I hope that you are all doing well. Our parish priests pray every day that you and you families are all healthy. We miss you all very much. Although we are able to say Mass privately, it is just not the same without you. The celebration of the Eucharist is a community celebration.
As I mentioned previously, in these challenging times one of the sacrifices we are called to make is to abstain from parish gatherings. We all know that it is important and necessary, but we still miss one another. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
In this regard, I do have some good news to share. We are now ready to make available daily and Sunday Masses via our website.
These will be Masses prerecorded in our own church with our own parish priests leading us in prayer. This will begin this weekend with the Mass for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Sunday Masses will be available in English and Spanish. Weekday Masses will be in English.
Just go to our website and look for Online Mass Opportunities.
Think of this as a step toward the day when we will be able to worship together again. As you follow the Mass celebrated in your own parish church, you might think of it as “the next best thing to being there.”
I invite you to turn off your TV for an hour and nourish your soul with the inspirational words of Cardinal Tagle. He draws a biblical reflection from our current situation.
Click on the video below.
John Paul II Stations of the Cross Need to be Promoted
By Msgr. M. Francis Mannion I notice that in churches built or renovated after Vatican II, the "scriptural" Stations of the Cross approved by Pope John Paul II in 1991 are rarely portrayed. Instead one finds the "traditional" order promulgated by ...
Here is a link to another virtual version of the Stations of the Cross. It is a bit more contemporary and relates the meditations to our world today. It is hosted by a very creative group called Busted Halo. The link will take you to their website where you can click on the stations one at a time, taking time for reflection after each station. It is interesting that the images of the Stations of the Cross are taken from the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.
You might also want to explore other things this website has to offer.
A reflection from one of our Confirmation Youth Candidates
Each of us has had to find ways to deal with the “new normal” of so many restrictions on where we can go and what we can do. Yet we all know that it is necessary. I share with you the words of one of our young people, Ysabella, who just completed her first year of Confirmation prep. Her words are encouraging and inspirational for people of all ages.
I realize that some of you are experiencing budget problems of your own at this time and I am not asking to cut yourself short. But please keep in mind the needs of our parish during these uncertain times.
Those of you who use weekly offertory envelopes, please enclose your giving into the special mailing envelope that comes in your packet
Many of you pay your bills using online banking bill pay, you can choose St. Patrick Church to receive donations to Sunday Collection this way
This may also be a time to consider using Online Giving as a way of contributing to the parish during this time. https://www.osvonlinegiving.com/58
Thank you for whatever you can do.
Pope's special Urbi et Orbi blessing: 'God turns...
Pope Francis held the special Urbi et Orbi on Friday from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica. Usually a colorful event reserved only for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, this extraordinary blessing was held in keeping with the gravity of the...
God will open the graves and restore the people of Israel.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 130:1-8
With the Lord is forgiveness and mercy.
Second Reading
Romans 8:8-11
The Spirit of God dwells in you.
Gospel Reading
John 11:1-45 (shorter version John 11:3-7,17,20-27,33b-45)
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.
Background on the Gospel Reading
Our Gospel on this day, the fifth Sunday of Lent, is again taken from the Gospel according to John. The reading from John continues the break from Cycle A’s focus on the Gospel of Matthew. Today’s Gospel reading recounts another sign, or miracle, found in John’s Gospel, the raising of Lazarus. Today’s reading invites us to reflect upon what it means to call Jesus the Resurrection and the life.
The context for the story of the raising of Lazarus is the Jewish leaders’ growing animosity toward Jesus. Jesus has been in Jerusalem, taking part in the feast of the Dedication, which we have come to know as Hanukkah. The people have been pressing him to declare plainly whether he is the Messiah. Jesus tells them to look to his works, which testify to his coming from God. Many do not believe Jesus, however, and some try to stone him for blasphemy.
Into this scene of confrontation, Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, send word to Jesus that his friend is ill. Jesus is said to love Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but he delays his journey for two days. The delay heightens the drama and shows Jesus’ obedience to God, who is to be glorified through Lazarus’s resurrection. When Jesus finally declares that he will journey to Bethany, his disciples fear for his life. Thomas declares that he and the other disciples should prepare to die with Jesus.
