By Jonathan DeMent Whenever we celebrate the liturgy, we are drawn closer to Christ through the celebration of his Paschal

Mystery, his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension which gained for us the pledge of salvation and the promise of eternal life. How powerful, then, are the liturgies of the Sacred Paschal Triduum in which we cele-brate this Paschal Mystery in such a profound way!

At the core of the Church’s liturgical life is the celebration of the Easter Vigil, the greatest and noblest of all solemnities, in which we celebrate the triumph of the Cross, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and the bonds of sin and death being forever broken. “At the end of His messianic mission – and, in a certain sense, even beyond the end – Christ reveals Himself as the inexhaustible source of mercy, of the same love that … is to be everlastingly confirmed as more powerful than sin. The paschal Christ is the definitive incarna-tion of mercy, its living sign in salvation history and in eschatology.” (Dives in Misericordia, 8)

It is this incredible mercy in which we exult at the beginning of the Easter Vigil. We begin with the proclamation of the Easter Exsultet, a beautiful prayer celebrating the fulfillment of the great promise of re-demption won for us in Christ, our ‘new light’ which is signified in the new light of the Paschal Candle. This prayer is so rich in its expression of the story of our Salvation accomplished through the inexhaustible mercy of God.

One of the most powerful verses lies in three innocuous, and seemingly contradictory words – “O hap-py fault”. This ‘happy fault’ is in reference to the “truly necessary sin of Adam” in the Garden of Eden. It was in this moment that man chose himself over God, thus resulting in the ‘original sin’, the fall of man from origi-nal holiness, and the beginning of all other sin to follow.

When we think of the tragic story of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden, we do not immediately think of a story with a happy ending, and rightly so! It was in this moment that man, who was created in God’s own image and likeness and loved infinitely, rejected Him. Yet this phrase, “O happy fault”, is proclaimed with such great joy at the Easter Vigil. How could Adam and Eve’s sin, which inflicted such a burden and curse upon humanity, be happy, or be a cause of excitement, rejoicing, and celebration? If sin steals our humanity, kills our joy, and is so abhorrent in the eyes of God and causes a separation between

A collaboration of parishioners and pastoral staff nurturing our life in Christ.

IN THIS ISSUE:

COPING WITH COVID-PG. 5

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION-PG. 6

TRUSTING IN GOD-PG. 10

EXSULTET-PG. 11

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Spring 2020

The Way,

the Truth,

& the Life

“O Happy Fault!”

Passiontide, Easter & COVID-19

This has been the most unusual Lent I can remember. The “isolation” and cancellations caused by COVID-19 have disrupted life at every parish. Here, we certainly are both frustrated and distressed. Never-theless, I understand the wisdom of Pope Francis and of Bishops throughout the world who want to keep safe from this pandemic all of the souls entrusted to their care. Hopefully, these efforts will help to contain the Coronavirus and we pray that soon a vaccine will be produced. For many reasons, this situation has saddened me. Firstly, I miss celebrating Mass with our parishion-ers. I continue to offer Mass daily and all of you are remembered at Mass and in my prayers throughout the day. We priests are fulfilling all of the Mass intentions which have been scheduled. We are looking into more opportunities to live stream the Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, devotions and reflections. Thank you for your support and understanding. Hopefully, this period of separation will reignite in Catholics throughout the world a profound appreciation for the sacramental life, a spiritual life, and the power of communal prayer within the sacred liturgy of the Church. I look forward to the day when we will welcome back our parishion-ers. Secondly, you know that I was very excited about our Parish Lenten Fish Fry. Over 200 people had signed up! I am disappointed that we had to cancel. All money will be refunded. I am grateful to the Ruhling Family at Ruhling’s Seafood for helping us. I also thank Katerina’s Pizza for their kindness in working with us too. In a special way, I deeply appreciate the many people who volunteered to help organize the event: shopping for supplies, providing desserts, preparing the tickets, set-up, clean-up, etc. It was a very encourag-ing response, and I thank everyone for your interest. Thirdly, my thoughts are with our children whose school year has been disrupted. I think of teachers and all workers whose lives and livelihood have been impacted by COVID-19. Words cannot convey ade-quately my thoughts and prayers for all in this time of anxiety. Fourthly, the work on the church floor has been interrupted because of the Coronavirus. The work will resume as soon as the prohibitions are lifted. Further in this column, I will explain our new church floor. In spite of all of the “negatives,” we are in the sacred season of Passiontide and Easter. Suffering and Victory are the focus of this sacred time. Each year, we select what we want to do for Lent, what we want to give up, how we want to improve during this sacred time of renewal. It seems that God is guiding our Lenten observances in ways we never expected. God can bring great good out of difficult situations. In the stress and anxiety of the present day, God is speaking to us. He is calling us to trust Him, to listen to His loving voice, and to consider what is truly important: Faith, Family, the Common Good, and a rediscovered sense of re-spect, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness to every other person. Once the “social distancing” and quaran-tines are over, I hope that we see this as an opportunity for new beginnings. God does bring great good out of difficult and trying times.

