Dear Parishioners,

A teacher decided that during the first three days of Holy Week, she would have her students put on a Passion play according to the Gospel of St. Matthew. The teacher wanted to involve as many students as possible, but Matthew’s version really doesn’t call for a lot of actors. So, the teacher got creative and cast every animate and inanimate reference in Matthew. She cast:

• • • the tree from which Judas hung himself
    • the broken vase of perfume
    • five children simulating the earthquake
    • three children imitating the clattering of the thirty pieces of silver
    • …and all the bystanders.

She also cast the rock sealing the entrance of the tomb Jesus laid in. For the part, the teacher chose a boy who had, as his own mother put it, “sprouted early”, being one of the tallest boys in the class. The teacher explained to the boy that he would indeed be the rock blocking the opening of the tomb, not to be confused with St. Peter. For the Angel of the Lord, who pushes the rock aside, the teacher chose the smallest child in the class, and was well pleased with the contrast between the boy and girl she chose.

Their first performance was in front of the school’s third grade class. The play was moving along nicely, and it was soon time for the Angel of the Lord to appear. With her pinky finger outstretched, the little girl gently nudged the boy acting as the rock. Suddenly, with a burst of energy, the boy somersaulted away from the entrance of the tomb. Then, the petite Angel of the Lord sat on the “large rock.” The third grade audience went wild. They cheered, and chanted, showing how impressed they were with the rock’s performance, with the scene quickly became the crowd favorite.

The teacher was noticeably concerned about the boy playing the rock getting too much attention. She suggested that the boy allow another student play the part of the rock in the next performance. But the student replied that he liked being the rock and didn’t want another role. So the teacher asked him, “Why do you like being the rock?”

The young boy replied, “I like letting Jesus out of the tomb.” The teacher reminded him, the rock isn’t rolled back so Christ can get out. “He is already gone,” she told the boy. “The rock is rolled back so that the women can see in.” 

The boy’s face twisted in bemusement. “Well”, he said, “how did Jesus get out if the rock was still stuck in front of the tomb?” The teacher pondered for a second, but before she could say anything, the boy playing the rock blurted out, “Well, I guess that a huge rock is no big thing for God!”

And thus did “the rock” roll back the “boulder” from his own mind and see the Easter revelation more clearly! The teacher was amazed at the boy’s words, and allowed him to continue in the role since he knew the part so well.

And so “the rock” needs to be rolled away for us as well. We need to remove what ever obstacles stand in our way of believing in God’s gracious love for us. We need to allow the light of the Resurrection enter into our lives. God longs for us to trust Him, and to ask that we be set free from whatever holds us back from being true disciples of Christ.

With the flick of a finger, God has given us life eternal. Nothing holds back the love God has for us all. Jesus has been set free and has risen for all.

Amen! Alleluia!

Happy Easter,
Fr. Zack

Dear Parishioners,

About three weeks before her passing in March, 1990, Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, wrote a meditation for Holy Week as part of a Mississippi Catholic Lenten series. This was likely her last public writing and was published posthumously ahead of Palm Sunday that year. In place of my own words this Palm Sunday, I wish to share with you the words I’ve returned to as part of my own Holy Week meditation each year since the late 90’s, as Sister Thea describes for us how we can make Holy Week holy:

“Let us resolve to make this week holy by claiming Christ’s redemptive grace and by living holy lives. The Word became flesh and redeemed us by his holy life and holy death. This week especially, let us accept redemption by living grateful, faithful, prayerful, generous, just and holy lives. Let us resolve to make this week holy by reading and meditating holy scriptures.

So often, we get caught up in the hurry of daily living. As individuals and as families, reserve prime-time to be with Jesus, to hear the cries of the children waving palm branches, to see the Son of Man riding on an ass’ colt, to feel the press of the crowd, to be caught up in the “Hosannas” and to realize how the cries of acclamation will yield to the garden of suffering, to be there and watch as Jesus is sentenced by Pilate to Calvary, to see him rejected, mocked, spat upon, beaten and forced to carry a heavy cross, to hear the echo of the hammer, to feel the agony of torn flesh and strained muscles, to know Mary’s anguish as he hung three hours before he died.