The scene described at Bethany is a sad one. Martha meets Jesus weeping and saying that if Jesus had been there, Lazarus would not have died. Yet she remains confident that God will do whatever Jesus asks. Martha affirms her belief that there will be a resurrection of the dead in the last days. Then Martha’s sister, Mary, comes to Jesus with the same confidence, saying that Jesus could have cured Lazarus. Jesus asks to be brought to Lazarus’s tomb where he prays and calls Lazarus out from the tomb. At this sign, many come to believe in Jesus, but others take word of the miracle to the Jewish authorities, who begin their plans for Jesus’ death.
Set against the backdrop of Jesus’ impending death, many elements of the raising of Lazarus foreshadow the good news of Jesus’ own Resurrection. Jesus, facing the conflict with the Jewish authorities, acts in complete obedience to God. In raising Lazarus, Jesus shows his power over death so that when Jesus dies, those who believe in him might remember that and take hope. Just as Jesus calls for the stone to be rolled away from Lazarus’s tomb, so too will the disciples find the stone rolled away from Jesus’ tomb.
The Gospel today calls us to reflect on Baptism as a dying and rising with Jesus. In Baptism we die to sin’s power over us, rising as children of God. In Baptism we join ourselves with Christ, who conquered death once and for all so that we who believe in him may have eternal life. With Martha and Mary, we are called to profess our belief that Jesus is indeed the Resurrection and the Life.
An Opportunity to Help
A number of parishioners have asked if there are any people who need help. There is a segment of the population that needs our help: the homeless of Carlsbad.
Our St Patrick’s Showers of Blessings volunteers are helping to feed our homeless population. They are a few volunteers who are making sack lunches that are being distributed to our homeless friends. But more help is needed from people who don’t feel compromised by going to the grocery store.
In the distribution of the food, the practice of social distancing is strictly maintained
We are being asked to provide 60 to 70 take away food bags every Wednesday. If anyone can help, please email Chris Durnan
I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.
Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
Going to Confession
Many Catholics celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a part of their annual Lenten purification. In our parish, we continue to make confession available on Saturdays at 3:00 pm. Our priests will observe the proper social distancing and we ask you to do the same. Our practice for hearing confessions at the church has changed: both priest and penitent will stand, maintaining a distance of six feet between them. However, some people cannot and should not come out even for receiving this sacrament.
People have asked me, “Father, do I need to go to confession during Lent?” Pope Francis has very good advice that he gave in a recent homily in the chapel of Santa Marta where he lives:
Do what the Catechism says, the Pope stressed, it’s very clear: if you don’t find a priest to hear your Confession, talk with God, He is your Father, and tell Him the truth: “Lord, I’ve done this, and that, and that . . . I’m sorry,” and ask Him for forgiveness with all your heart, with the Act of Contrition and promise Him: “Afterwards I will go to Confession, but forgive me now.”
If you do all this, Pope Francis said, you will return to God’s grace immediately. As the Catechism teaches, you yourself can approach God’s forgiveness without having a priest at hand. Think: it’s the moment! And this is the right moment, the opportune moment. An Act of Contrition well made will make our soul become white as snow.
Thinking of the parable of the Prodigal son, the Pope encouraged: It would be good if today this “return” resounded in our ears, “return to your Papa, return to your Father.” He is waiting for you and He will celebrate with you.”
During this time of inactivity, we will use our parish email system to communicate with parishioners to offer spiritual reflections and make announcements.
If you know someone who does not receive our emails, please forward this to them, or have them reply to this message to add their email address. You can also call the office at 760.729.2866.
The church is open for private prayer every day from 6:00am - 7:00pm
Friday April 3 is the First Friday of the month of April. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place in the main body of the church from 2:00 to 6:00pm. As always, please observe the appropriate social distancing.
If you are not a regular financial supporter of St. Patrick Church, please consider making a donation by using Online Giving.