Our Church is very quiet, especially at times when we usually have Mass and devotions. Truly, our Church is the center of parish life, and it is unsettling to not celebrate the Eucharist together. At the same time, it is most edifying how so many are watching the Mass on television and live streamed. Yet, how many miss the gift of receiving the Holy Eucharist. A family in our parish watched the Mass live streamed from our chapel on Sunday, March 22. The mother explained to me in a message that, as I was receiving the Eucharist, her son said, “He is so lucky.” I was deeply moved by those words of a youth. I pray that the sentiment ex-pressed by this boy is what fills the heart of every Catholic, especially those who have been away for a while. 20th Century author Francois Mauriac, in his book Holy Thursday: An Intimate Remembrance, wrote: “In

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Heart Speaks to Heart

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the eyes of the dying St. Thomas [Aquinas], the Eucharist appeared as the essential reality. The Eucharist is what is most real in the world. This is why one must accept It without reservation. He who once pronounces this acceptance with his whole heart and his whole spirit will no longer find in the Host a stumbling block to faith but, on the contrary, the very food of faith. He who once pronounces this acceptance will no longer be able to keep away from Communion (whereas formerly he may have been unable to refrain from committing sin). When tormented by doubt, by anguish, by troubles of soul of the soul and of the flesh, in the midst of the worst perturbations of mind and soul, he will be saved as long as he remains worthy to sit at the banquet pre-pared to alleviate his miseries.” Mauriac expresses a magnificent sentiment that should invite all to truly un-derstand the gift of the Eucharist and the tremendous privilege it is to participate in Mass and receive Jesus in Holy Communion!

The celebrations of Easter also will be markedly different until the restrictions are lifted. Just as Our

Lord’s disciples found themselves behind locked doors, so will many Catholics throughout the world. Even though our Easter liturgies are different this year, we will live stream the Triduum liturgies and Easter Mass. Our Lord will come into your homes as He entered through the locked doors of the place where the disciples were hiding! Easter is the season of hope! Through all of this, Jesus is forming us into stronger disciples in this modern world. Jesus reveals himself to those who love Him and He is speaking to us in the circumstances of our time. Pope Benedict XVI, in his book, Jesus of Nazareth - Holy Week: From the Entrance into Je-rusalem to the Resurrection, reminds us: “It is part of the mystery of God that he acts so gently, that he only gradually builds up his history within the great history of mankind; that he becomes man and so can be over-looked by his contemporaries and by the decisive forces within history; that he suffers and dies and that, hav-ing risen again, he chooses to come to mankind only through the faith of his disciples to whom he reveals him-self; that he continues to knock gently at the doors of our hearts and slowly opens our eyes if we open our doors to him.” In the trials of our day, Our Risen Lord is knocking at the doors of our hearts and inviting us to deeper friendship. We all have a special part to play in God’s history!

