Message from Fr. Rensch (8 April, 2020):
 
Mass Intentions:
 
Today I celebrated Mass for all the parishioners and for Barb Giroux (by Arlene and Becky Wright).
 
Important Updates: 

1. A reminder for Confession. Take advantage of this holiest week of the year to make your soul holy. God is especially generous in this time. And … this could be your best chance to go to a priest you don’t know! Again, availability is 9:00 – 11:30 (at St. Anthony’s) and 1:00 – 3:30 (at OLA) on Friday. You must make a reservation by …
   1. Calling the rectory (and probably leaving a message). The # is 234-9916
   2. Emailing me ([email protected])
   3. Filling out this online google document. You click this link, type in “reserved” (so you can remain anonymous) and that’s it! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-bKcQr7kx8KBN0Z3TtGYWeUG5dkX6amKRNV7BunBSrc/edit?usp=sharing
2. Please spread the word about the confessions – especially to anyone you can think of who is unlikely to follow the online or email information channels. As St. James says, “whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
3. Just so you know, the large cross that is usually put in the sanctuary at St. Anthony’s has been placed on the front porch of the rectory (facing route 12). This way passerby can have a visible reminder of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Triduum and beyond.

 
Reflection on the daily Mass readings
(http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040820.cfm)
 
The first reading again caught my attention today. It began:
 
The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
 
I thought, “Yes, Lord, that’s exactly my prayer! How can I speak a word to rouse your people, to encourage them, to challenge them, to comfort them? How can I speak to their hearts?” This passage today is also from Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, so again we know that Jesus is the speaker. How striking to consider God-made-man, our Savior Jesus himself, asking this question! He is the uncreated Wisdom of the Father, and yet he considers how he can speak a rousing word.
 
The next eight lines bespeak faithful obedience and endurance of suffering. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting. These sorrowful words answer the question posed at the beginning. What will encourage, comfort, and rouse my people, asks the Lord. His answer is His passion. It is his betrayal, abandonment, trial, condemnation, scourging, and finally crucifixion. Jesus looks for a word to strengthen us, and he decides upon his passion. He chooses his passion as an encouragement to us. As the book of Hebrews says, We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted and suffered and borne difficulty as we have. He is with us in our trials.
 
The passage then goes on to say, I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. Ordinarily, we would understand being condemned to death as synonymous with being put to shame. Think of any of our public figures, sports players or celebrities, who rise quickly, but then suddenly lose momentum in the wake of some scandal. They are put to shame. Their popularity melts away like a mist. They are shamed. They are left alone. So too in the case of Jesus. His popular support suddenly dissipates; he is left alone and condemned. Nevertheless, he knows that he shall not be put to shame. Ultimately, he will be vindicated. At the resurrection, the good pleasure of the Father and his glory will justify him. He can face his passion because he knows that it is not an ultimate shame. With the power of his Father, he will rise again.
 
My brother and I were talking the other day about political decisions and noting that rulers generally have multiple considerations that counterbalance each other. They are concerned about the nation’s prosperity, about being reelected, about safety, about score of things. Jesus, on the other hand, is mysteriously unconcerned about anything but the Father’s will. When Jesus is threatened with suffering or shame, it does not outweigh his devotion to his Father’s will. With a king or politician of a different sort, you could threaten or bribe. But with the King of Kings, it won’t work. His kingdom is not of this world. His life is stronger than death. And so he will risk it all, even lay down his life, in obedience to his Father. This is the word offered to rouse us.


God bless you all as we enter into the Triduum, to celebrate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord.


~Fr. Rensch