Month: April 2020

Dear Parishioners,

Happy Easter!

Fr. Mark will be celebrating Mass that will be live-streamed at 11 am Easter Sunday, April 12th. Here is the information to join:
https://zoom.us/j/159634956?pwd=SFJFNEJ2SUtXOSt3cjV5bkUwblVVZz09
Meeting ID: 159 634 956
Password: 010189
To connect with your phone, dial these Canadian numbers:
1-647-374-4685
1-647-558-0588

The bulletin can be found on our Web site here:  http://sacredheartrockwood.ca/2020/04/11/the-resurrection-of-the-lord-easter-sunday/. It has Fr. Mark’s Easter message, which has much to ponder.  

Here is a link to Bishop Crosby’s Easter message and video: https://hamiltondiocese.com/news/2020/April/bishop-crosby-s-2020-easter-message.

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
Sophie Debbané

Dear Parishioners,

I hope you are as well as can be under the circumstances. I’m sure we are all feeling a little cooped up.

To make an understatement, Holy Week is going to be a little different this year.

There will be a live-streamed Palm Sunday Mass at 11:00 am. And there will be a blessing of palms. However, the Bishop has directed that they not be distributed until a later date, which I’m thinking will be after the churches re-open. The Sacred Triduum has been cancelled. Which means that there won’t be a Mass on Holy Thursday with the usual foot washing followed by a Eucharistic procession and an altar of repose for Adoration, there won’t be a Good Friday Liturgy, and there won’t be an Easter Vigil Mass. All three of these liturgies go together to make up the Sacred Triduum. When I say that the Sacred Triduum has been cancelled I meant that these liturgies won’t be celebrated together as one liturgical movement. As the Bishop has made clear, a priest without the people can’t really celebrate the rites of the Sacred Triduum, which include not only the Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday but also Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday and the lighting of the Pascal Candle at the Easter Vigil. Instead, the Bishop has asked pastors to privately celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, pray the Solemn Intercessions on Good Friday, and celebrate Mass on Easter Sunday. In our parish, all three of these liturgies will be celebrated by me and live streamed for you to participate online according to the following schedule:

Holy Thursday, April 9th
Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 pm

Good Friday, April 10th
Reading of the Passion and Solemn Intercessions at 3:00 pm
Stations of the Cross at 7:00 pm

Easter Sunday, April 12th
Mass at 11:00 amThese liturgies will be posted on our parish website and as events on our parish Facebook page along with links for live streaming:
http://sacredheartrockwood.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/sacredheartofjesusrockwood/

In this Sunday’s bulletin I will be including resources for celebrating Easter in your home. I was thinking about doing some kind of live-streaming event the evening of Holy Saturday. But I was looking at the schedule for Holy Week and thinking there’s plenty of opportunities for us to get together as a parish community. So I’ll be sending you some readings and prayers for Easter that you can do at home with your family or by yourself. I want to encourage you to take sometime this Easter to really reflect and meditate on the mysteries of our faith and the meaning of Easter.

Hope to “see” you tonight during the live-streamed Stations of the Cross at 7:00 pm. Kimberley Goh, one of the students from the Newman Centre, has put together (from Vancouver) slides using photos of the Stations in our church.

God bless,
Fr. Mark Morley