Fr. Todd 3/29/26

Dear St. Mary on the Lake and Sacred Heart,

                 A Blessed beginning of Holy Week to everyone.  Our job is a simple one this week—be taken up into the great arc of our Salvation.  May this week remind us that there is nothing abstract or distant in any part of it.  Jesus is not just redeeming people in a broad sense.  He is redeeming me.  He is saving me. 

I would encourage you to come to as many of the Holy Week liturgies as possible- Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil.  If you can’t make it to all three, then pick one that you can experience this year. (A bonus liturgy if you are up for a drive is the Chrism Mass which will take place the morning of Holy Thursday in Lansing at St. Mary’s Cathedral at 10:30am.  At this Mass all of the priests of the Diocese gather and we renew our priestly promises made at our ordination.  Bishop Boyea blesses the Oil of the Sick used in the Anointing of the Sick, the Oil of the Catechumen used for those preparing to enter the Church, and the Sacred Chrism used at Baptisms, Confirmation, and Ordinations.)

On Good Friday, there are two additional opportunities besides our 3pm service.  We will be hosting an ecumenical service at Sacred Heart with other Christian Churches in Hudson at Noon.  At 8pm we will have a Tenebrae service at St. Mary on the Lake.

My favorite time of the entire year is when Jesus is taken from the Church to the Altar of repose- roughly 8-10pm.   It mimics the time he spent in the Garden of Gethsemane.  That night the apostles fell asleep and Jesus asked Peter “Could you not watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40).  That evening is a powerful one to spend with Jesus, to just go and be with a friend.  Look for the time God is calling to you and give Him a gift this week.  Even as He walks with us, we can walk with Him. 

Take advantage of going to confession this Holy Week if you have not been able to already during Lent.  It is always fine to grab me or Fr. Paul and there is certainly no better week to do so.  We will have confessions available as usual on Tuesday evening at Sacred Heart.  For Holy Week, we add two extra times- after the Holy Thursday Mass of the Last Supper (beginning at roughly 8pm) and on Good Friday following our 3pm liturgy.

The Blessing of Easter foods will take place at noon at both Sacred Heart and St. Mary on the Lake on Saturday.

Please keep our three catechumens and candidates who will enter the Church at the Easter Vigil.  We will be blessed to have Paul Keenan, our seminarian intern from last summer, joining us for the Triduum.  It will be great to have him back with us.

Thank you to everyone who makes these days so beautiful- our choirs, those who help decorate the Churches, our OCIA team, and the many others who pitch in behind the scenes.

God Bless,  Fr. Todd