Our elderly shut-ins are especially impacted by the isolation imposed by COVID-19. Can you send one or more cards to let them know that St. Malachi is keeping them in our thoughts and prayers? If so, please send an email to the St. Malachi Pastoral Minister/Parish Catechetical Leader, Stephanie Pritts at Stephanie.P@StMalachi.org. Thank you!
Holy Week at Home, 4/4/2020
Courtesy of Liturgical Press, please download and print Holy Week at Home, a beautiful resource for celebrating Holy Week at home during this COVID-19 crisis.
This short, 15-page booklet provides adaptations of the Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday Rituals for family and household prayer.
Also, take advantage of other opportunities both at the church and online. See the website for details.
Holy Week Message from Fr. Gurnick, 4/4/2020
Friends,
During this most sacred time of Holy Week, when we cannot be together, I will be sharing brief videograms with you. Please visit the website frequently, and especially at times when we would otherwise be together during the Easter Triduum, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil. And of course, on Easter Sunday.
You remain in my prayers,
Fr. Michael Gurnick,
Administrator, St. Malachi
Palm Sunday – The Passion According to Matthew, 4/4/2020
Friends in Christ,
During this time when we cannot be together to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass, please listen/watch the Gospel for the day, the Passion of Jesus Christ According to Matthew.
Holy Week Schedule, 2020
Guiding Principles:
- Safe Distancing in Effect / Observing Government Safety Directives
- Bringing the Church Outside and Celebrating These Holy Days
Key Holy Week Schedule:
Palm Sunday Morning
9:00AM – 11:00AM Father Gurnick will be at Saint Malachi Parish and available for Confessions / Blessing / Prayer from the old Convent (Vermont Avenue). Blessed palms available to folks. Please come and help yourselves and say hello!
Monday
4:30PM -7:30PM Father Gurnick at St. Patrick rectory front porch available for Confessions/Blessing/Prayer.
Tuesday
4:30PM – 7:30PM Father Gurnick at St. Patrick rectory front porch available for Confession/Blessing/Prayer.
Wednesday
4:30PM – 7:30PM Father Gurnick at St. Patrick rectory front porch available for Confession/Blessing/Prayer.
Holy Thursday
5:00PM -7:30PM Father at St. Patrick front porch available for Confession/Blessing/Prayer.
7:30PM – 10:00PM Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on St. Patrick front porch. Come and say a prayer with Father Gurnick. We will relocate to front of church building in case of weather.
Good Friday
12:00Noon – 6:00PM Veneration of the Cross at Saint Malachi in the yard (say a prayer and simply bow to the cross and maintain social distancing).
Holy Saturday
10:00AM – 12:00 Noon Clergy will be available on front porch for the Blessing of Easter Food.
7:30PM – 10:30PM Stop by for a Blessing throughout the evening at Saint Patrick Parish. Come and say hello!
Easter Sunday
10:00AM – 12:00Noon Stop for an Easter Blessing at Saint Malachi’s Convent entrance (Vermont Avenue) for an Easter Blessing.
9:30AM – 12:30PM Special Easter Event for those residing in the neighborhood of Saint Malachi and Saint Patrick…stay tuned and pray for good weather!
Uplifted Savior: Fulfillment of the Old Testament
Our Blessed Lord declared that he was to be lifted up, as the serpent had been lifted up. As the brass serpent had the appearance of a serpent and yet lacked its venom, so too, when he would be lifted up upon the bars of the cross, he would have the appearance of a sinner and yet be without sin. As all who looked upon the brass serpent had been healed of the bite of the serpent, so all who looked upon him with love and faith would be healed of the bite of the serpent of evil.
It was not enough that the Son of God should come down from the heavens and appear as the Son of Man, for then he would have been a great teacher and a great example, but not a Redeemer. It was important for him to fulfill the purpose of the coming, to redeem man from sin while in the likeness of human flesh. Teachers change men by their lives; our Blessed Lord would change men by his death. The poison of hate, sensuality, and envy which is in the hearts of men could not be healed simply by wise exhortations and social reforms. The wage of sin is death, and therefore it was to be by death that sin would be atoned for. As in the ancient sacrifices the fire symbolically burned up the imputed sin along with the victim, so on the cross the world’s sin would be put away in Christ’s sufferings, for he would be upright as a priest and prostrate as a victim. The two greatest banners that were ever unfurled were the uplifted serpent and the uplifted Savior. And yet there was an infinite difference between them. The theater of one was the desert, and the audience was a few thousand Israelites; the theater of the other was the universe and the audience, the whole of mankind. From the one came a bodily healing, soon to be followed again by death; from the other flowed soul-healing, unto life everlasting.
