the Basilica, the Pope will also administer the Sacrament of Baptism before concelebrating Mass with the other cardinals and bishops.
Finally on Easter morning, Sunday April 5th, beginning at 10.15*, Pope Francis will preside at the Mass of Our Lord’s Resurrection in St Peter’s Square before giving his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ blessing (to the city of Rome and to the world) from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.
(from Vatican Radio)
(* European time)

Categories
Articles Holy Days

History of Holy Week

Assisi-frescoes-entry-into-jerusalem-pietro_lorenzetti
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday commemorates the triumphal entrance of Christ into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-9), when palm branches were placed in His path, before His arrest on Holy Thursday and His Crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent, and the week in which Christians celebrate the mystery of their salvation through Christ’s Death and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

History of Palm Sunday
Beginning in the fourth century in Jerusalem, Palm Sunday was marked by a procession of the faithful carrying palm branches, representing the Jews who celebrated Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem. In the early centuries, the procession began on the Mount of the Ascension and proceeded to the Church of the Holy Cross.

As the practice spread throughout the Christian world by the ninth century, the procession would begin in each church with the blessing of palms, proceed outside the church, and then return to the church for the reading of the Passion according to the Gospel of Matthew. The faithful would continue to hold the palms during the reading of the Passion. In this way, they would recall that many of the same people who greeted Christ with shouts of joy on Palm Sunday would call for His Death on Good Friday-a powerful reminder of our own weakness and the sinfulness that causes us to reject Christ.

In different parts of the Christian world, particularly where palms were historically hard to obtain, branches of other bushes and trees were used, including olive, box elder, spruce, and various willows. Perhaps best known is the Slavic custom of using pussy willows, which are among the earliest of plants to bud out in the spring.

The faithful have traditionally decorated their houses with the palms from Palm Sunday, and, in many countries, a custom developed of weaving the palms into crosses that were placed on home altars or other places of prayer. Since the palms have been blessed, they should not simply be discarded; rather, the faithful return them to their local parish in the weeks before Lent, to be burned and used as the ashes for Ash Wednesday.
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Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday)
The Commemoration of the Last Supper
Holy Thursday is the day on which Christ celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples, four days after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Only hours after the Last Supper, Judas would betray Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, setting the stage for Christ’s Crucifixion on Good Friday.

History:
Holy Thursday is more than just the lead-in to Good Friday; it is, in fact, the oldest of the celebrations of Holy Week. And with good reason: Holy Thursday is the day on which Catholics commemorate the institution of three pillars of the Catholic Faith: the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the priesthood, and the Mass. During the Last Supper, Christ blessed the bread and wine with the very words that Catholic and Orthodox priests use today to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass and the Divine Liturgy. In telling His disciples to “Do this in remembrance of Me,” He instituted the Mass and made them the first priests.

Near the end of the Last Supper, after Judas had departed, Christ said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” The Latin word for “commandment,” mandatum became the source for another name for Holy Thursday: Maundy Thursday.

On Holy Thursday, the priests of each diocese gather with their bishop to consecrate holy oils, which are used throughout the year for the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick. This ancient practice, which goes back to the fifth century, is known as the Chrism Mass (“chrism” is a mixture of oil and balsam used for the holy oils) and stresses the role of the bishop as a successor to the apostles.

Except in very rare circumstances, there is only one Mass other than the Chrism Mass celebrated on Holy Thursday in each church: the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, which is celebrated after sundown. It commemorates the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and it ends with the removal of the Body of Christ from the tabernacle in the main body of the church. The Eucharist is carried in procession to another place where it is kept overnight, to be distributed during the commemoration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday. After the procession, the altar is stripped bare, and all bells in the church are silent until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.

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What Is the Easter Triduum?
The final days of Lent
The Easter Triduum (sometimes also referred to as the Paschal Triduum) is the proper name for the liturgical season that concludes Lent and introduces us to the joy of the Easter season. Starting with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on the evening of Holy Thursday, continuing through the Good Friday service and Holy Saturday, and concluding with vespers (evening prayer) on Easter Sunday, the Easter Triduum marks the most significant events of Holy Week (also known as Passion tide).

The Easter Triduum is often commonly referred to simply as the Triduum (with a capital T). However, a triduum is simply any three-day period of prayer, recalling the three days that Christ spent in the tomb.

