Fr. German’s Message
From Sunday,
April 17th to Sunday, April 24th, all Christians will
celebrate Holy Week.
The festivities
begin on Palm Sunday with the reading of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
and the goal of Holy week is to lead us to the next Sunday, the day of the
Resurrection, to celebrate Easter together with Christ.
It is important
that all Christians participate in the celebrations that the Church offers us
this week. Palm Sunday, the Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the
Easter Vigil are important events in our Christian itinerary. The times for
these celebrations are available on the parish’s web site as well as in the
parish bulletin. These celebrations will help us better understand the
essential points of our faith, God’s immense love for humanity, and the mission
of all baptized in society. They will stress the Church’s importance which
allows us to celebrate the sacraments that nourish our faith
The Chrism Mass
will be presided over for the first time, by our new Archbishop, Jose Horacio
Gomez. In this celebration the Archbishop will bless the holy oils that will be
used in all the parishes of the Archdiocese, in the administration of the
sacraments and, the clergy will renew their priestly vows before their Bishop.
All are invited
to unite themselves with their bishop and their priest on this very important
time in the life of the Church (Monday, April 18th at 7pm in the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels)
Since I am
pastor, a German artist, whom I met during my studies in Rome, offered me as a
gift the decoration of the Paschal Candle. Each year, he is inspired by the
Bible to decorate the Paschal Candle of his parish in Germany and he creates
the same decoration for us. I want to take a minute to thank Ludger for this beautiful
gift that reminds us that our churches are closely joined since they are being
illuminated by the same Light, the same Christ.
This year, my
friend was inspired by the 1st letter of St Peter 2,24 (“He himself bore our sins in his body on the
tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you
have been healed”)
Ludger uses the
colors that represent some of the sufferings of our world:
-blue that
reminds us of the sky and water which leads us to think of the weather
disasters that we experienced this year (the Tsumani, floods, storms,...)
-green the color
of nature which invites us to think of the ecological disasters (oil spilled in
the Gulf of Mexico, food contamination, nuclear radiation,…)
-red the color
which represents the bloodshed in wars and the violence, suffering of the sick
and the trafficking of men and women.
-black invites
us to think of the corruption, racism, oppression, the lack of liberty in
certain countries, and lies.
-white, which is
the color of purity, reminds us of the sufferings of children and the innocent.
The cross, which
unites all the sufferings of humanity, is yellow inviting us to hope.
Christ carries
our sufferings so that we may rise with Him.
The Paschal
Candle which will be illuminated during Easter time will also be glowing during
the baptisms, confirmations, and funerals that we will be celebrating this
year. This candle invites us to contemplate the world where we live in order to
discover in it the Cross and the hope that comes from Christ.
In our world,
the Cross of Christ is present in the sufferings of all our brothers and
sisters who are victims of catastrophes and the evil one.
Let us take the
time to contemplate the Paschal Candle to help us
increase our faith and trust in Christ’s presence among us.
Have a HOLY WEEK
Fr. Germán
L.A. April -16th -17th 2011