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There have been many changes in the past week. I am writing this column on Monday, May 18th, and there may be even more changes before you receive this bulletin at the end of the week. The Governor’s public health order currently in effect allows for houses of worship to hold services at up to 25% of their occupancy capacity as determined by the fire marshal. Here at Our Lady of Fatima, we have resumed our normal weekend Mass schedule which includes Masses at 5:30 pm on Saturday, and 7:30 am, 10:00 am and 12:00 noon on Sunday. The occupancy restrictions limit us to a maximum of 178 people in the church at each Mass. We were well within those limits this past weekend. In the event that on future weekends we reach the maximum allowed attendance at a Mass, we have set up the gym to accommodate the “overflow” with a second Mass being offered at the same time in the gym.

Today’s Second Reading, from the First Letter of Peter (1 Peter 3:15-18), tells us to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, but what does that mean? In our relationship with God, how do we accomplish this? “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel (John 14:15-21). That is how he will know that we love him. What he asks of us is not always easy, but Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to help us.

Running through all of the Scripture Readings in today’s Mass, is a strong sense of action, of movement by the Church and within the Church. The First Reading (Acts 6:1-7) tells of how certain widows were not being taken care of “in the daily distribution.” What was the “daily distribution”? Following Jesus’ word and example of feeding the hungry and caring for those in need, the Apostles would care for the local widows with what they had available to them – goods often gathered from the generosity of the Christian community. The number of Christians rose so quickly, however, that the Apostles could no longer preach the Word and distribute the alms to Christian widows.

Today is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. While we pray for the encouragement of all vocations – including those of married life and single life, this day is particularly set aside to pray for those whom God calls to religious life – as priests and deacons, religious sisters and brothers – to serve God’s people. For decades we have witnessed a severe decline in the number of men and women answering God’s call to serve the Church. It is not that God has stopped calling people to religious vocations. It is that those who have been called have declined the invitation.

The Gospel today is the telling of the story of the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) in which two disciples are travelling along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus after the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, and they encounter the Risen Lord walking with them though they do not recognize him. Upon reaching Emmaus, the two invite the stranger to have dinner with them and spend the night before continuing his journey. The story concludes by saying: “While he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” They recognized Jesus in the action of the “breaking of the bread.” Immediately, the despair of the two disciples turned to joy; their desperation turned to elation and they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples of their encounter with the Risen Lord.

Today the Church observes Divine Mercy Sunday. The central focus is our celebration of the resurrection of Christ and the floodgates of God’s mercy being opened upon us, and is based both on Scripture and the revelations made to Saint Faustina Kowalska.

As I am preparing this column, it is still two weeks before Easter. The publisher who prints our bulletins moves up our deadlines so we must submit them earlier around the holidays. With that in mind, I do not know what the next two weeks will bring, as the COVID-19 pandemic seems to result in things being changed weekly and, in some cases, even daily. At this point, the Archbishop has moved the Chrism Mass to after Easter, and the liturgies for the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday) are to be celebrated in the parish churches, but only by the Priests, continuing the prohibition against public Masses to deter the spread of the Coronavirus. With that in mind, I submit to you the following column for Easter Sunday.

How quickly things can change! That seems particularly true in our current time as we respond on a daily basis to the changing threat of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. But as we reflect upon the events of Holy Week in Jesus’ day, we also recognize how quickly things changed at that time as well. The Mass for Palm Sunday (also known as "Passion Sunday”) begins with the Processional Gospel (Matthew 21:1-11) that recalls the joyous arrival of Jesus in the holy city of Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey with crowds of people waving palm branches and shouting: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The Scripture Readings for Mass later end with a reading of the Passion of the Lord, as Jesus is betrayed and tortured, denied, mocked and crucified. The very crowds who had welcomed him to shouts of “Hosanna!” later shouted “Crucify him! Crucify him!” as our Lord stood before Pontius Pilate.

Our Readings at Mass today go straight to the heart of our Catholic faith. They speak of death, and new life in Christ. In the First Reading, from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:12-14), we heard: “Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.” In the Gospel (John 11:1-45), the stone has been rolled back from the tomb of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus. Jesus commended that he come forth from the tomb and be released from all the wrappings that bound him up, and then set him free.

This Wednesday, March 25th, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord - nine months to the day of his birth in Bethlehem. The Gospel for the day is Luke 1:26-38, and it describes the event of the Annunciation, and encourages us to follow the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary by placing our trust in God. The Archangel Gabriel greeted Mary with “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” These words brought confusion to Mary and troubled her. The angel spoke again telling her “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Then we hear the angel’s announcement that Mary has been chosen by God to bear His Son, Jesus.