Encompassing the final three days of the discipline of Lent, the Easter Triduum has traditionally been observed with even stricter fasting and abstinence, as well as prayer and alms giving. Since 1956, however, the Paschal Triduum has been regarded as its own liturgical season, and thus liturgically Lent ends before the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday.

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Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Sunday, commemorates the Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. Good Friday is the second of the three days of the Easter Triduum.

History
From the earliest days of Christianity, no Mass has been celebrated on Good Friday; instead, the Church celebrates a special liturgy in which the account of the Passion according to the Gospel of John is read, a series of intercessory prayers (prayers for special intentions) are offered, and the faithful venerate the Cross by coming forward and kissing it. The Good Friday liturgy concludes with the distribution of Holy Communion. Since there was no Mass, Hosts that were reserved from the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday are distributed instead.

The service is particularly solemn; the organ is not played, and all vestments are red or (in the Traditional Latin Mass) black.

Since the date of Good Friday is dependent on the date of Easter, it changes from year to year.

Fasting and Abstinence
Good Friday is a day of strict fasting and abstinence. Catholics over the age of 18 and under the age of 60 are required to fast, which means that they can eat only one complete meal and two smaller ones during the day, with no food in between. Catholics who are over the age of 14 are required to refrain from eating any meat, or any food made with meat, on Good Friday.

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Articles Fr. Robert Manansala

“THINK, FEEL, DO” A Lenten Recollection By Javier Luis Gomez

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“The only tragedy in life is not to be saint.” – Léon Bloy

At this year’s Lenten Recollection, Fr. Robert Manansala, OFM delivered a stirring reminder of the message of Pope Francis and how we can each internalize the Holy Father’s teachings. The message he focused on was Francis’ call to use the threefold human language of the mind, the heart and the hands. As Christians, we need to be able to strike this threefold balance in order to authentically live out our calling.
Fr. Robert
Fr. Robert starts out by saying that the wisdom of Pope Francis is as ancient as the Church itself. According to our Lord, the greatest command is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Lk 10:27) In that statement, we can already see the idea of the necessity of the mind, the heart and the hands – to think, to feel and to do.

But how are we supposed to apply this pattern of “think – feel – do” to our lives? Fr. Robert suggests that we can understand this from the background of Pope Francis as a Jesuit – rooted in the teachings of St. Ignatius on discernment. In his writings, Ignatius emphasized the necessity of these three faculties in order to effectively carry out the will of God.

The first step is to think: In other words, to use our intellect to understand the situation that is presented before us. To consider all the possibilities, the risks, the benefits, the consequences all one or more situations.

Thinking is not enough though, we are also called to feel. In this step Ignatius says that we are to pay attention to the stirrings in our heart. He believes that God can speak to us through the deep emotions we feel. If thinking about a situation fills us with consolation, then it may be that is what God desires for us as well.
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The final step is to act! Ignatius with his military background was a man of action, and he applied this to the spiritual life as well.

It is not enough to strategize and plan all day. As in battle, there must necessarily come a time for execution. Once we have considered the possibilities and reflected on our inner stirrings, we are to act – trusting that we are responding to the will of God.

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Fr. Laurian Janicki Reflections

PALM SUNDAY, A Sunday Gospel Reflection By Fr. Laurian Janicki, OFM

When I was a kid, this was always a busy week, clean-up week. There was planning for the big meal next Sunday – Easter. Would it be ham or lamb? Some years, I’d have a new suit – usually a couple sizes too big, so I could grow into it. My mother would be cleaning our home for company. There were eggs to dye and chocolate to look forward to, and lamb cake – pound cake shaped as a lamb.

For a lot of us, it can still be time for planning. But before we get too caught up in next Sunday, we need this Sunday. We need to remember.

Remember that the crowd that cheered Jesus also condemned him. Remember that the voices praising him, also called for his death. Remember that those who love him and promised loyalty also abandoned him, denied him and betrayed him.

And if you want to know who did that, just look at the palm branches in our hands. We are guilty.

While we may not want to admit it, Christ’s passion goes on today. Our betrayal of him continues in ways large and small.

How often do we praise God on Sunday…and damn him on Monday. How often do we shrug him off when things become too difficult or the rules too hard or the demands of the Christian life too taxing? How often do we treat love as just sentiment for greeting cards, and not a command for living?

