- For health care workers who are selflessly treating coronavirus patients during this epidemic, may God grant them fortitude and deliver them safely at the end of each day, let us pray to the Lord.
- For civic and health care leaders who are coordinating responses to the crisis, may God give them wisdom, strength and compassion, let us pray to the Lord.
- For those infected with or recovering from the coronavirus, may Jesus, the Divine Physician, offer them hope and provide healing, let us pray to the Lord.
- For those who have died from the coronavirus, may they know the peace and joy of God’s love through all eternity, let us pray to the Lord.
- For those who face economic uncertainty because of the pandemic, may God graciously look upon their needs and bring them relief and peace, let us pray to the Lord.
Blessings of Peace and Joy during this Easter Season!
We all walked the Lenten journey, not the way we thought we would but definitely in a different way. We have now entered the Easter Season and we are called to celebrate the Risen Lord. Wishing you a Joyous Easter and may our Risen Lord continue to walk with us in this journey he has called us to.
The toughest journey began when the Archdiocese of Detroit announced on March 13th that all the Masses will be suspended beginning the weekend of March 14th onwards, and we are still in that journey of grasping how this all started. Country after country have closed educational institutes, businesses, cancelled sports and the Olympics, the Catholic Church had to cancel all its planned Lenten programs and Masses including the Holy Week services and Easter Celebrations. And we all hope that the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order will end soon.
What have we learned from all this? So many messages on Coronavirus have been going viral. This is one of the messages I received and probably some of you have received it and read it as well. “40 days, 40 nights in the Ark, Noah’s family was confined in a boat. There were no windows, no balconies, no internet, no phone, no TV, no YouTube, no Facebook. They spent their time praying and loving each other. God the Father took care of them as Noah was a man of faith and obeyed His word.”
Even though there is an ocean of viruses out there and life seems like a stormy ride, we need to remember that Our God is watching over us! “Do not be afraid!” That is the Easter message. Let us continue to be faithful to Him and wait patiently. When this is over we will be able to see the rainbow shine, and then we will know that we truly walked “Out of darkness… into light.”
In our own mind or through someone else we probably have heard it said that God is teaching us something. Probably he wants to win his love back. Surely, we have prayed more and extra during these lock down days. We have had more time with our family, found creative ways to spend time with our loved ones and enjoy each other’s company. That’s the lesson we have all learned, that in the end it’s our Faith, our home and our family that is most important.
From now on, let prayer be an important part of our life and our family life. Let us spend more precious moments with our loved ones and learn to take care of one another. And let our faith be stronger so that believing in our Risen Lord we may continue to be messengers of Easter Joy, Peace and Hope.
Fr. Kishore and I will continue to hold you in our prayers and we wish you a Blessed Easter!
Fr. Socorro
Livestreamed Holy Week Liturgies from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral
Holy Week
Palm Sunday: Palms are not to be distributed in the parish during the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order and may be distributed at a later time.
Chrism Mass: Will be celebrated privately and livestreamed from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral Monday of Holy Week (6 April) at 7 pm. Arrangements will be made for the oils to be distributed to the parishes through the Vicars.
Triduum liturgies are to be offered in private. Triduum liturgies with Archbishop Vigneron will be livestreamed from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral; see times below.
a. Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Mass will be livestreamed from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral at 7 pm
b. Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion: This Liturgy will be livestreamed from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral at 1 pm
c. Easter Vigil: This Mass will be livestreamed from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral at 9:00pm
Administering the Sacraments of Initiation to those in RCIA is to be postponed until a later date when the fuller community can be present. The Archbishop will determine a suitable time for the reception of these members into the Church (RCIA, 26-27). This will be announced in advance to allow proper preparation.
Easter Sunday: This Mass will be livestreamed from Blessed Sacrament Cathedral at 11:00am.