From Venerable Fulton J. Sheen (+1979)
Pope Francis Quote for April 4-5
The tax collector in the Gospel shows us the right way to approach God. Beating his breast, the tax collector says, “Be merciful to me a sinner.” In this way, the Lord teaches us how to pray, how to draw near humbly, praying with our “souls exposed”, without make-up or dressing ourselves up with our own virtue. He forgives all our sins. But He needs me to show them to Him. The path is our reality. The only man here in this parable who understood his reality was the tax collector. ‘You are God and I’m a sinner.” That’s the reality. But I say that I’m a sinner not with my mouth but with my heart. When we begin praying with our own justifications, with our securities, that’s not prayer. That’s like speaking to a mirror. Instead, when we begin praying with our true reality – I’m a sinner – this is a good step forward in allowing the Lord to look at us. May Jesus teach us this. Pope’s Homily, Mar.21, 2020
A Message From Fr. Gurnick
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
A parishioner forwarded this reflection to me and I thought how fitting as we continue through these challenging times. With Holy Week upon us, I think it speaks so well to our experience. Thank you for allowing me to add my own reflection below each line of dialogue (in italics):
Society: What about my plans?!
God: My plans for you are always better than your own. Don’t worry. I’m going to work this all out for your good.
Lord, You came to fulfill the Father’s plan. May we learn from Your holy example.
Society: We’re not going to get anything done.
God: That’s the point. You know how you keep spinning your wheels—always working, moving, doing—but never feeling satisfied? I’ve given you permission to stop. I’ve cleared your calendars for you! Your worth isn’t tied to business or accomplishment. All you have to do is take care of each other.
Lord, You love us even to the point of dying for our sins. May we accompany You with more focus and clarity during these holy days.
Society: What does this all mean?
God: It means I’m in control. It means you are human and I am God. It means I’ve given you a wonderful opportunity to be the light in a dark world. It means you are going to learn to rely on me.
Lord, You fell three times in your weakness carrying the Cross. In our frailty and weakness, may we find our strength in You alone.
Society: What are we supposed to do when we can’t leave our homes?
God: Rest. You are always so busy and overwhelmed, crying out to me weary and exhausted. Can’t you use a break from your fast-paced and over-scheduled lives? Go ahead and rest. Pray. Love your families. Be still and spend time with me.
Lord, Simon of Cyrene helped to carry Your Cross and walk with You in a unique manner. May we desire to spend more time with You.
Society: You mean we’re supposed to stay home with our kids all day, every day?
God: Yes, and you’re going to be just fine. This time together is a rare gift. The rush of daily life has come to a halt. Play games. Bake cookies. Work on projects you’ve never had the time for. Teach them kindness and grace. Show them how to endure difficult circumstances and steer them toward me.
Lord, you met Your Mother along the way to Calvary. May we cherish the gift of family and friends during this time and reach out to them in love.
Society: We better start hoarding anything we can get our hands on!
God: Prevention, yes. Precaution, yes. Preparedness, yes. But after that, it’s time to put the needs of others before your own. When you see someone in need, help them. Offer up what you have. Do not worry about tomorrow! Haven’t I always taken care of you? Now, go take care of someone else.
Lord, You were stripped of Your clothes and still trusted the Father. May we have this same confidence as we place our trust in You.
Society: Why is this happening?
God: To remind you that I’m in control. To bring your attention back to me.
Lord, in your final moments of life, You commended Your spirit to the Father. May we echo those same words as we pray, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Let go… and let God.
May you and your loved ones enjoy this time together and may our entire spiritual family grow closer to God and to one another.
In Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection,
Fr. Gurnick
A Prayer to Begin Holy Week
Lord Jesus, as we enter into Holy Week once again, I come before you to renew my love and gratitude, and ask you to open my heart to all the special graces that this week contains.
I know that everything that took place during this week two thousand years ago was done for the salvation of the world, and yet as if for me alone. As you carried your cross, you thought of each man, woman, and child you would redeem. As you suffered betrayal, denial, and the fleeing of your disciples, as you experienced the mockery and scorn of the crowds, you knew of every human betrayal and denial that would ever take place, and you knew of all the sufferings and humiliations every person would ever undergo in every corner of the world. You saw my whole life, every moment of my existence.
Lord Jesus, I want to live this week in union with you. I want the mysteries of your Passion, Death, and Resurrection to continue to transform my life. Though I do not know the hour of my physical death, I do know that at each moment of my life, lived in union with you, you can put to death all that separates me from you. By your grace, I have already been raised with you, and the life I now live is not my own, but yours.
Through the Sacrifice of the Mass today and every day, I unite myself to you. I offer you my whole heart, my whole life. Through the Immaculate Heart of Mary I offer you all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings—holding nothing back. I want to be entirely clothed in you, to be conformed to you, and I trust that as you look upon me from heaven, you hold nothing back. You love me with the entirety of your Sacred Heart. Lord Jesus, I trust in you. Lord Jesus, I love you.
Taken from Magnificat, Holy Week 2020, Vol. 22, No. 1
Stewardship Moments: Fifth Sunday of Lent
Jesus called to his friend from the dead, “Lazarus, come out!” It is the same call our Lord makes to us unceasingly: “Come out!” Jesus calls us from our tomb of doubt and unbelief, from the darkness of our fear and anxieties; from the depths of our weaknesses and lack of hope. Christian stewards pray for an open heart so that they may hear the voice of the Lord, heed the continuous call to come away from their former way of living and re-prioritize their lives in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do we believe Christ has the power to transform our lives? Do we take time to listen for his call?