Jesus continues to bleed and weep and cry out: “Why have you abandoned me?” He cries out today to us. Whatever you do to the least, he said, you do to me.

What do we do? We encounter Jesus on the MRT, step over him on the sidewalk, and go out of our way to avoid him when we feel like he might make demands on our time. At the office, we make jokes of someone, spread gossip about someone at the water cooler. We suck up to people who are more popular, or attractive, or influential at work – and barely give the unimportant person who answers the phone the time of day.

Whether we realize it or not, we see Jesus every day, read about him in the newspapers, hear about him in the news. He is everywhere where there is someone who is small, or neglected, or disrespected, or discarded. He is with the unwanted and unloved, the bullied and abused. Why have youabandoned me?

Do we hear him?

We find ways to justify our choices. But it can’t be denied. Whenever we choose death over life, sin over the gospel, popularity over integrity, indifference or disdain over love – in short, whenever we have turned away from Christ – we who claim to believe in him have, instead, betrayed him.

We have said, “Give us Barabbas.” We have said, in effect, “Crucify him.” And we have done it with palm branches in our hands and the echoes of “Hosanna” in the air.

We need this Sunday to remember that. And we need these branches as a reminder – and a challenge.

They remind us that we re called to be heralds of Christ – to celebrate him the way they did that day in Jerusalem. And these palms challenges us to keep crying “Hosanna,” to keep proclaiming the Good News – even when the world attempts us to do otherwise, even when it seems like it would be easier to go with the crowd and simply choose Barabbas.

These palms challenge us not to turn our back and walk away. They challenge us to not step over Christ or ignore him. And they challenge us not only to remember what we have done to him, but what he has done for us.

This is what this Holy Week is about.

Before we look ahead to next Sunday, Easter, and the big plans and a big meal, look back. And look within your heart… And look to these palms. Look at what we are called to do…and who we are called to be.

About Fr. Laurian and his other reflections…

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coro

CORO DE SAN ANTONIO by Amelita D. Guevara

As the Coro continues to prepare Theodor Dubois’ Seven Last Words for Good Friday, a leading Filipino Baritone based abroad announced that he would be here for Holy Week. Andrew Fernando will be such a welcome addition to the rendition of this work as he sings the role of Jesus in this work. Our wonderful favorite soloists of the past years will still be here with us: Camille Lopez-Molina, soprano and Ronan Ferrer, tenor. Come and pray with us as we listen and be inspired to follow Christ’s Passion in song. Our three soloists will join the Coro from Holy Thursday up to the Easter Vigil.
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ANDREW FERNANDO
Baritone

Andrew is an international Filipino Baritone. He was the First Prize Winner of the prestigious 2003 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition in the United States and an alumnus of the world renowned San Francisco Opera Merola Program. He was also a prize winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions in the Los Angeles district and in the Pacific region, the Palm Springs Opera Vocal Competition, a recipient of the Opera Buffs Inc. scholarship grant and the Grand Prize winner in the Pasedena Opera Guild Vocal competition in 2004 and a grand finalist in the Licia Albanese Puccini International Vocal Competition held in New York in 2003. He was Opera Pacific’s resident baritone from 1999-2002. Andrew is the 2013 Aliw Awards Winner for Best Classical Male Performer.

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CAMILLE LOPEZ MOLINA
Soprano

Camille studied voice at the University of the Philippines College of Music. She obtained her Professional Diploma in Music, majoring in Opera Studies, from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1996. She then proceeded to Vienna, Austria where she studied Gesang until 2001 at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien under Prof. Marija Sklad-Sauer and Prof. Julia Conwell. Camille is a three-time ALIW AWARDEE (2009, 2010 and 2011) for Best Female Classical Performer.

At present, she is a member of the Voice Faculties of St. Scholastica’s College School of Music and the University of the Philippines College of Music. She is also the musical director and conductor of the SSS Choral Society and the Viva Voce Ensemble, a group composed of young classical singers. She has been a regular guest artist in many special events in Santuario de San Antonio.

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RONNAN FERRER
Tenor

Ronan is one of the country’s best tenors. He obtained his Bachelor of Music in Voice Degree from the UST Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music in Voice Performance Degree from the Elizabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan. He is presently the appointed Coordinator of the Voice Department of the UST Conservatory of Music.

He was the official cantor in the concluding mass of the recent papal visit of Pope Francis held last January18, 2015 at the Quirino Grandstand.

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