Our New Church Floor

Immediately after the old carpeting was removed from the aisles of the church floor, work had to

stop because of the Coronavirus. This, too, is disappointing; but the work will resume. Our new flooring will look like marble, but is a non-slip Tarkett floor. Our floor will be custom designed to reflect our love for Our Lord, Our Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, and Saint Albert the Great. In the aisles, there will be a border, a de-sign which is taken from the coat-of-arms of the Diocese of Regensburg, where Saint Albert the Great minis-tered as Bishop. Other symbols used in the aisles will be taken from the heraldic coat-of-arms of the family of Saint Albert the Great: the fluer de lis and a hunting horn. Traditionally, the fluer de lis is a stylized lily, a symbol of the Virgin Mary and a symbol of Saint Joseph’s attributes. The hunting horn, for our purposes, symbolizes the “call to evangelization.” In the center aisle, there will be a medallion which represents the Sa-cred Heart of Jesus. The aisle leading to Our Lady’s shrine will have a Marian symbol. The Saint Joseph aisle will have a medallion of Saint Joseph. On the floor in the sanctuary, there will be the symbol of the peli-can, piercing her breast to feed her young. This is a Medieval symbol of Jesus, who feeds us with himself in the Holy Eucharist. These medallions are mosaics of multi-colored Tarkett material and will look very beauti-ful. In the meantime, I thank you for your patience and understanding as the work is stalled.

Be assured of my prayers and those of Father Pham, Father Cossavella, Father Dailey, Father

Gibbs, Deacon Morris, and all of our Parish Staff. We all look forward to the day when we can be to-gether again gathered around the Altar of the Lord! Sincerely yours in Christ, Monsignor Duncan March 25, 2020

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Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me.

-Saint John Henry Newman

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From Jonathan DeMent

We all have days in our lives that we’ll never forget. For me, one of these days occurred very re-cently on Wednesday morning, March 18. You may recall that this is the day when the suspension of pub-lic Masses went into effect here in the Archdiocese, and for those of us of great faith, we realized the painful reality that we would not be able to receive our Eucharistic Lord for some time. In my prayer at Mass that day, although I was grateful to be there, I couldn’t help but feel a great sense of loss, and as soon as Mass was over, there was this great stillness in the air. I soon realized that these feelings of loss and stillness, this feeling of “well now what should we do” must have been the same feelings that Mary and the Apostles had on Good Friday and Holy Saturday. As they stood by helplessly and watched the Cruci-fixion, I am sure they all felt a great sense of loss as everything in which they knew and believed was cru-cified before them, and I am sure they experienced this feeling of “well now what” on Holy Saturday when their Savior was dead and buried. If we are honest with ourselves, there are a lot of Good Friday and Holy Saturday moments in our own lives! There are moments in life of great loss, separation, and fear, often followed by feelings of confusion, anxiety, and despair, and that is a normal part of life. However, this is where we should stop because, when we look back at Good Friday and Ho-ly Saturday, we know that the story doesn’t end there! We know that there is more to the story, and we know that in the end, it is not death that wins but rather life! We know that Resurrection comes after death, and that should bring about great hope in us, a beautiful hope rooted in this Resurrection of Christ, because we know that Christ will always bring about victory and new life in us! This is our reason for Easter hope! What exactly is hope? Sr. Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, puts it this way: “Hope is not mere-ly a wish that something good might happen – it is the firm confidence and desire that the promises of God will be fulfilled.” Hope, then, is fundamentally different from optimism! While optimism encourages positivity in difficult situations, it shifts the focus on-to ourselves and our lives; an optimist is always look-ing toward ‘the next thing’ in life, and while this is