We recoil before the atrocities of war, gang crime, domestic violence and catastrophic illness. Unless we personally and immediately are touched by suffering, it is easy to read scripture and to walk away without contacting the redemptive suffering that makes us holy. The reality of the Word falls on deaf ears.

Let us take time this week to be present to someone who suffers. Sharing the pain of a fellow human will enliven scripture and help us enter into the holy mystery of the redemptive suffering of Christ.

Let us resolve to make this week holy by participating in the preparing, by studying the reading, entering into the spirit, offering our services as ministers of the Word or Eucharist, decorating the church or preparing the environment for worship. Let us sing, “Lord, have mercy,” and “Hosanna.”

“Let us resolve to make this week holy by sharing holy peace and joy within our families, sharing family prayer on a regular basis, making every meal a holy meal where loving conversations bond family members in unity, sharing family work without grumbling, making love not war, asking forgiveness for past hurts and forgiving one another from the heart, seeking to go all the way for love as Jesus went all the way for love.

Let us resolve to make this week holy by sharing holy peace and joy with the needy, the alienated, the lonely, the sick and afflicted, the untouchable. Let us unite our sufferings, inconveniences and annoyances with the suffering of Jesus. Let us stretch ourselves, going beyond our comfort zones to unite ourselves with Christ’s redemptive work.

We unite ourselves with Christ’s redemptive work when we reconcile, when we make peace, when we share the good news that God is in our lives, when we reflect to our brothers and sisters God’s healing, God’s forgiveness, God’s unconditional love.”

As we prepare for the Holy Week, I invite all of you to take some quiet time, focusing on the Passion, and how you might enter into it. I also invite you to participate with us during the Triduum celebrations.

Wishing you a holy Holy Week
– Fr. Mike

Dear Parishioners,

In my recent travels, last week, as part of a road-trip to the provincial headquarters in New York, I had the opportunity to reconnect with friends in Stafford, Dumfries, and Manassas, Virginia. As I was getting close Stafford, I called ahead to my friends Michael and Danielle, to give them my estimated time of arrival. This was to be a quick afternoon visit, because I was expected at another friend’s home for a dinner at 6:30 p.m., and they were preparing my favorite meal of plantains, blood sausages, and fried fish. Michael and Danielle gave me a warm welcome and asked what I wanted to drink when I arrived. During our conversation, Danielle mentioned the two of them were on the seven-day cleanse diet. They had just started the diet within the last 36 hours, but Michael had already made the decision to break the diet, because of my visit.

We are just passed the halfway mark in our Lenten practice of sacrificing something to help us draw closer to God. Maybe you are like my friends, who found it very hard to stay focused and dedicated to their seven-day cleanse, let alone the 40-days Lent represents for us. Maybe it was the influence of a friend, or something that happened at work, or simply fatigue that led you to temporarily set aside your self imposed sacrifice. Remember, even Jesus was tempted in the desert, both with food and worldly power. We are not all as determined as Jesus was during his time in the desert. He knows how much we can bare. It is not the end of the world if you haven’t kept your Lenten promise. What matters is how you get back up and start over again. In 2 Timothy 4:7, the apostle Paul divulges his struggles in preaching the gospel of Christ, and describes his victory over those struggles. Paul speaks about fighting the fight, finishing the race, keeping the faith. Lent is that time for us to prepare ourselves and focus on what is needed for us to have that close relationship with God and others.

Have I fallen short of my Lenten promises of attending weekday mass, and giving up coffee, candy, gossiping, cheating, or lying?

How do I start over?

Does this mean I’m a failure?

We are human, and we fail, but God gives us the graces to begin again each day. Remember that God desires steadfast love, not sacrifice; the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings. Lent is a wonderful time to reflect on God’s wonderous love and mercy, and to allow His forgiveness to take hold of our lives.

