November's Saints & Souls

1^st & 2^nd    November’s Saints and Souls

- Once again, the month of November is coming soon. In the first week of November, we solemnly celebrate the feast of all Saints – Happy Feast Day! As we celebrate this feast, instead of stretching our necks to have a glimpse of heaven, today, let’s look at one another and recognize the saints hidden in all of us. In every person lies the seed of holiness. St. Augustine once said: “Since God became human, we can be sure that in everything human, there is something of the divine.” No matter how sinful a person is, there is always a possibility for that person, by God’s grace and steadfast love, to become holy. Together, let us give thanks for the gift of holiness in each of us. Let us pray, “Jesus, grant me the grace to desire that others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should.” Let us wish the best to one another for the greater holiness, even greater than ours, and strive to do our best to become as holy as we ought to be.

God hates sin but loves the sinners. Saints are sinners loved by God. We will always be grateful for the gift of holiness in each of us; we will always pray for one another’s holiness and we’ll help one another to be holy by loving one another more and better.

-The second day of November is the Commemoration of All the Faithful departed   (All Soul’s Day). Sometimes we ask for a mass for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. They are poor because they have nothing that may be considered luxurious. Even though their hands are empty, their hearts are full of the hope of heaven and eternal life.

They are poor because they are helpless. They need to be helped. Our prayers and sacrifices will help them. The merits of the Masses we offer on their behalf benefit them so unimaginably immensely. Our fervent prayers, sacrifices, and Masses that are pleasing to God, can bring them to heaven.

To offer the Holy Eucharist on behalf of the poor souls in purgatory is unparalleled in value. The Eucharist is Jesus. Only Jesus can give them glorified bodies and life of unending joy. Purgatory will be poorer, for there will be lesser souls there in this All Souls’ Day than when we arose this morning.

May the Souls of All the Faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen!

Palm Sunday Information

9 things we need to know about Palm (Passion) Sunday

Palm Sunday--or is it Passion Sunday? -- marks the beginning of Holy Week.

This day commemorates not one but two very significant events in the life of Christ.

Here are 9 things you need to know.

1. What is this day called? The day is called both "Palm Sunday" and "Passion Sunday."

The first name comes from the fact that it commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the crowd had palm branches (John 12:13). The second name comes from the fact that the narrative of the Passion is read on this Sunday. Holy Week begins on "Passion (or Palm) Sunday" which joins the foretelling of Christ's regal triumph and the proclamation of the passion.

2. One of the notable features of this day is a procession before Mass.

 Why do we do this and how is it supposed to work?

The commemoration of the entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem has, according to ancient custom, been celebrated with a solemn procession, in which the faithful in song and gesture imitate the Hebrew children who went to meet the Lord singing "Hosanna."

3. Are we only supposed to use palms? What if you don't have palms where you live?

It is not necessary that palm branches be used in the procession. Other forms of greenery can also be used. 

The faithful usually keep palm or olive branches, or other greenery which have been blessed 

on Palm Sunday in their homes or in their work places.

4. Should any instruction be given to the faithful?

According to the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy:

The faithful, however, should be instructed as to the meaning of this celebration

 so that they might grasp its significance.  They should be opportunely reminded that the important thing

 is participation at the procession and not only the obtaining of palm or olive branches.  Palms and olive branches are kept in the home as a witness to faith in Jesus Christ, the messianic king, and in his Paschal Victory.

5. What was Jesus doing at the Triumphal Entry?

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI explains:

Jesus claims the right of kings, known throughout antiquity, to requisition modes of transport.

Jesus is indeed making a royal claim. He wants his path and his action to be understood in terms of 

Old Testament promises that are fulfilled in his person. . .

[Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 2].

6. What does the reaction of the crowd show?  

It shows that they recognized him as their messianic king.

The spreading out of garments likewise belongs to the tradition of Israelite kingship (cf. 2 Kings 9:13). 

 The pilgrims who came to Jerusalem with Jesus are caught up in the disciples’ enthusiasm. They now spread their garments on the street along which Jesus passes.  They pluck branches from the trees and cry out verses from Psalm 118, words of blessing from Israel’s pilgrim liturgy, which on their lips become a Messianic proclamation: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mk 11:9–10; cf. Ps 118:26).

7. What does the word "Hosanna" mean? 

Originally this was a word of urgent supplication, meaning something like: Come to our aid! The priests would repeat it in a monotone on the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, while processing seven times around the altar of sacrifice, as an urgent prayer for rain.

But as the Feast of Tabernacles gradually changed from a feast of petition into one of praise, so too the cry for help turned more and more into a shout of jubilation.

By the time of Jesus, the word had also acquired Messianic overtones. In the Hosanna acclamation, then, we find an expression of the complex emotions of the pilgrims accompanying Jesus and of his disciples: joyful praise of God at the moment of the processional entry, hope that the hour of the Messiah had arrived, and at the same time a prayer that the Davidic kingship and hence God’s kingship over Israel would be re-established.

8. Is the same crowd that cheered Jesus' arrival the one that demanded

 his crucifixion  just a few days later?

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI argues that it was not:

All three Synoptic Gospels, as well as Saint John, make it very clear that the scene of Messianic homage to Jesus was played out on his entry into the city and that those taking part were not the inhabitants of Jerusalem,    but the crowds who accompanied Jesus and entered the Holy City with him.

This point is made most clearly in Matthew’s account through the passage immediately following the Hosanna  to Jesus, Son of David: “When he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying: Who is this? And the crowds said: This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee” (Mt 21:10–11). . . . 

The crowd that paid homage to Jesus at the gateway to the city was not the same crowd that later demanded his crucifixion.

9. This brings us to the Passion Narrative recorded in the Gospel. How is this to be read at Mass?

  The passion narrative occupies a special place. It should be sung or read in the traditional way, that is, by three persons who take the parts of Christ, the narrator and the people. The passion is proclaimed by deacons or priests, or by lay readers. In the latter case, the part of Christ should be reserved to the priest.