not a bad thing necessarily, it does set us up for ulti-mate disappointment because inevitably, that ‘next thing’ will not come or it will come and it won’t be what we expected, and we will be disappointed. Hope is different! Hope is the belief that what God has promised, He will complete, and that He will provide for our every need. It is a firm faith in the belief that “He who began a good work among you will bring it to completion.” (Phil. 1:6) Father Mike Schmitz points out that there is no avoiding pain and suffering in this life. “All of us experience the pain that the world throws at us. All of us experience discouragement and even utter destruc-tion.” We are living through a very difficult time in society right now, a time shrouded in fear and uncer-tainty about the future. My friends, I encourage you not to lose hope! We are a people of the Resurrec-tion! We already know the end of the story where Christ has triumphed over death forever! While we understandably can worry about “what’s next”, we must never despair or lose hope, as this craziness in the world shall pass. We are now in an extended period of Holy Saturday, of waiting and wondering about what to do next, but this Easter, let us be a people of hope. Let us wait patiently, like Mary and the Apostles, with firm hope in the promise of the triumph of sin and death and of new life in Christ. Let us await our return to normalcy with great faith and enthusiasm, and when we are able to return again as Church, let us run with open arms to meet Christ, who never abandons us!

Check out Audrey Assad's album Fortunate Fall

It's a great album to use in our prayer during this

Easter season.

Find it wherever you get your music!

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@stalbertyouth1

COPING WITH COVID-19

By Dennis M. Mueller It's almost as if we are waiting to wake up from a really bad dream. The last few weeks have been surreal and the rapid changes to our lives over the course of those weeks has been unprecedented. Words like social distancing, pandemic, containment, self-quarantine. and shelter-in-place are now part of our daily conversations. We are face with a lot of uncertainty and unanswered questions as we worry about the health and well-being of our loved ones, watch financial markets tumble, find ourselves laid-off from work or working from home, and schools, churches, and businesses shut down for the foreseea-ble future. We need to exercise special care as we attend to all of this stress, and while our faith can cer-tainly be a bedrock of stability as we contend with these uncertainties, there are some practical things we can do to help minimize stress in our families. First among them is to establish a routine for life at home. With life as we know it having entered into an unpredictable state, establishing daily routines is a way to restore predictability and certainty. Rou-tines provide us with a sense of control, establish a new "normal," and most importantly give us (and es-pecially children) peace of mind and a sense of stabil-ity. Routines reduce stress, help us cope with change, and establish healthy habits. Routines also help us to identify what is truly important. Over the course of the next few weeks it will be essential for us to find routines that work for our given family sit-uation. Whatever that situation may be, there are several key components that we need to be attentive to when establishing any daily routine.

Sleep Routines Prior to everyone being confined to their homes, everyone was waking at a set time for work and school and most likely hitting the sack at a set time too. With those old routines being disrupted, it's crucially important that we establish new routines for waking and sleeping at home during the "work

week" to create a regular cycle to our day. This is vitally important for children. Have set wake and bed times for weekdays and leave Friday nights and weekends a little more flexible.

Eating Routines We need to watch our eating habits. Lack of routine can create boredom, and what do we do when we get bored? We eat. Our daily routine on the job or in school dictated when we could eat, but that has been disrupted. We need to create set times for when meals, including snacks, will take place (especially if we have children at home), and if we have family members at home then eat together, as a family, at the dining room or kitchen table. If home alone, then FaceTime, Skype, or call a family mem-ber or friend and have a chat while eating a meal.

Structure Routine Downtime "Home" was the place we went after work or school. It was our refuge and place of rest. Now it has become the virtual workplace and classroom for many of us, creating a new paradigm for what home is. In school and work, we had regular downtime throughout our day, be it in the form of a break, re-cess, or idle conversation around the water cooler. We need to schedule time for rest, relaxation, and fun during the day. Make time to take a break from work or school to read a book, walk the dog, play with the cat, get out in the yard, or play a game. All work and no play makes for one crotchety individual.

Exercise With gyms and recreational sites closed it is very important to make sure that exercise is a part of our daily routine. Exercise is a proven mood booster and often the one thing most of us wish we had more time for. It's safe to say that many of us now find ourselves with an abundance of time, so make time to exercise each day. There's a lot of information online regarding safe and healthy exercises that the elderly can do at home. Have ac-cess to home cycling or fitness equipment? Use it! Get kids outside during nice weather, let them run around, and by all means join them. Take a walk around the block or walk the dog.