Peace and All Good, 
– Friar Henry

Dear Parishioners,

Saints of God, the Lord be with you!

Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent, often called Laetare Sunday. Laetare translates from Latin to mean “rejoice.” I don’t know about you, but reaching the midpoint of Lent is cause for celebration in and of itself, since Lent is my least favorite liturgical season. However, all of today’s readings give us reason to rejoice. In the reading from the First Book of Samuel, the Lord sends the prophet to discover and anoint God’s choice to be king. God sends Samuel, not to the largest of cities, but to a small backwater village named Bethlehem. Surprisingly, God’s choice is not the eldest, nor the strongest, nor the wisest; but the youngest who is tending the sheep: David.

For God sees us with a depth of vision that we can’t even imagine.

LAETARE!

God has chosen each of us to be baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ so as to continue the incarnation.

LAETARE!

Christ wears our face; Christ is who we are in the depths of our being.

LAETARE!

The second reading from the Letter to the Ephesians reminds us that our identity in Christ is “light” and that we are called to live now as “light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” With so much darkness in the world, we are called to be the light of Christ. LAETARE! Baptism gives us a reason for living and the meaning of our lives: to continue the mission of Jesus Christ. In today’s Gospel according to John, Jesus cures a blind man who is subsequently thrown out of the synagogue. On hearing this, Jesus “found him” and reveals himself to the man now cured of blindness. The man says he believes that the one standing in front of him is the Son of Man, and worships Jesus.

LAETARE!

Christ is always with us, but often goes unnoticed.

LAETARE!

Christ will never abandon us or throw us out.

Stop and think this week on all the good works that you, the parishioners of Sacred Heart, do. What may be unnoticed by others is not unnoticed by God. Perhaps our greatest affirmation by God is the fact that this Easter, at the Vigil, Christ is calling seven men and women to enter the Catholic Church through the Parish of Sacred Heart.

LAETARE!
– Fr. Steve

Dear Parishioners,

Baptism is very much in the foreground during lent. As we reflect on our relationship with Jesus during this season, we do so in the light of our baptism and the commitment it requires of us. Today’s scripture appropriately highlights baptism. As we read of Moses providing water for the exodus journey, St Paul reminds us that hope does not disappoint and the Holy Spirit has been poured forth in great abundance, and in our Gospel from John, Jesus refers to himself as the source of living water in his conversation with the Samaritan woman.

The Samaritan woman sees that Jesus is a prophet and is confirmed in faith by Jesus. That faith gives her the courage to move without hesitation, so much so, that she even leaves the water jar behind! Her faith moved her to evangelize, perhaps not knowing what that meant or entailed. The beautiful thing about her encounter is that she was accepted by Jesus in her sinful state, and that no longer seemed to bother her. She was gifted with an understanding of who it was who spoke to her, and the only thing that remained was for her to bring that Word to others. She turned away from the chores of everyday life and back toward the village where she now had a new role to play, as witness to Christ. Jesus accepts us as well. We are similarly called to be witness through our baptism.

The Samaritan woman was graced with a personal, firsthand encounter with Jesus. What Jesus did for the woman He also does for us, if we allow ourselves to be honest in our lives of reflection and prayer. Jesus thirsts to bring all of his children back into the fold, not only the alienated. He offers divine life to the entire world. We all thirst for the Word of God and our baptism is only the beginning of the well-spring of living water that Jesus offers to us. Jesus knows where we have been and lovingly guides us back. The Samaritans came to believe because of the heartfelt testimony of the woman. Our faith is not something to be guarded or hidden. It calls for conviction and courage.

May God grant us that grace.

Peace and all good,
Fr. Zack

Dear Parishioners,

Pope Francis stated during his Lenten message in 2021 that “Fasting, prayer and almsgiving, as preached by Jesus, enable and express our conversion. The path of poverty and self-denial (fasting), concern and loving care for the poor (almsgiving), and childlike dialogue with the Father (prayer) make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and effective charity.”

