Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

With the Scrutinies now behind us, our journey through Lent comes to a close as we begin our preparations for Holy Week – Palm Sunday and the Triduum.  Our Mass on Palm Sunday is a liturgy of transition, starting with the joyful celebration with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, only to experience the sadness and solemnity of his passion and death.  How quickly things can change!  The crowd that cheered his arrival into Jerusalem turns in a matter of a few days calling for his crucifixion… The Word for Palm Sunday Mark 11:1-10 or John 12:12-16 Isaiah 50:4-7 Psalms 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 Philippians 2:8-9 Mark 14:1-15:47 The opening of the Palm Sunday Mass begins with the Gospel proclamation of Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, with palms waving and crowds cheering.  But this triumph is short-lived once we settle into our seats for the Liturgy of the Word.  Our first reading is from second Isaiah where w...

Our Cycle B readings bring the theme of covenant to a close this week (as next week we celebrate Palm Sunday).  Through our readings this Lenten cycle we’ve been witness to key covenant moments that God had, first with Noah, then Abraham, then Moses, then David.  As we know, however, in all these covenants, the people fell eventually away… turned away from God.  Now it’s time for something new… what we Christians understand to be the New Covenant… The Word for the 5 th Sunday of Lent Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15 Hebrews 5:7-9 John 12:20-33 First we hear from Jeremiah, who’s prophecy covers the final days of the Kingdom of Judah.  This week’s passage comes from a time of trouble, where the end for Jerusalem is near.  Yet in the face of certain doom, Jeremiah is able to preach of a restoration… where we here the Lord's desire to make "a new covenant with the house Israel and the house of Judah."  This prophe...

This Sunday we continue our Lenten journey through Salvation History with a continued focus on covenant .  We’ve already given witness to the covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Moses.  This week we turn our attention to the Davidic Covenant (the covenant with King David), or more accurately, the covenant with the monarchy of Israel. The Word for the 4 th Sunday of Lent 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23 Psalms 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 Ephesians 2:4-10 John 3:14-21 Our first reading comes from the end of the 2nd book of Chronicles.  Though our intent this Sunday is to remember the Davidic Covenant, our Lectionary has chosen an interesting approach.  Rather than give us a story about King David, we are presented with a story  from the end of the Babylonian Exile.  Why approach the covenant with David from this tail-end view?  It’s an approach that actually fits very well with the Book of Chronicles, for you see, the Book of Chronicle...