Keep Up with Chores This one may cause some eye-rolling or "ughs," espe-cially with kids, but let's face it, chores still need to be done. With everyone at home, there's going to be more dishes. Bathrooms are going to need to be cleaned, furniture dusted, and floors vacuumed more often. If you thought your kid's room was a mess be-fore they lived home 24/7, just imagine what it might be like in the next few weeks. On second thought, don't. It'll just add to your stress. With everyone 5 (continued on page 9)

PRAYER FOR A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

There are a number of reasons we may not be able to receive the Holy Eucharist at Mass. Our soul may be in a state of mortal sin or we may have broken the one hour fast before receiving Communion. We might find ourselves homebound or all public Masses may be sus-pended, as is our current situation. Perhaps we have found ourselves yearning for Christ in Holy Commun-ion like never before. What can we do? The Church encourages us to make an act of “spiritual commun-ion” in which we profess our faith in the Real Presence of Christ and unite ourselves to God. Even when pub-lic Mass resumes, praying for a spiritual communion can be a daily exercise for us and one modeled by many of the saints. Saint Josemaría Escrivá said, “What a source of grace there is in spiritual communion! Practice it frequently and you’ll have greater presence of God and closer union with him in all your actions.”

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy

Sacrament. I love You above all things,

and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sac-

ramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You.

Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION AND CHAPLET

Special devotion to the Divine Mercy is based on the revelations about Jesus as our merciful Savior. In the 1930s, Saint Faustina Kowalska received extraordinary messages from Christ. Jesus asked Sr. Faustina to record her experiences. These writings are known as the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, and the words contained offer a vision into God’s loving Divine Mercy toward humanity. The Scriptures speak of God’s unceasing compassion and quest for us. He seeks to heal the wounds caused by our sins with his grace. “But God, who is rich in mer-cy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved), raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-7).

Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross is the greatest sign of God’s mer-ciful love. Though the Divine Mercy message is not new to the teachings of the Church, St. Faustina's Diary inspired a power-ful movement emphasizing the mercy of Christ. Sr. Faustina was canonized by the Church in 2000. The following are Saint Faustina’s inspired prayers imploring God’s Divine Mercy, known today as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and can be recited using a rosary. Optional Opening Prayer: You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envel-op the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us. Recite 3 times: O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You! Recite the: Our Father, Hail Mary and the Apostle's Creed For each of the five decades on each “Our Father” bead, pray: Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. On each of the 10 “Hail Mary” beads, pray: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Recite 3 times: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Optional Closing Prayer: Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mer-cy itself. Amen.

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ourselves and Him, why do we consider Original Sin ‘necessary’? How could we possibly consider any sin to be ‘happy’? Why, if He is all-knowing and all-powerful, did God allow Adam and Eve to sin in the first place?

The phrase “O happy fault” (in Latin, felix culpa) originates from St. Augustine. In speaking about this great mystery of our salvation, St. Augus-tine writes “For God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist.” What this means for us is that the fall of man was fortunate in that, had we no need for redemption, we would never have had the need to experience the inexplica-ble joy that resulted from the Resurrection. Had there been no Original Sin, there would have been no need for a Savior, Jesus Christ!

The Resurrection, then, was not a ‘Plan B’ to save humanity after God’s ‘Plan A’ in the Garden of Eden failed. God knew from the beginning of time that man would choose sin over Him, but He loves us so much that He was not content to just leave it there. God knew that His creation would rebel against Him from the very foundations of the world, and thus He incorporated this original fall of Adam and Eve into His overall plan for our salvation because He knew that He could bring about a greater good through it!

God gives us free will and allows us to make our own choices. Our free will gives us the capacity to respond to Him out of pure love. If God had creat-ed us to love Him without question, then we would not love Him authentically. True love comes about only when we make the choice to love! For example, parents want their children to choose to love them freely, to love them without force! A parent’s heart melts when they hear their child say to them “I love you”, not just because the child loves them, but be-cause this expression of love came about freely by their own choice. The child chose to be in a loving relationship with their parent, they were not forced into a relationship!

