Bulletins

April 13, 2014

On Palm Sunday there is no long homily. There is only an invitation to be still, to pray, to meditate on Our Lord's suffering and death, to pay attention to His words, to follow His steps and to contemplate His Heart.

Saint John resting on Our Lord's chest at the Last Supper has long appealed to me as the image of prayer. The image now on the cover this bulletin comes from one of Giotto's depictions of Christ with the Apostles at table on the night before He died. Painted between 1305 and 1306.

This detail shows Saint John's youth in a pose that reminds me of leaning against one of my older brothers while watching TV as a boy. The love of a youngest brother already is almost worshipful. That makes it all the more difficult to try to describe the affection and devotion that the youngest apostle had for His Savior and for the Blessed Virgin Mary. It makes it that much harder to imagine his pain and torment over Jesus' suffering.

Instead of being impetuous, Saint John's words were perhaps the most profound of the Apostles. He was the fastest to the tomb but not the first to enter. Fittingly he was the last Evangelist.

In these next days the parish church will become most like a monastery than at any other time of the year. In almsgiving and fasting, in listening and singing, in praying mentally and vocally and in spending much time together in meditative silence, we are joined to each other not just as people who happen to be in the same place at the same time. We experience the bond of a religious community that professes the ancient Christian Faith and still practices the penances and offers up the prayers of centuries and centuries of saints.

This Holy Week is a beautiful time to imitate Saint John. Listen. Watch. Pray. Reflect.

God bless you.

Rev. Christopher J. Pollard

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