With the rest of the staff, I hope that this Easter will be an occasion of great joy and happiness for all the members of our parish community and those who join us this weekend. We pray that the tremendous meaning of the Easter celebration will give new meaning and purpose to our lives.

We extend a very special welcome to those who have been baptized, confirmed, and welcomed to the Lord’s table this Easter!

Having celebrated Lent and Holy Week as well, a special word of thanks must go out to all who have made this a special time. This includes all who generously give their time and talent to make our liturgies especially graceful and grace-filled. Many help to prepare the church and assist in ministry. Thanks to those who help with environments, our worship committee, the choir and other musicians, ushers, greeters, lectors, Eucharistic Ministers and RCIA team. And thanks to the maintenance staff who keep the church looking good.

This weekend, we gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We sing wonderful music that speaks of our praise, adoration and joy! But in reality, every Sunday in the Christian Church is an Easter Sunday, because we remember Christ’s resurrection each week. I thank you for your generous stewardship. You make it possible to share the Easter message every day. Thank you for all the outreach through Families Moving Forward (FMF), VEAP, Bridging, Sister Parishes, etc. These are also signs of life.

Fr. Mike

ONE HOLY WEEK

On Wednesday of last week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00am, the time and date were 01:02:03 04/05/06. I received a number of emails from people that this would occur with the message, "That won't ever happen again!!!" Well it might happen again in the year 3006. And anyway, human time is just a convention that could be changed as easily as we just reset our clocks ahead for daylight savings time. But when we gather this weekend for Palm Sunday services, we do connect with something truly unchangeable and utterly unique, as we enter the special time known as Holy Week and celebrate the great Love poured out for us in Jesus Christ.

There has been much preparation that goes into the Holy Week celebrations, so much to do for our liturgical ministers and musicians. Please take advantage of this special time of prayer and reflection and join us for as many of the services as you can during the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter.

And let me give you a special heads up. On Easter Sunday, the 9:30 and 11:00am Masses tend to be crowded. If you plan to attend these services please come early to get a seat. You might also want to consider the less crowded 8:00am Easter Sunday mass or even the special Easter Vigil service starting at 8:00pm on Saturday night.

WEIGHTY MATTERS

Last Tuesday there was an interesting article in the Washington Post by Alison Buckholtz titled, "For Priests, a Weighty Matter." Recent reports show that the percentage of clergy who are overweight and therefore at risk for serious disease is higher than that of the U.S. population, 76% vs. 61%. Several organizations, spurred in part by rapidly rising health insurance costs for priests and ministers, have targeted the health of the clergy as a key issue for their denominations.

Rev. Janet Maykus, a minister who has studied these concerns, states that clergy's health issues "have more to do with their sense of isolation because there has been a loss of status for clerical professions," she said. "They are in a job without a great deal of respect, the pay is low, and there is a lot of depression among clergy. This is reflected in their bodies."

For clergy, health and fitness are more about lifestyle than calorie-counting or pedometer-clicking. "Priests live alone and work around the clock," said Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, who sees Catholic priests' hectic schedules as the force behind some of their weight gain. "They could be at a hospital in the middle of the night and do Mass first thing in the morning. Many of them don't have time to cook at all."

The Rev. Kenneth L. Carder, a United Methodist bishop says "health includes relationships, vision and values, things at the heart of religious faith. You can't isolate one thing, like weight, without looking at problems such as the isolation or lack of community [that] clergy feel. We're complex beings with a mysterious interaction between the mind, body and spirit. There are correlations we can't ignore."

These correlations are made explicit throughout Christian literature, in which there is a long and significant link between spiritual piety and good physical health. St. Paul proclaimed, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?"

The 11th century Christian mystic Mechtild of Magdeburg advised, "Do not disdain your body. For the Soul is just as safe in its body as in the Kingdom of Heaven." And, of course, there are the well-known biblical exhortations against gluttony. Solomon admonished to "put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite" (Proverbs 23:2). (gulp!)

