From Our Pastor, Msgr. Steven Camp
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CChurchhurch ofof St.St. PatrickPatrick 400 Main Street Huntington, New York 11743 (631)-385-3311 www.stpatrickchurchhunt.org FROM OUR PASTOR, MSGR. STEVEN CAMP Dear Parishioners, Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent, traditionally known as Laetare Sunday. Laetare (“Rejoice”), sets a tone of joyful anticipation of the Easter mystery, which is only weeks away. This is why the Priest wears rose-colored vestments. The name comes from Entrance Antiphon for this Mass: “ Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all you who love her”. This Fourth Sunday of Lent marks a joyful relief amidst the seriousness and somberness of the many weeks of preparation for Easter. Even in Lent we rejoice, because we know God loves us and will provide for our needs. In the first reading today, from the Book of Chronicles, God pardons those who have been unfaithful. In today’s Gospel as well in the second reading, we are reminded that the Father has sent the Son because He has so loved us that He wants us to be able to return to Him. We rejoice in the forgiveness that the Lord offers for each of us. With this Sunday being the fourth Sunday of Lent, we come close to Holy Week. Holy Week is one of the most important weeks of the year for the Church. As we continue to prepare to celebrate the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem, Passion & Death, and His Glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday, please make note of the schedule of all of the Holy Week liturgies that will take place here in our Parish. If you have not attended any of the Holy Week liturgies before, I highly encourage you to do so, as we pray and celebrate the season together as one community of faith. During the Lenten season, we put an emphasis on the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This Sacrament allows us to reconcile with God and to receive His mercy and forgiveness as we prepare for the Holy Days of Easter Triduum. For the past few years, the Archdiocese of New York, Diocese of Brooklyn, and Diocese of Rockville Centre have held “Reconciliation Monday” on the Monday of Holy Week. On Monday, March 26 from 3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., confessions will be held in our Church and all churches in the Diocese. I encourage you to take advantage of this powerful Sacrament. Confessions are also heard every Saturday from 4:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Lent is the perfect time to let go of that “extra baggage” in preparation for the Resurrection of our Lord. Please look for the article in our bulletin describing the mural of St. Patrick behind the main altar and Fr. Bissex’s final essay on Tenebrae. God Bless and have a good week, Msgr. Steven R. Camp 2 Church of Saint Patrick Huntington, New York Saint PATRICK SANCTUARY MURAL HISTORY OUR SANCTUARY MURALMURALMURAL OFOFOF SAINT PATRICK It is very reliably known that Patrick was born around 385 in Scotland, probably in Kilpatrick. His parents, Calpurnius and Conchessa, were Romans living in Britain, in charge of Roman colonies. Calpurnius is thought to have been a deacon, and Potitus, Patrick’s grandfather, a priest. [before mandatory celibacy.] Starting from the mural’s lower left side, and continuing in a clock-wise direction, At about age fourteen, Patrick was captured during a raiding party, and taken to Ireland as a slave, made to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at the time was a land of Druids and pagans; Patrick learned the practices and customs of his captors. During captivity, he wrote “The love of God grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was roused…. I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from snow or ice or rain. After about six years of captivity, Patrick is said to have heard a voice urging him to travel to a distant port, where a ship would return him to Britain. On his way back to Britain, Patrick was captured again, and sent to Tours, France. While in France, Patrick learned about French monasticism. At the end of his second captivity, Patrick had a heavenly vision, and was instructed and inspired to bring Christianity to Ireland. Saint Germanus of Auxerre, France [378 – 448] ordained the young missionary, and blessed Patrick’s call to return to Ireland. Saint Patrick returns to Ireland, and using the knowledge of Irish language and culture that he gained during his first captivity, brought Christianity and monasticism to Ireland. He is credited with establishing as many as three hundred churches, and baptizing more than one hundred thousand Irish people. He is also widely reputed to be the first Bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. [Note