Freed from Unwalled Prisons

A British World War II veteran tells this story of being among a group of soldiers who were captured by the Japanese at the notorious River Kwai:

During their imprisonment, the British prisoners were, at first, very religious, praying together, singing hymns, reading daily from the Bible. They were hoping and expecting that God would reward their faithfulness or at least mitigate their captivity. God didn’t deliver, however, and the men became both disillusioned and angry. They gave up the outward display of their faith – but after a while, as they began to tend to the needs of one another – caring for each other, protecting the weaker ones among them and, in some cases, dying for one another – they began to discern something of the spirit of God in their midst. They discovered that religion was not what you believed but what you did for others when it seemed that you could do nothing at all. Compassion gave them their inner strength, and their inner strength gave them compassion. [Ernest Gordon, quoted in “Storm Center” by Peter J. Gomes, Christian Century, May 31, 2003.]

In some of the hardest words he speaks in the Gospel, Jesus disabuses his disciples of the notion that faith is only a matter of creed and ritual. To be an authentic disciple of Jesus means to put ourselves in the humble, demanding role of servant to others, to intentionally seek the happiness and fulfillment of those we love regardless of the cost to ourselves. Only in imitating the servanthood of Christ do we experience the true depth of our faith; only in embracing his compassion and humility in our lives do we enable the Spirit of God to renew and transform our world in God’s life and love.

Holy Week Schedule

April 5 Palm Sunday

Easter Egg Hunt after 10:30 Mass Rice Bowls are due back

April 7 Tuesday

6:00 PM - Seder dinner

April 9 Holy Thursday

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM Confessions

6:00 PM Mass

April 10 Good Friday (Fast & Abstinence)

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Confessions

12:00 PM Stations of the Cross

3:00 PM Passion of the Lord

7:00 PM Tenebrae

April 11 Holy Saturday

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM Confessions

8:15 PM Easter Vigil Mass

April 12 Easter Sunday

Masses: 7:00 AM, 8:30 AM (Choir),

10:00 AM (Children), 11:30 AM

VIRTUS CLASS

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

6:30 PM at Precious Blood

To register online go to: www.virtus.org.

For more information call Kate Russell at 237-3428 x3.