The first pillar of Lent is prayer. Lent is a time of spiritual renewal, and during Lent we put special time aside to be prayerful and reflective. Good communication is a sign of good relationship. Lent calls us to renew our relationship with God, by communicating with God each and every day. Some may like to pray with the Scriptures during Lent. Others like to pray the Rosary, or another devotional prayer. Others still may prefer to just find a time to sit quietly each day in God’s presence. There are as many different ways to pray or communicate with God as there are prayers. We encourage you to find your way of connecting with God this Lent. Here are some ideas:

• • Experiment with a new form or way of praying; Lectio Divina, the Rosary, etc.
  • For one week, set your alarm 10 minutes early, and spend that time in prayer before starting your day.
  • For one week, examine your conscience before you go to bed, reviewing your day.
  • Set up or decorate an intentional space for prayer; a quiet corner, a comfortable chair, a place in nature.
  • Participate in the Stations of the Cross, or pray the Rosary each week (as little as a decade a day).
  • Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation this Lent.

The second Lenten pillar is fasting and abstinence. Fasting is the practice of limiting the food that we eat on certain days. You’ll know that we fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, meaning we only eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together do not equal to a full meal. Abstinence is the practice of not eating certain types of food. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, and continuing with each Friday in Lent, we abstain from eating meat. Fasting and abstaining remind us of our total dependence on God. These practices help us to remember that it is only through the love of God that we are fed, nourished, and sustained. The practices also reflect the opportunity each of us has to remove the vices of our lives that pull us away from being the people God wants us to be. These ideas may help you extend beyond the standard obligations of fasting and abstinence:

• • Forego eating out once a week, and donate the money saved to a food bank.
  • Choose an unhealthy habit or vice, whether it be junk food, smoking, gossiping, or inactivity, and abstain from the behavior for one week (or more).
  • Abstain from buying any new clothing during Lent, and purge your closet of disused items that could be donated.
  • Abstain from social media for one week (or more), and spend the time saved reading scripture or in spiritual reflection.
  • Abstain from complaining for one week (or more), and write down five things each day for which you are grateful.

The third and final pillar of Lent is almsgiving, also thought of as “acts of mercy and love.” Almsgiving and acts of mercy are ways in which we tell God that we will not be possessed by our possessions, but are ready and willing to share our possessions and time in the service of others. During Lent, we make a special effort to do acts of charitable service or take up collections of food or clothing for those in need. Our parish is taking up that call this Lent in support of the Hillsborough food pantry of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul through the “40 Cans in 40 Days” drive, but that does not have to be the extent of your charitable efforts this season:

• • Volunteer once a week to help others; serve at a soup kitchen, assist a neighbor with yard work — reach out!
  • Stop by a nearby nursing home, and spend an hour visiting with the residents.
  • Make cards for those who are sick, homebound, closed off, or incarcerated. Let them know someone cares.
  • Perform one random act of kindness every day for a week (or more).

While Pope Francis’ 2021 message lays out “the what,” his 2014 Lenten message provides us with “the why” for our actions during the season. “Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance.”

Peace and all good,
Fr. Mike

Dear Parishioners,

I’m writing to you on the eve of Ash Wednesday, dubbed “Fat Tuesday,” a day to celebrate before the Lenten season. Many of us will have been thinking about what we’ll give up for Lent on Fat Tuesday, potentially indulging one last time in what will be sacrificed for the next six weeks, whether it’s a common vice like chocolate or wine, or something a bit more procedural. I hear some folks try to give up cursing, though I also hear that is one of the more difficult options.

Any of these would be great to forgo during Lent, but what if we considered some more emotional or introspective options, like gossiping, lying, cheating, stealing or being selfish.  These are options which will cause us to truly evaluate ourselves, asking if we are truly being an imitator of Christ. Lent is a time for us all to spend in prayer, fasting and charity.

Prayer, an act of supplication or intercession directed towards God, can be healing and aid in our attempts to stick with our sacrificial commitments for the season. Through prayer we deepen our relationship with God. We see Jesus doing this throughout the New Testament, always seeking the Father before and after a healing. We, too, should seek the reassurance and refreshing shelter of God through prayer.