Christian clergy are expected to model this sort of moderation -- in eating and other behavior -- to demonstrate their spiritual piety and positively influence congregants' health, according to Maykus. "There's an interesting transformation" in congregations with a clergy member who has embarked on a new path toward health...The whole congregation starts talking about the links between physical health and spiritual life. . . . Others in the congregation start exercising, too."

It is easier to tackle difficult weight and health issues in a church setting because "we go for unconditional love," another minister said. "No one has to go it alone. We walk with the person in need...Changing health behavior is not just a matter of education, it's a matter of being supported in that change, and being accountable to your friends...We think the church can be a very supportive place for those kinds of health-nurturing activities." He acknowledged that a pastor who sets a good example may give congregants a better chance of meeting their goals. "When pastors find health-related pursuits a natural ministry, they can be a real role model." St. Paul exhorted his followers to "glorify God in your body."

I found that this article gave much Lenten food for thought (and action).

FISH ON FRIDAYS?

I have had a number of people recently ask me why we are to abstain from meat but not fish during the Fridays of Lent. The reason begins with decisions of the early Church leaders to fast on Fridays to commemorate, weekly, the death of Christ on Good Friday. This was especially encouraged during the Fridays of Lent. It was decided that while meat was prohibited on fast days, fish would be allowed. But in the early centuries of the Christian era, this had little real impact. Most people kept the fast with neither meat nor fish because Europe had no developed fishing industry, and fish was eaten rarely, and then mostly by people of means.

This began to change with the development of fishing for eels, herring, and cod. Soon fish began to be ordinary fare even for poorer laborers. Central to this was the developing technology of preserving herring, a fish that spoils soon after being caught. With the development of pickling herring, this limitation was overcome. This in turn spurred advances in shipbuilding and the growth of trade networks as fishermen thronged to northern waters to catch and process the herring that thrived there.

The cod fishery developed alongside that for herring, and led fishermen even further afield. Routes to Iceland and Greenland had been pioneered centuries earlier by the Norse. Cod fishermen from all over western Europe developed fishing grounds off the coast of Newfoundland and south as far as the coast
of Maine. They even likely had processing stations ashore to salt and dry their catch. That land existed near the fishing grounds was common knowledge among mariners in the 15th century. This certainly affected the trans-Atlantic journeys of Columbus and the other explorers of the New World. This is not a fish story.

Of course now when we can go to the grocery store and bring home fresh lobster and other seafood, the "sacrifice" of eating fish loses some of its flavor.

CONGRATULATIONS BSM GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM

Although I graduated from DelaSalle High School, I do congratulate the girls basketball team from our old arch-rival, Benilde-St.Margarets, who last weekend won the division 3A State Championship. Parishioner Eliese Hansberry is a team member.

WELCOME FATHER JOHN ESTREM

This weekend Father John Estrem, executive director for the Archdiocesan Catholic Charities, will be here to preside at the 5:00pm and 8:00am Masses. I know that many here have a real dedication in supporting some of their ministries such as Loaves and Fishes, the St. Joseph's Home for Children and the Seton Center Adoption programs. Please welcome Father John.

WELCOME ST. JOSEPH

This Sunday, March 19, is also the Feast of St. Joseph. As noted above, St. Joseph is commemorated in the Archdiocese's Home for Children which began as an orphanage run by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The Sisters of course have had a presence here in the Archdiocese since the 1850's. Joseph was not always so appreciated. The last we here of him in the gospels is at the time the child Jesus is lost during the family visit to the Temple in Jerusalem. Indeed, it was not until 1481 that the March 19th feast day was set. There seems to be a new appreciation for him maybe along with a new appreciation of the role of men in raising children. Last December 19, 2005, there was a cover story in "Time" magazine on Joseph titled, "Father and Child." Online there is a connected photo essay. It is available on the internet if you google St. Joseph and Time photo essay. It gives some very interesting perspectives on how St. Joseph has been seen through the ages.

OFFER IT UP AGAIN (From Pat Lieb)

Did you hear about the guy in Paris who almost got away with stealing several paintings from the Louvre? After planning the crime, getting in and out past security, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied: "Monsieur, I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."

And you thought I lacked DeGaulle to send you a story like this?