Fourth Sunday of Lent Laetare Sunday March 14, 2021
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Fourth Sunday of Lent
Laetare Sunday
March 14, 2021
Living Mass Intentions for the Week
OLPH: Albert & Norma Jean Borell, Susan Fassler,
Steve & Catherine Klein, Kevin & Julie Malach
SMA: Benjamin Farris, Sylvia Schultz, Sr. Victoria Oleka, Raymond Henkel
St. Patrick: Chris & Kim Leffelman, Tyler & Aubrey Burke
From the Gusset
On Day 10 of I Thirst, Mother Teresa talks about
what I refer to as the Jacuzzi/ Bubble Bath of
Prayer. Prayer, Mother Teresa says, is not so
much ‘something’ as it is ‘Someone.’ Prayer is not
a method we perform as it is a springing of water,
welling up to eternal life. The Holy Spirit is the
energy that froths the water, which is Jesus, into
such a frenzy that we are whisked into Heaven.
That is why I refer to it as when you pour bubble bath into a jacuzzi – the jets
in a jacuzzi froth and stir up the water that the bubble bath is poured into, and the whole tub
takes on new life. So, the 3 main elements of prayer (according to Mother Teresa) are 1) the
clearing away of the rubble, 2) opening ourselves up to the living waters by Faith, and 3) our
loving surrender to the flowing waters. To enter prayer, Mother says, we need to remove the
rubble or the clutter of the things that have stolen our attention (and our love, that is our false
thirsts). Whatever is not God, we need to clear away, so we can just be with God. I’m reminded
of St. Bernadette Soubirous, when our Lady told her to go drink from the stream. Well, the
stream wasn’t flowing yet – poor Bernadette had to dig in the mud – the water was below the
surface of the ground still. Same thing, the water is there in our lives – Jesus came to us at
Baptism (remember Jesus is the water, according to St. Teresa). But our possessions, our
relationships, our job, our grandchildren, our deadlines…these things are all piled on top of the
water – we can’t get to Jesus – we need to first remove the rubble. The next step is our act of
Faith. In step one, we know Jesus is there (He is the water) – we are in constant contact with the
Source of living waters – we have been since our Baptism. We don’t need to feel that God is
there or have some kind of sensation that we are touching God. Only Faith touches God directly.
So, Mother Teresa says, ‘don’t panic if you feel nothing is happening.’ She gives the beautiful
example of blood circulating in our body. We don’t need to feel our heart pounding to know that
blood is circulating in our veins – we can trust that it is without pricking our finger to see if the
blood flows out! We know that Jesus is always at work within us, and we go about our prayer
just as securely as when we do feel His presence. The last element of prayer is to pour ourselves
out in harmony with the Holy Spirit; that is, to surrender to God’s thirst. See, you and I are like
liquid bubble bath. Jesus is the water (you are repeating yourself,
Father Randy). The Holy Spirit is the energy of those jacuzzi jets.
Unless we pour ourselves out – like pouring bubble bath into the
water, and allow the Holy Spirit to work us into a bubbly, frothy,
foam – the water is never going to well up to eternal life. You see,
you and I are not really doing anything – Jesus and the Holy Spirit
provide the water and the energy – we just surrender ourselves. I
need to stop being the bubble bath liquid and I’m going to let
Jesus and the Holy Spirit turn me into a bunch of bubbles
for the joy and happiness of God (satisfy God’s thirst).
That is what prayer is – the springing up of living water –
touching God through the power of Holy Spirit and Jesus
Christ.
Yours on the Path Fr. Randy
LENTEN RETREAT
Next week, we will be going on retreat with St. Mother
Teresa all to prepare for Easter. Remember, we want to
be able to say on Easter Sunday morning what Mother
Teresa said towards the end of her life:
“I do not know whose thirst is greater—His thirst for me,
or my thirst for Him.”
Our retreat will take the format of our Advent Retreat—
that is—it will be both in-person and virtual (available
from our Website: www.olphmarystpatrick.com).
Tuesday, March 16th 7:30 am Mass at St. Mary of the Assumption
Followed by a Fervorino
Wednesday, March 17th 8:00 am Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Fervorino will be prerecorded as Fr. Randy will be hearing confessions at
Newman Catholic High School in Sterling immediately after Mass
Friday, March 19th 8:00 am Mass at St. Patrick Church
Followed by a Fervorino
Celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
FRIDAY, MARCH 19TH
St. Mary of the Assumption
CONFESSIONS 4:30 PM
STATIONS OF THE CROSS 5:00PM
MASS WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO
OBTAIN A PLENARY INDULGENCE
5:40 PM
Bring your Novena cards to Mass, and we will
work a plenary indulgence all in one night!
