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The Stations of the Cross will be prayed in the church at 6:30 PM on Fridays during Lent. Parishioners are invited to participate. Because of the continuing COVID precautions, we will not be having Lenten Soup Suppers this year. The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) will be offered during the Stations of the Cross.

View the 2022 Lent, Holy Week and Easter Schedule for Our Lady of Fatima Parish.

Saturdays from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM (except April 16, 2022). Fridays during Lent from 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM during Stations of the Cross (except April 15, 2022).

The Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday, April 15, and ends on April 23. The novena will be prayed in the church at 3:00 PM each day during this period.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on March 2, 2022. There will be three Masses with distribution of ashes that day, at 6:30 AM, 8:15 AM, and 5:30 PM. The distribution of ashes will take place after the homily. There will also be a Liturgy of the Word (no Communion) with distribution of ashes at 12:10 PM in the afternoon.

Our Lady of Fatima Church has been asked to pray in front of Planned Parenthood on Tuesday, March 16th, 2021. From Wednesday, February 17th thru Sunday, March 28th, 40 Days for Life will lead a focused pro-life effort that consists of: 40 days of prayer & fasting, 40 days of peaceful vigil, 40 days of public witness. Join us in peaceful prayer between 7 am and 7 pm daily at this location: Planned Parenthood abortion mill 701 San Mateo NE in Albuquerque.

Join Us Virtually for the 70th Annual Brother Mathias St. Patrick’s Day Celebration of Faith and Service Honoring St. Patrick and Founder, Brother Mathias. March 17, 2021, 6:00 PM-8:00 PM. Join us ONLINE at gscnm.org. For more information call 505-249-6416.

Students at Our Lady of Fatima School and public school students in the Catechism program will be receiving cardboard “Rice Bowls” to use during Lent as we participate in Operation Rice Bowl. Rice bowls will also be available in the church and parish office for other parishioners who would like to participate. The Rice Bowls will be collected during Holy Week. 75% of our Rice Bowl donations go to support the programs of Catholic Relief Services throughout the world, and 25% of our Rice Bowl donations support local projects to alleviate hunger and poverty here in our own Archdiocese.

Join us for a seven-week Adult Faith Formation Lenten journey beginning February 16, 2021. A study guide will be provided. In-person and Zoom meetings are available. Please call the parish office to register (505-265-5868).

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 17th. There will be three Masses with distribution of ashes that day: 6:30 AM, 8:15 AM, and 5:30 PM. The distribution of ashes will take place after the homily. There will also be a Liturgy of the Word (no Communion) with distribution of ashes at 12:10 PM in the afternoon. Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, all Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are bound by the rule of fasting.

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.