Easter is Not Over!       Well, Easter is over.  Back to normal.  Half-priced chocolate bunnies and eggs in the store.        No, no, no! Easter is not over!  The Easter season continues until Pentecost, this year on May 31st, 50 days after Easter.  Easter is the most important celebration for a Christian, and we need a lot of time to absorb the richness, and the grace.  We need to journey with the apostles (Peter, John, James, Thomas), men and women disciples, Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ mother, the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Mk. 16:12-13; Lk. 24:13-35), the centurion converted at the foot of the cross (Mt. 27:54).  Or how about the people of Jerusalem who saw the resuscitated dead who had come out from their tombs after the earthquake when Jesus died on Good Friday (Mt. 27:53)?  They must have stayed around for some time as it says they were still appearing after Easter Sunday when Jesus was resurr...

Easter Homily of St. Jerome Last Sunday was Easter, and this coming Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. With the ongoing "stay at home" orders, Catholics and most Christians had to miss church for Easter, so we thought we would share an Easter homily from about 400 AD by St. Jerome: If any be a devout lover of God, let him partake with gladness from this fair and radiant feast. If any be a faithful servant, let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his Lord. If any have wearied himself with fasting, let him now enjoy his reward. If any have labored from the first hour, let him receive today his rightful due. If any have come after the third hour, let him celebrate the feast with thankfulness. If any have come after the sixth hour, let him not be in doubt, for he will suffer no loss. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him not hesitate but draw near. If any have arrived only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid because he comes so late. For the ...

Sacred Paschal Triduum       Thursday April 9th, begins the Sacred Paschal Triduum (Thursday, Friday, Saturday). “Paschal” refers to the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Hebrew word “ pesach ” (Passover) is rendered “ pascha ” in Greek, from which we get the English word “paschal,” an adjective.       “Christ redeemed us all and gave perfect glory to God principally through His paschal mystery: dying He destroyed our death and rising He restored our life. Therefore the Easter triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord is the culmination of the entire liturgical year.... Let the paschal feast be kept sacred. Let it be celebrated everywhere on Good Friday and, wherever possible, prolonged throughout Holy Saturday, as a way of coming to the joys of the Sunday of the resurrection with uplifted and welcoming heart. These days are therefore unique in the liturgical year and their celebration is of the utmost importance...

Palm Sunday       This Sunday is Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, and is the commencement of Holy Week.  Good Friday is April 10, and Easter Sunday is April 12.        Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus closures we will not be able to attend Mass – but we can still watch and pray the Mass online ( ollcalcity.org ), and remember the events and meaning of this day when Jesus triumphantly, yet humbly, came into Jerusalem.       To give a likely chronological sequence of events that Holy Week of likely AD 30, consider that this Saturday would be when Jesus was likely in Bethany with Lazarus, Mary, Martha, His disciples and many followers.  Jesus is warned that the Jewish authorities have decided to kill him (Mt. 26:3-5).  They have a meal together and Mary, for the second time, anoints Jesus’ feet in an act of sincere love (Jn. 12:2-11, Mt. 26:6-13).  Judas Iscariot, on the other hand, meets wi...

The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead       The Diocese of Fresno has extended the suspension of all Masses, classes, meetings, and other events until after Palm Sunday – and it could go longer. So there is no Sunday Mass this weekend of March 28-29, nor Palm Sunday Weekend of April 4-5. Keep checking our website for the most current updates – ollcalcity.org . Also, daily Mass from Bishop Barron's chapel in Santa Barbara is now broadcast each day on our website during this closure.       While we cannot feed just now on the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, Christ is still present in His Word which each family or individual at home (hopefully safe from any virus) can open, read, and meditate on. The Gospel for this Sunday is the raising of Lazarus from the dead. If you have a Missal, open it up to the Fifth Week of Lent and pray through the entire Mass: antiphons, readings, the special Preface for the raising of Lazarus, chose one of the Eucharisti...

St. Patrick Likely we've worn green and feasted on corned beef and cabbage in honor of St. Patrick’s Feast Day (or “St. Paddy’s Day”) this week. Let's take pause to look at this most interesting 5th Century slave-turned-missionary. Patrick lived from approximately 387-460 (exact dates are not certain). He called himself a “Roman” and a “Briton,” and likely was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland, although others think his birth may be Cumberland, England, or northern Wales. His father was a high-ranking Roman and a deacon, and his grandfather a priest; his mother was a near relative of St. Martin of Tours (316 or 336-397). Patrick, however, was not much of a believer initially. When he was 16, Patrick was captured by Irish pirates along with a large number of his father’s slaves and vassals. They were all sold as slaves in Ireland, Patrick being sold to a chieftan in the present county of Antrim to be a shepherd tending flocks near today’s town of Ballymena. St. Patrick later ...

Living Water        This Sunday is the Third Sunday of Lent, and our Gospel reading is John 4:5-42: the encounter of the Samaritan woman with Jesus at the well. But it is not just this one woman Jesus reaches – as important as that is. The whole town of Sychar is reached, the 12 disciples are taught, and we readers and hearers of the story also are encountered by Jesus.       The brief version of what happened is this: the woman comes to the well to draw water around Noon. Jesus is alone, sitting by the well, and asks her for a drink. As Jews normally would not speak with Samaritans, nor men with women in public like this, the woman says, How can you ask? Jesus answers, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water." Jesus' "living water" is certainly more than the H 2 O the woman came for. And so the conversation about water becomes about ete...