Remember, the Holy Father has opened the
Church’s treasury of Grace to us during this
Year of St. Joseph.
Questions on Your Catholic Faith
Why did Jesus Die so Young (33 years old)?
In great works of art (Masterpieces), there is a reason
for everything. Nothing in God’s world is an accident
or random from the viewpoint of the Divine Author,
and everything in the life of the Christ is a work of
Divine art. So, there must be a reason, why Jesus died
when He did – that is, at the age of 33. St. Thomas
Aquinas found three answers for this question: why did Jesus die so young? (I’m not even going
to say anything about the number ‘3.’) Jesus wanted to give Himself ‘maximally.’ We talked
about that a few weeks ago (Why Did Jesus Have to Suffer so Much?). Jesus gave Himself up
to death when He was in the best state of His life – the time of most power and freedom to give.
We could say that God wanted there to be the most love in both the subject (the Giver) and the
object (the Gift). Since the Christ had more life to give at the age of 33 than at the age of 13 or
83 – He gave Himself maximally at 33. Because He was God, Jesus’ soul ruled His body. That
is the reason Jesus was able to fast for 40 days, not give Himself over to the temptation of
personal glory, and the reason Jesus never went against the will of His Father, was because His
soul completely ruled His body. Another effect of this was that Jesus never fell into sickness or
disease – He could touch lepers without getting leprosy, because His soul completely ruled His
body. When you become a Saint and are given back
your glorified body, part of your glory is that your soul
will so rule your body that you will never know a sick
day or a day with pain in Heaven for all eternity.
Jesus, in taking on a human body, took on perfect
flesh, so He could be that perfect offering – that is
without spot or blemish just as the lambs and oxen were
to be in the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Finally,
St. Thomas says, that dying and rising at an early age,
Jesus shows us beforehand in His own person, the
future condition of those who will rise again. For a
man, a body 33 years old is of perfect maturity without
the beginning of decrepitude. Though years are not
measured in Heaven, the number 33 is the number of
the Trinity twice. (Ok, so I did say something about
the number ‘3,’ but that is only because St. Aquinas
said so.) Everything we know about our future glorified
bodies; we know through the Resurrection of Christ’s
body – this is the glory that awaits each one of us.
C.S. Lewis wrote: “these small perishable bodies are
given to us— as ponies are given to schoolboys. We
must learn to manage –not that we may be free from
bodies altogether but that we may be trained to ride
those stallions which await us even now, impatiently
neighing in the King’s stables.” (Miracles)
Mass Intentions
Saturday, March 13th
(+) Ronald Nelson & (+) Fr. Karl Ganss/ Fr. Randy
4:00 pm, OLPH (+) Stacey Wertz/ Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Klein
5:30 pm, SMA (+) Gerald & Janet Hornung/ Mr. & Mrs. Rick Cardot
Sunday, March 14th 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday)
8:00 am, St. Patrick (+) John & Evelyn Ryan/ Family
10:30 am, OLPH Pro Populo
Monday, March 15th
(+) June Stephenitch/ Pat Malach & (+) Richard Binder & (+) William Muetze/ Fr. Randy
Tuesday, March 16th
7:30 am, SMA (+) Sr. Celestine Amadi, (+) Sr. Clare Iwuoha, (+) Sr. Immaculata Nwagbara,
& (+) Sr. Roseann Iheanacho/ DDL
Wednesday, March 17th Feast of St. Patrick
8:00 am, OLPH (+) Esther Brechon & (+) Catherine Murphy/ Carlene Schuhler
Thursday, March 18th
7:30 am, SMA (+) Quin & Josephine Torri/ Torri Family
8:30 am, OLPH (+) Arthur Prendergast/ Family &
(+) Mildred Davidson/ Mr. & Mrs. Robert Bulfer
Friday, March 19th Solemnity of St. Joseph
8:00 am, St. Patrick (+) Melvin Leffelman/ Julie Brechon
5:40 pm, SMA (+) Mary Lou Reeser/ Mr. & Mrs. Touie White
Saturday, March 20th
(+) Laura & Carla Giannasi/ Fr. Randy
4:00 pm, OLPH (+) Sue Leffelman/ Gene Leffelman
5:30 pm, SMA (+) William & Raymond Muetze/ Mr. & Mrs. Max Muetze
Sunday, March 21st 5th Sunday of Lent
8:00 am, St. Patrick (+) Doug Blaine/ Diane Blaine
10:30 am, OLPH Pro Populo
Parish Website: www.olphmarystpatrick.com
Parish Phone Number: 815-849-5412 Parish Email: olph.mary@gmail.com
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