This is true with our Heavenly Father! God

does not force us to love Him because that would not be sincere, rather, He allows us to freely choose to love Him or not. While God never wills or desires sin and disobedience, He allows us to make the choice. This choice to love and to be in relationship is ours.

In the same way as us, Adam and Eve were given free will to make choices, and they chose sin over God. Yet, this fall from holiness was all part of God’s plan for His humanity. The Incarnation was never ‘Plan B’ but rather it was God’s original plan for us all along! In Christ’s redemption, we have not only been restored to the original, supernatural state of holiness originally found in our first parents, but now that supernatural state has been far surpassed; perfect holiness and bliss have been transformed into a greater and holier divine bliss through Jesus Christ and His Cross.

The Catechism (412) puts it this way: “But why did God not prevent the first man from sin-ning? St. Leo the Great responds, Christ's inexpressi-ble grace gave us blessings better than those the demon's envy had taken away. And St. Thomas Aqui-nas wrote, There is nothing to prevent human na-ture's being raised up to something greater, even af-ter sin; God permits evil in order to draw forth some greater good. Thus St. Paul says, 'Where sin in-creased, grace abounded all the more'; and the Exsultet sings, 'O happy fault,. . . which gained for us so great a Redeemer!’”

At Baptism, we are immersed into this great mystery of our salvation. We enter this world as chil-dren of Adam and Eve, descendants of man in the Garden; however, through the cleansing waters of Baptism, we become adopted children of God. This is again such a great mystery! Through the Resurrec-tion, we are no longer, like Adam and Eve, just prom-ised eternal life in Eden, but rather we are now heirs of life eternal in Heaven.

In this rebirth by water in Baptism, we are restored to a fuller and holier state than that of our first parents. In addition to us returning to the supernatural state of ho-liness originally found in

the Garden of Eden, we are also made integral mem-bers of Christ’s Mystical Body. We are drawn up with Christ into the Trinity itself, fulfilling the prom-ises we hear in Scripture that “we will become par-takers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4) and “so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are one in me and I in you, that they may also be in us.” (Jn. 17:21)

The Catechism (460) states that “The Word became flesh to make us partakers of the divine nature: For this is why the Word became man,

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The Fall of Man Artist: Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617)

and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God. For the Son of God became man so that we might become God. The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in His divinity, as-sumed our nature, so that He, made man, might make men gods."

This is the love that the Father has for us, that through His mercy, the sacrifice of His Son has actually accomplished more for us than if we had remained in an unfallen state in the Garden of Eden. This new share in the divine life of God that we re-ceive in Baptism is far beyond what we originally had before the sin of Adam and Eve! We have been restored to the supernatural state in a way far surpas-sing in glory than what we could have ever known had there been no fall.

We learn such an amazing lesson at Easter! The Paschal Mystery of Christ teaches us that, hid-den inside every mistake, every sin, every failure, is the chance for rebirth and renewal. St. Paul reminds us, in his letter to the Romans, that God’s mercy ac-tually transforms us. “Shall we persist in sin that grace may abound? Of course not! We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sin-ful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.” (Rom. 6:1, 6, 8)

God is constantly calling all of us out of darkness and into His light, using our faults and fail-ings for His glory. Just look at how God was able to transform the sin of Adam and Eve! From this sin, God brought about the glory of the Resurrection and made us into a new and even more wonderful crea tion. Even through the greatest of evils, God can pour out a greater love and mercy upon us. This is why we are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song! How good, how happy was that fault, that original fall of man in the Garden of Eden! From this fault, we learned of God’s unbelievable love and

incredible thirst for us and His desire to give us something even greater than blissful holiness, and that is a share in His own divine life, a divine life that we receive at our Baptism when we die to sin and rise to new life in Him. This is the essence of our salvation, in that, not only were we just saved from our sins and restored to the supernatural state of holiness, but we are now also now drawn up into the very nature of God Himself, accomplished through the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and As-cension of His Son, an event where justice and mer-cy collided.