the Bishop’s miter and crozier [pastoral staff] denoting his office as Bishop. Fourth Sunday of Lent March 11, 2018 3 FROM FR. BISSEX- TENEBRAE PART III Tenebrae Dear Parishioners, In last week’s bulletin, we continued an examination of the service of Tenebrae, which will be held here at St. Patrick’s on Palm Sunday, March 25th. We recall that Tenebrae illustrates to us the different themes of the three Holy Days: the betrayal of Jesus (Holy Thursday), the death of Jesus (Good Friday), and the burial of Jesus (Holy Saturday). A couple weeks ago we examined how Tenebrae helps us meditate on the betrayal of Jesus, and last week we focused on the death of Jesus. This week we can round out our Tenebrae reflections by looking more closely at Holy Saturday, and the theme of Jesus’ burial. In the aftermath of a death, friends or relatives of a grieving family will often ask for advice on “what to say” in order to bring comfort. These good intentions come from the desire to be helpful by using the right words. And yet, as perhaps many of you have experienced at some point or another, in the face of death and certainly in the wake of tragedy, more often than not the appropriate response is not verbal. It is silence. A few months ago a distraught mother asked me if I could bring her child back to life. I did not answer. I did not tell her I could or I couldn’t, because she already knew the answer. She did not need a response, but rather needed her pain to be accepted. In the face of suffering or pain, words will usually fail us. Words, in all their creative power, were given to men and women in the Garden of Eden, where death was not a reality. Words do not have the ability to adequately respond to suffering or death, at least not on their own, because when God created human speech He never intended suffering or death to exist. In the face of tragic pain, silence is often the appropriate response. What will our response be to the death of Jesus on Good Friday? Our response is the silence of Holy Saturday. It is the only day of the year which the Church spends entirely without the Eucharist (the Easter Vigil in the evening is a Sunday liturgy). At the end of the Good Friday service, we depart in silence. We realize that in the face of this death, words would be out of place. This is the silence in which we remain on Holy Saturday. It is the silence of the tomb where Christ is lying. It is the silence of the human race as we experience the shock of what has occurred. It is a silence that won’t be broken until the Resurrection. After helping us meditate on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, the Tenebrae service concludes by bringing us to Holy Saturday and the tomb. When Tenebrae ends we depart in silence, without attempting to give a response to Jesus’ death. We leave without speaking, meditating on the burial of Jesus; dwelling on the fact that the Word of the Father, Jesus Christ, spoken from eternity, is now silent in the tomb. The silence of Holy Saturday, brought to us at the conclusion of Tenebrae, allows us to recognize that in the wake of the death of God’s only Son, words fail us. While the Tenebrae service does not express the joy and excitement of Christmas Lessons and Carols, it remains overwhelmingly powerful and beautiful. It affords us an opportunity to enter more deeply into the Holy Days, the liturgies, and the spiritual significance of what they offer to our lives. Ultimately, we know that we focus on these tougher themes and realities so that when the Easter light shines for the first time at the Easter Vigil, it will strike us even more deeply just how great a victory it was when Christ rose from the dead. Love and prayers, Fr. Bissex 4 Church of Saint Patrick Huntington, New York PARISH MINISTERS HOLY WEEK AND EASTER CONFESSIONS PPPRESIDERRESIDERRESIDER Saturdays of Lent: 4:00-4:45pm Mondays of Lent: SSSCHEDULECHEDULECHEDULE 7:15-7:45pm Monday, March 26: Saturday, March 17, 2018 3:00-9:00pm 5:00PM Fr. Michael Bissex Saturday, March 31: 10:30am -12:30 pm ONLY Sunday, March 18, 2017 7:30AM Msgr. Steven Camp 8:45AM Msgr. Steven Camp 9:30AM Fr.Michael Bissex 10:00AM Msgr. Steven Camp 11:30AM Fr. Jeremias George 12:45PM Fr. Jeremias George MASSES AND HOLY WEEK LITURGIES 5:30PM Fr. Thomas Edamattam Palm Sunday — March 25 Saturday 5:00 pm Sunday 7:30am; 8:45am; 10:00am;11:30am; AAALLLTTTARARAR SERVERSERVERSERVERS 1:00PM & 5:30 pm Please refer to your email for Lower Church 9:30 am the schedule for 7:30PM Tenebrae Service SaturdaySaturdaySaturday, MarMar, ch 17th andandch [Palm is blessed and distributed at all Masses] SundaySundaySunday, MarMar, ch 18th18thch Holy Thursday — March 29 LLLECTECTECTORSORSORS 9:00 am Morning Prayer LL 11:00 am Chrism Mass [at St.