The Sixth Station of the Cross, 2011
It’s that quiet time after Easter, at least for those who work in a Catholic parish. Lent reached its crescendo with the Sacred Triduum, and the crowds poured in for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The Catholic liturgies of Holy Week place us squarely into Jerusalem during the Passover Festival in AD 33, truly walking with Christ. All sorts of folks come to “the temple” here on Oakdale Road just like folk in Jesus’ time: to worship, to see a spectacle, to fulfill an annual obligation, to make Mom or Dad happy or just “because it’s there.” Thank God we have a Catholic parish in Modesto! How empty the year would be without it!
Thousands of folks come for the Paschal Festival each year. Between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, over 16,000 people attended 32 liturgical services at St. Joseph’s, including one thousand at our Live Stations of the Cross and another thousand at our public Walk for Life. We came in droves to stand at the foot of the Cross as Jesus was crucified, and we came in the thousands to witness to His resurrection from the tomb. By His death, He dealt death a deadly blow. He has trampled death by death!
Today is Mercy Sunday, also called Low Sunday, the “Little Easter” within the Paschal Octave. Thousands of us came to St. Joseph’s over Holy Week, a complete mix of saints and sinners, and God has had mercy on us all. Jesus said to St. Faustina (Diary, 699): “On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.” Today I am helping at a “Retrouvaille” weekend for troubled marriages, and so will not see you at Mass. Thirty couples, many from our parish, are making one last attempt to find mercy, to rediscover lost love. They do this on Mercy Sunday! Let the floodgates of God’s infinite love open; let His divine mercy pour over all of us. Let us praise Him for casting wide open His heart to us in His glorious Passion and Resurrection!
Thousands of folks come for the Paschal Festival each year. Between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, over 16,000 people attended 32 liturgical services at St. Joseph’s, including one thousand at our Live Stations of the Cross and another thousand at our public Walk for Life. We came in droves to stand at the foot of the Cross as Jesus was crucified, and we came in the thousands to witness to His resurrection from the tomb. By His death, He dealt death a deadly blow. He has trampled death by death!
Today is Mercy Sunday, also called Low Sunday, the “Little Easter” within the Paschal Octave. Thousands of us came to St. Joseph’s over Holy Week, a complete mix of saints and sinners, and God has had mercy on us all. Jesus said to St. Faustina (Diary, 699): “On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.” Today I am helping at a “Retrouvaille” weekend for troubled marriages, and so will not see you at Mass. Thirty couples, many from our parish, are making one last attempt to find mercy, to rediscover lost love. They do this on Mercy Sunday! Let the floodgates of God’s infinite love open; let His divine mercy pour over all of us. Let us praise Him for casting wide open His heart to us in His glorious Passion and Resurrection!
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