Instead of just restoring man to what he was, God stooped down from all eternity, took us into His arms, and pressed us so close to His heart that the chasm between Creator and creature was forever bridged, forming a single being, the whole Christ, both head and members. In our great need, God, who wonderfully created human nature and still more wonderfully redeemed it, provided a medicine stronger than our afflictions and a mercy greater than our faults such that even sin, through His great love, served to elevate us to the divine life. Indeed, how happy was that fault that earned for us so great a Redeemer!

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The Resurrection of Christ Artist: Noel Coypel (1628-1707)

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at home, it needs to be all hands on deck. Responsi-bilities for chores may need to be established or re-distributed, but making them routine and setting real-istic expectations will help reduce stress.

Managing Weekends With organized sports, places of recreation, and stores closed for the foreseeable future, we may find ourselves with an overabundance of time on our hands come the weekends. This may provide the perfect opportunity to catch up on our to-do lists, work around the house, catch up on our sleep, or even try our hand at something we've always wanted to do, but never had the time to do before. All of this is well and good. Keeping the weekends loosely structured is good, but be sure to maintain some rou-tines like mealtimes and any others you deem im-portant. Consider things like Friday "date night." Shed the sweatpants and oversized t-shirt and get dressed up for a romantic dinner at home for two. If children or other family members are at home with us, establish a routine game or movie night each weekend. These weekend routines give everyone something to look forward to each week during a time when the things we used to look forward to are no longer available to us.

Make Time for the Sacred

I've saved the most important component for last because it really is the lynchpin to weathering this affliction. This routine may seem challenging at first given that our experience of Church has been significantly altered due to the suspension of public celebrations of Masses, liturgies, and devotions. While we may not have access to St. Albert the Great, our liturgies, sacraments, programs, or spiritu-al and social dimensions, remember that the back-bone of the Church is the domestic church. It's you and your family. Now more than ever, make time to pray together as a family. Establishing a morning and bedtime prayer routine allows us to frame our entire day in the context of prayer. Pray grace before meals. Pray the Rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet for an end to the pandemic. Give family members an opportunity to voice and express their concerns and worries in the context of prayer and while praying for each other. Pray with your spouse. Most important-

ly, while we may be prohibited from attending Sun-day Mass, keep Holy the Lord's Day by attending virtual Mass and making a spiritual communion. Nu-merous spiritual resources have been posted on the home page of our parish website, http://saintalthegreat.org, including live streamed Masses for weekdays and Sunday. We also hope to continue to use Facebook Live to live stream Mass from Saint Albert the Great at 8:30 AM on Sunday mornings. This is a particularly great way to stay and feel connected to the parish community. Consid-er also taking advantage of the parish's free subscrip-tion to FORMED.org which has a wealth of spiritual videos, movies, ebooks, podcasts, audios, and for-mation programs that can be accessed 24/7 and expe-rienced as a family. Don't have an account yet? Go to https://formed.org/signup to create a free account and then download the app for your tablet or Smartphone. Let's all strive to make God a part of our daily routines through increased prayer and devo-tion. While God is the bedrock we need most at all times in our life, it is often during times such as these that we are reminded of just how much we need him. Finally, keep in mind these two important ca-veats when establishing any routines for the home during this pandemic. First, routines need to be flexi-ble. This isn't boot camp. It's your home and your family. Sometimes we may need to tweak the rou-tine or change it up. That's okay. Remember, the purpose of a routine is to help reduce stress, not add to it. Second, have realistic expectations. If some-one in the family is working from home or there is a child "in school," especially a college student, they may need to be online at certain times during the day. Bear that in mind when creating any daily routines. It may mean that not everyone gets to eat, or have downtime at the same time, and may even limit a family member's availability to chip in with chores. This too is okay. And who knows. Perhaps when all is said and done and life returns to normal, some of these new habits will remain part of our normal routines.

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Scriptures on Trusting in the Lord

I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:5

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiv-ing, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all

understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in

due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

I command you: be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the

LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will contin-

ue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You set a table before me in front of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Indeed, goodness and mercy will pur-sue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD. for endless days.