Our Lenten fasting does not have to focus on food alone. Abstaining from entertainment, like television and social media, can have quite an impact. However, the traditional view of fasting might sound sensational today, especially compared to the culture and norms during Jesus’ time. It was odd for a religious person not to fast. John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus, often fasted. Jesus also teaches his disciples how to fast in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically telling them not to make a show of their fasting. Christians shouldn’t fast to look pious or religious. Fasting is a practice of humbling ourselves before God. Fasting isn’t about how God responds to our prayers, but how we bring our prayers to Him.

Charity is defined as the highest form of love, signifying the reciprocal love between God and man that is made manifest in unselfish love of one’s fellow men. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, “If I have all things and yet do not have love, I’m nothing.” In a general sense, showing love, benevolence, good will, and a disposition of heart will incline others to think favorably of their fellow human being, and to do them good in turn. In a theological sense, it includes love of God, and universal good will to all. Over the years, the definition of Lent in the homilies I have given has changed from the simple thought to sacrificing something for forty days, to the thought of giving it up for good. The question I ask of myself is “What I am giving up and how will it cause me to grow in my relationship with God and my fellow neighbor?” I invite you to ask yourself this same question.

My brothers and sisters, it is my hope and prayer that this Lenten season truly becomes an awakening experience of God in our lives by our prayer, fasting and charity.

Peace and all good,
Friar Henry

Dear Parishioners,

Saints of God, the Lord be with you!

To fully appreciate today’s Gospel according to Matthew (5:38-48), we need to remember that he is writing to a primarily Jewish audience, to show that Jesus is the promised Messiah inaugurating the new Kingdom of God. While we, some two thousand years later, often call the time of Jesus living under Roman occupation “the Pax Romana,” it must be remembered that the peace of Roman rule was paid by a heavy price in both lives lost and heavy taxes.

The Kingdom of God will look and operate differently than the Empire of Rome, and this puts Jesus and those who follow him in a very dangerous position. Instead of the abusive use of power, revenge, retaliation, and greed, those in God’s Kingdom live the rule of forgiveness, pacifism, and generosity. As today’s first reading from Leviticus reminds us, this really isn’t a new teaching at all. If this sounds too good to be true, and an impossible way to live in the world, Jesus goes one step further by saying, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

YIKES!

Of course, left on our own, none of this is possible. However, Jesus does not ask us to do something without giving us all we need to carry out His holy and true commands. Today’s second reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians (3:16-23), St. Paul reminds us that we are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in us. It is by yielding to the promptings and the power of the Spirit that enables us to live, here and now, how it will be in the Kingdom of God to come. Since the Lord is kind and merciful (Psalm 103) we can choose, one situation at a time, to be kind and merciful. Hence “be perfect” (perfect meaning ‘being whole or mature [in Christ]’).

This is the weekend before the start of Lent. Today’s readings, I think, point to the end result of what our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are all about: growing in love for our neighbor and love of God.

Let us all continue to grow in “perfect love of God which reaches to our neighbor.”

Peace and all good.
Fr. Steve

Dear Parishioners,

The wisdom of Sirach places a radical choice before us; it is a choice between life and death. The choice in favor of the law will lead to life, and rejection of the law brings along with it death. The authors of the Book of Wisdom remind us that there is always complete freedom to accept or reject it. It is important to remember that God does not constrain or force the will of anyone, God prizes too highly the freedom He has given us and sin never will proceed from God’s will, it is a consequence of human choice. God knows our hearts and our minds, yet our desires and our thoughts, however, do at times deviate from God’s will.

The lessons of today’s readings are multiple. There is continuity between the two laws, that of Moses and that of Jesus. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, he is well aware that their sophistication is no match for “the deep things of God.” He urges, rather, the wisdom of the spiritually mature. It does take some level of maturity to recognize that the Sermon on the Mount is not there to cast us down, to be meant only as a list of things not to do.