The image of mercy flowing like water is present in today’s Gospel (John 4:5-42) where Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well. From the start, we know that this is no ordinary meeting: It is with a Samaritan with a mixed marital history, spurned by others to such a degree that she must come to the well at the hottest time of the day, when no one else is there. But there is someone there: Jesus! And despite her scandalous personal history and the social norms of the time which would have prohibited a man from speaking to a woman in public who was not his wife, Jesus speaks to her. And what a conversation it is!

Lent is a season of change; a season of transforming our spiritual lives. There seems a natural correlation since the very word “Lent” is rooted in a word that meant “spring” and we are all familiar with the changes that take place in springtime as the earth bursts forth with new life that has been dormant during the winter season. Unfortunately, while nature seems quite incapable of resisting the changes common to springtime, we human beings seem all too capable and willing to resist changes in our lives. Transformation requires energetic effort. It challenges and disturbs our comfortable patterns of behavior, even when those patterns may be harmful to us, either physically or spiritually.

Although fasting is only required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, many people use fasting as a spiritual exercise during the Lenten season. The Scriptures are filled with examples of fasting where the rewards sought and attained were spiritual. Jesus fasted forty days in the desert before beginning his public ministry; Moses fasted before receiving the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai; Elijah fasted before meeting the Lord on Mt. Horeb (also known as Mt. Sinai); St. Paul’s ministry began after a period of prayer and fasting that followed his being blinded on the road to Damascus; and the disciples were encouraged by the Lord to fast when he was no longer with them.

Wednesday of this week is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. There are some people who seem to have a mistaken understanding of the reception of ashes and assign more importance to receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday than they do to attending Sunday Mass. Do not be misled. The ashes are NOT a Sacrament. They are what is called a “sacramental” and are no different than blessing yourself with Holy Water when you enter or leave the church. What is exceptional about the reception of ashes is that it normally occurs only one day a year (on Ash Wednesday), and that it is an outward sign – a public declaration, if you will – that one is a sinner and is in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. If we receive the ashes and then do not follow it up with a Sacramental Confession at some point during Lent, we have done nothing but condemn ourselves as hypocrites.

Today’s First Reading comes from the Book of Sirach in the Old Testament (Sirach 15:15-20), and it offers the Jewish people advice on how to live their lives in a manner worthy of God, and make the choice between good and evil. This same principal would later be stated multiple times by Saint Paul when he would encourage the early Christian communities to live in a manner worthy of the call (Baptism) they have received.

This weekend is the beginning of our Annual Catholic Appeal campaign for 2020 and we will have the opportunity to complete pledge cards. The theme for this year’s campaign is “His Mercy Endures Forever… Proclaim the Gospel!” Parishioners recently received a letter, pamphlet, and pledge card from Archbishop John Wester regarding the importance of the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA). Unlike the tithing renewal that we do each November in which we commit ourselves to a weekly tithe to the support of our local parish, the Annual Catholic Appeal is our opportunity to consider the needs not just of our own parish, but of Catholics across the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

At first glance, today’s celebration (The Presentation of the Lord; Luke 2:22-40) may seem rather strange and out of sequence. The Christmas decorations came down a few weeks ago and three Sundays of Ordinary Time have passed during which the adult Jesus has been baptized, begun his public ministry, and called his first disciples. But the Law of Moses called for a 40-day period of purification after the birth of a male child – and today is 40 days, inclusive, after Christmas.

Zebulun and Naphtali, mentioned in both our First Reading (Isaiah 8:23 – 9:3) and the Gospel (Matthew 4:12-23) today, were sons of Jacob and the leaders of two of the twelve tribes of Israel. The lands settled by their descendants were in the most northern part of Israel. Of all the Israelites, they were the furthest from the summer sun, giving rise to Isaiah’s description of the people there as those “who walked in darkness” and “in the land of gloom.” Their darkness wasn’t just a matter of geography, however. These were also the first lands to be invaded by the Assyrians, and the Israelites were oppressed by their pagan conquerors who practiced false worship of many gods. Isaiah prophesies of a time when a great light will shine upon these people, freeing them from darkness and bringing them “abundant joy” and “great rejoicing.” He prophesies what we know to be the coming of the Christ, who will free them from the yokes that burden them.

As we begin our post-Christmas observance of Ordinary Time, which will lead us into the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday (Wednesday, February 26th), the Church invites us to look more closely at the public life of Jesus. While this year we will hear from the Gospel of Matthew on most Sundays, today we hear from John’s Gospel, telling us about John the Baptist identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God. It is primarily from this Gospel passage that we speak of Jesus as the Lamb of God in our liturgy. Why the word lamb? After all, a lamb is a young sheep, and the term could be used to indicate an unsophisticated, immature person.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and the official end to the Church’s observance of the Christmas season. Three of the four Gospels recall the Baptism of the Lord, each in its own way. The version we heard today, from the Gospel of Matthew, is unique in recalling that when Jesus came to the Jordan River, John the Baptist at first tried to “prevent him” from receiving baptism, saying that he was the one who needed to be baptized by Jesus. But Jesus replies, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”