Psalm 23

Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to his love, and the future to his providence. -Saint Augustine of Hippo

The Exsultet: Christ Our Light!

Sung on the evening of the Holy Saturday liturgy, the Exsultet expresses the joy of the Resurrection and Easter season. The text travels through salvation history, telling of the providential and redemptive power of God. As each Church is illuminated in can-dlelight, this ancient hymn proclaims Christ as the Light of the World, who dispels the darkness of sin and offers eternal life.

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Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult,

let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King's triumph!

Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King,

let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness.

Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lightning of his glory,

let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples.

Therefore, dearest friends, standing in the awesome glory of this holy light,

invoke with me, I ask you, the mercy of God almighty,

that he, who has been pleased to number me, though unworthy, among the Levites,

may pour into me his light unshadowed, that I may sing this candle's perfect praises.

V. The Lord be with you. R. And with your spirit. V. Lift up your hearts.

R. We lift them up to the Lord. V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

R. It is right and just.

It is truly right and just, with ardent love of mind and heart and with devoted service of our voice,

to acclaim our God invisible, the almighty Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, his Son, his Only Begotten.

Who for our sake paid Adam's debt to the eternal Father, and, pouring out his own dear Blood,

wiped clean the record of our ancient sinfulness.

These, then, are the feasts of Passover, in which is slain the Lamb, the one true Lamb, whose Blood anoints the doorposts of believers.

This is the night, when once you led our forebears, Israel's children,

from slavery in Egypt and made them pass dry-shod through the Red Sea.

This is the night that with a pillar of fire

banished the darkness of sin.

This is the night that even now, throughout the world,

sets Christian believers apart from worldly vices and from the gloom of sin,

leading them to grace and joining them to his holy ones.

This is the night, when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.

Our birth would have been no gain, had we not been redeemed.

O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling,

to ransom a slave you gave away your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam,

destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault

that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!

O truly blessed night, worthy alone to know the time and hour when Christ rose from the underworld!

This is the night of which it is written:

The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me,

and full of gladness.

The sanctifying power of this night dispels wickedness, washes faults away,

restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the

mighty. On this, your night of grace, O holy Father,

accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and of your servants’ hands,

an evening sacrifice of praise, this gift from your most holy Church.

But now we know the praises of this pillar, which glowing fire ignites for God's honor,

a fire into many flames divided, yet never dimmed by sharing of its light,

for it is fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees

to build a torch so precious.

O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth,

and divine to the human.

Therefore, O Lord, we pray you that this candle,

hallowed to the honor of your name, may persevere undimmed,

to overcome the darkness of this night.

Receive it as a pleasing fragrance, and let it mingle with the lights of heaven.

May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star:

the one Morning Star who never sets, Christ your Son,

who, coming back from death's domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity, and lives and reigns for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

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Mission Statement

Saint Albert the Great Parish is a Catholic Community united in our Lord

Jesus Christ. As the Body of Christ, we are committed to building a vibrant

parish family where the Word of God is proclaimed, studied, and integrated

into daily living. Our worship, in Word and Sacrament, celebrates the pres-

ence of God in our midst. We witness the Gospel through our actions of

care and concern for those around us. We take the time to discern the gifts

and needs of our parish and develop lay leadership accordingly.

Mass Schedule Sunday Masses Saturday Mass: 5:00 PM Vigil Sunday: 8:00 & 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM Youth & Young Adult Mass September through May: 2nd Saturday of the month @ 5 PM & 4th Sunday of the month @ 12 PM

Weekday Mass: Monday-Saturday: 8:00 AM Holy Days of Obligation Holy Day Vigil Mass: 7:00 PM Holy Day Masses: 6:30 & 10:00 AM Confessions: Tuesdays: 7:00 - 7:45 PM (in Rectory - call beforehand) Saturdays: 4:00 - 4:45 PM (in Church) Also available by appointment.

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