While Jesus’ intention is not to abolish the old law, he promises to fulfill or realize the law in a new way. Jesus reveals all injustice in our human frailty, yet is firm in what He expects from those who choose to follow him. In matters of discipleship Jesus does not allow ifs, ands, or buts. He tells us to “let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything beyond that is from the evil one.” To read the Sermon on the Mount we should come away being challenged to the point of striving to make corrections in our own behaviors.

The Sermon on the Mount is our invitation to holiness. It hopefully resonates with our deepest sense of compassion in ways of loving ourselves and neighbor as a response to our most gracious God who has given us the true freedom to learn to love. Just imagine how different would our Eucharist be if we took Jesus seriously? The resentments we hold against others would have to dissolve before we approach the altar, lest we receive the sacrament unworthily. Perhaps that is why our Communion is aptly prefaced by the sign of peace. Just as we ask God, “look not on our sins, but on the faith of your church,” so also, we who have sinned against each other must see with the eyes of faith and forgive.

Peace and all good.
Fr. Zack

Dear Parishioners,

In this weekend’s Gospel, we see Jesus continuing with the Sermon on the Mount, with a section sometimes titled as the Similes of Salt and Light: When He says, “You are the light of the world,” Jesus believes that when we work through him we provide hope to our community. Our parish takes that seriously. We trust that His words in today’s Gospel carry power and we are going to draw from it. We know from experience that we can shine the light of Christ through good deeds, done in love. We need your help to be able to continue doing that for our local community. Just as you are a light, our Catholic Ministry Appeal is a light for all who rely on the ministries of our Church. Without your support, we can’t reach those who need Christ’s light to see. With your help, we can increase our impact, draw our neighbors into God’s house, and help our church burn brightly. Please help our goal of increasing our parish’s participation rate for this appeal. Any gift that you are able to contribute is welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration in this appeal | Click here to make your gift to the appeal.

To update you, while the job was more involved than we initially thought, we are getting close to the completion of restorations for southernmost set of doors at the front of the church. We are waiting for the updated hardware to be delivered to allow for installation. It wasn’t until our contractors began removing some of the molding that we realized the extent of the damage to the doorway. What started as a job quoted near $9,000 for this first set is now estimated at $15,000. The additional cost is for the removal and re-installing the stain glass window and the additional wood and façade work. As I have mentioned before, these doors are original to the church, and our goal, along with any necessary maintenance, is focused on restoration and preservation, to keep with the historical nature of the church. Once this first set of doors are reinstalled, we will begin the process again with the entrance along Twiggs Street. We will place a temporary set of doors at that entryway, so those using handicap ramp will not have any impact to their access.

In January, new members were added to our Parish Advisory Board. The Advisory Board meets quarterly, and works alongside the Finance, Outreach, and Maintenance Committees in providing leadership and valuable input into our parish life. The board is comprised of eleven parishioners, along with our four friars. The parishioners are all active members who serve in one or more ministries each. The members are as follows: Laura Prather (Chair), Larry Bevis, Cindy Burnett, Sarah Daniels, Fr. Zack Elliott, OFM, Sam Ferlita, Friar Henry Fulmer, OFM, Fr. Mike Jones, OFM, Fr. Steve Kluge, OFM, Stephen Krist, Helen Lukavec, Lynda Marsh, Tony Miranda, Don Murray, and Felix Vega. I ask that you keep all of them in your prayers as they continue to serve our parish.

Activity up at the North Campus continues to grow, and with it, some income to assist with future upgrades and renovations. We are renting out the auditorium to the diocese on the third Saturday of each month as they host day-long pre-cana retreats for the couples of our greater Catholic community preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage. Later this month, our rental agreement for Bonaventure Hall, the campus’ former prekindergarten building, goes into effect, with the developers tasked with redeveloping Robles Park moving in as they begin their work. The money raised will be set aside for future renovations of the North Campus kitchen and auditorium. Funds from our Gala in April will also go toward that project. I hope you all have the opportunity to join us for that special evening.

Peace and all good.
Fr. Mike