The Paschal Mystery: Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Fr. Francis Di Spigno, OFM,
Pastor

Letter from the Pastor
Palm Sunday
April 10, 2022

Holy Week is upon us.  Today’s liturgy begins with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem but it doesn’t take long for the crowd to turn and the mood to shift when we begin to hear the Passion.  The last three days of this week, known as the Triduum, is not only the climax of our Lenten journey, it is the climax of our entire faith.  All the Feast Days, Solemnities, and Memorials that we celebrate throughout the year are not nearly as important to us, and our faith, as our remembering of the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, the Crucifixion on Good Friday, and our ultimate Passover meal that is celebrated on Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil.  There is no final blessing at the end the Mass on Holy Thursday because the Mass does not end until the Easter Vigil is over.  The Triduum is the highest point of the entire liturgical year as we make present, once again, the paschal mystery of Christ: his passion, death, and resurrection.  Without this everything else we do, everything that we are, would literally be meaningless.  I invite you enter into the Paschal Mystery and to celebrate with us those three days – as one celebration – on Holy Thursday at 7:30 PM, Good Friday at 3 PM, and the Easter Vigil at 7:30 PM.

I would also like to update you on a few other things. 

·      Barbara Truncellito: Last week I shared with you the very sad news of the death of Barbara Truncellito, our long time parishioner and our Director of Parish Development.  Her funeral Mass will be celebrated here at St. Francis on Thursday, April 28th at 12 noon.  Visitation will be from 10 AM to 12 noon, also here in St. Francis Church.

·      The Synod of Bishops 2023: As you know, Pope Francis invited the entire church to enter into the preparation process for the 2023 Synod of Bishops.  In doing so, he asked every baptized Catholic to enter into the process of listening and dialogue about our faith journey as Church.   Our Synod 2023 Steering Committee did a great job organizing and implanting the different sessions that were available for our parish community.  Overall, 113 people engage the question, “What have been the joys and obstacles in your journeying together with the Church?”  I was a participant in a diocesan-wide session and facilitated three other sessions here at St. Francis.  I personally found each conversation to be affirming and up-lifting.  It was very moving to hear the faith experience of other members of our community.  It made my faith stronger and, I believe, brought us closer together in solidarity with one another as we all journey through this life together.  If you were not able to take part of a synod meeting and would like to share your thoughts, the Diocese of Trenton has created a link for you to do so.  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5YVPGPX

I would like to take this opportunity to send out a great big thank you to Jen and Anthony Mauro, the co-chairs of the Synod 2023 Steering Committee.  They did an outstanding job organizing the committee and leading us forward in this new process.   I also want to thank the committee, Marie Logue, Bobbi Green, Arlene Morrison, Victoria Vazquez, Fr. John Frambes, OFM, Michele Beck, and Judy Clayton, as they took up the charge, in a very short period of time, to make sure the voices of St. Francis Parish were included in this universal Church conversation.  Thank you also to those who volunteered to be facilitators and recorders.  Because the groups were intended to be small we needed a lot of people to lead these small groups.  Thank you for your great help.  Finally, thank you to all who participated.  Your faith and commitment to our church only makes us stronger!  Once the committee has created the final report of our particular conversations I will share that with you as we all look forward to our bright future together.

·      Speakers: Finally, some people have been asking about when the new speakers will arrive at our Brant Beach Church.  Unfortunately, the son of the owner of the company installing them has had some very serious health issues due to Covid.  His son is improving, slowly, but this has created quite the backlog for him.  At this point, I am not sure exactly when they will be installed.  I’ll let you know when I know more.

May we all have a Blessed Holy Week!

Peace and All Good!

Fr. Francis J. Di Spigno, OFM

Pastor