JESUS IS RISEN - - INDEED HE IS RISEN!  ALLELUIA! A JOYOUS EASTER TO ALL!  I especially WELCOME VISITORS, GUESTS AND THOSE RETURNING TO SAINT BLASE.  We are always happy to have you with us.  Do take a moment to look at our web site (www.stblase.org) or to “like us” on Facebook.  Together with our parish bulletin, these are great ways to learn of events in which you may want to participate. As we prepare to mark 50 years of ministry you will definitely want to stay connected.  We also join with our sister parish of St. Louis in Mirebalais, Haiti, in rejoicing together today.

​As we have marked Lent by forty days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, so now we keep the Solemnity of Easter for fifty days.  It is difficult to imagine a celebration that extends over fifty days.  The fifty-day celebration of Easter takes us more deeply into the resurrection and embraces more fully the mystery we begin to celebrate today.

Why fifty days?  In the bible, the number seven represents fulfillment and perfection.  Seven times seven is perfection multiplied by itself. Fifty takes us one day beyond perfection. We add one to that number, meaning that this mystery takes us beyond our wildest imaginings. The Easter Season is an anticipation of the Reign of God.  The same holds for our Sunday celebration.  The early Christians thought of Sunday, the day of resurrection, not so much as the seventh day, but rather as “the eighth day”  - - the day of the new creation - - the day that moves us beyond space and time and into the Heavenly Jerusalem.

In addition to life after death, resurrection is about being fully alive in this life.  The following dialogues from Fr. Anthony De Mello’s posthumously published book, More One Minute Nonsense make for good Easter Season reflection.

 “’Some people claim there is no life after death,’ said a disciple.  ‘Do they?’ said the Master noncommittally.  ‘Wouldn’t it be awful to die - - and never again see or hear or love or move?’  ‘You find that awful?’ said the Master.  ‘But that’s how most people are even before they die.’”

 “A disciple decided to be more personal and direct.  ‘Do you believe in life after death?’ she asked.  ‘Strange that you should be so stuck on that topic!’ said the Master.  ‘Why would you think it strange?’  “Here you have a glorious April day in front of you,’ said the Master, pointing to the window, ‘like a child who refuses to eat today because he does not know what tomorrow will bring.  You’re starving.  Eat your daily bread!’”

 “’My former Master taught me to accept both birth and death.’ ‘Then what have you come to me for?’ asked the Master, ‘To learn to accept what lies between them.’”

In the weeks to come we will celebrate the sacraments of Baptism, First Eucharist, Confirmation, and Marriage.  We will show our connection with our local Church through our generosity to the Catholic Services Appeal. And yes, preparations for this year’s Summer Circle (Vacation Bible School) are already underway as are many plans to celebrate our Golden Anniversary as a parish.  All of these are signs of resurrection, signs of the waters of baptism springing forth in our lives.  JESUS IS RISEN - - INDEED HE IS RISEN - - ALLELUIA!
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Fr. Randy Phillips

We have begun Holy Week.  In a few days Lent ends as we move into the THREE MOST IMPORTANT DAYS OF THE YEAR. I SINCERELY HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US FOR THE LITURGIES OF THIS SACRED TIME.  Is this “the year” that you participate in the full Triduum? 

Due to the nature of Holy Week we will have a number of visitors so please make every effort to greet anyone you don’t recognize as well as those you know.  Make it known that “ALL ARE WELCOME in this place”  Remember, however, that on HOLY THURSDAY AND GOOD FRIDAY WE DEPART THE CHURCH IN SILENCE.  This means that all of our greeting and visiting needs to be done before these liturgies begin.

The liturgies of this week are unique yet remain with us all year. On Holy Thursday we receive the Holy Oils, blessed and consecrated by Archbishop Vigneron that very morning at the Cathedral.  The Oil of the Sick, used to anoint our ill looking for healing and our ill whose healing leads them to eternal life; The Oil of Catechumens, used to anoint those preparing for baptism; and the Sacred Chrism, used to anoint the newly baptized and seal that baptism in Confirmation.  Sacred Chrism is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On Holy Thursday we also wash feet, celebrate the Holy Eucharist and then we spend quiet time with the Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. By the grace of God, in this Year of Mercy, the Feast of Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero, martyr, coincides with Holy Thursday.
  
Strictly speaking there is no Mass on Good Friday. The liturgy of the Church is in three parts: The liturgy of the Word; the veneration of the cross; and the communion rite. Following the liturgy the TABERNACLE IS EMPTY – and we feel that emptiness.  GOOD FRIDAY IS A DAY OF FAST (only one full meal) AND ABSTINENCE (no meat is eaten.)   Enjoy your one meal at our parish Fish Fry!

On Holy Saturday night we gather to celebrate the night unlike all other nights. We assemble in darkness, light the new fire (in it we consume the sacred oils from the previous year), and from that fire, we light our new paschal candle – Christ our Light.  We listen to an extended liturgy of the word, recalling that these stories of our ancestors continue to be lived in our own lives.  This culminates in the proclamation of the belief that is the foundation of our faith: the resurrection of Christ, the defeat of death in all its forms. JOIN US FOR THE EASTER VIGIL, THE GREATEST CELEBRATION OF THE ENTIRE YEAR.  JOIN US FOR THE SACRED TRIDUUM. 

The “Mercy Moment” for Holy Week belongs to Graham Greene. This 20th century author frequently took up Catholic themes, though he eschewed being called “a Catholic novelist.” Mercy was a theme on which Greene frequently focused, perhaps most famously with the character of the “whiskey priest” in his classic work, The Power and the Glory.  Graham Greene seemed to grasp, better than most that we are saved not despite our brokenness but rather in, through and because of our brokenness.
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​“There was a man, a good man, a holy man, and he lived in sin all through his life, because he couldn’t bear the idea that any soul could suffer damnation.  This man decided that if any soul was going to be damned, he would be damned too.  He never took the sacraments, he never married his wife in church.  I don’t know, my child, but some people think he was – well, a saint.  I think he died in what we are told is mortal sin – I’m not sure. . . You can’t conceive, my child, nor can I or anyone, the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.”  (Brighton Rock.)

IN HONOR OF ST. PATRICK’S DAY WE WILL HAVE LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AT OUR FISH FRY THIS WEEK.  You will want to invite your friends and neighbors to come not only for a great Lenten meal but to enjoy some Irish music from “MADIGAN’S ATTIC.”  (St. Blase is not responsible if you throw your back out doing a jig!)  I hope to see you there.

In honor of that other popular saint whose feast day is Saturday (St. Joseph), it is expected that Pope Francis will release his apostolic exhortation on the family. This document will be the result of the Synod of Bishops that convened in the fall of 2014 and 2015. As to what the Pope will say, as of the time I am writing this, there has been much speculation but no credible leaks. We will all 
find out together - - kind of like a family!

​This is “Reconciliation Week.”  Lent is the appropriate time to celebrate this sacrament. St. Michael will have a communal celebration of the Sacrament of Penance on Monday at 11:00 A.M.; St. Isidore will be the following evening, Tuesday, at 7:00 P.M.; and St. Martin de Porres will celebrate communal reconciliation on Friday, at 7:00 P.M.   For a complete listing of Reconciliation liturgies in our area visit the Central Macomb Vicariate website: www.cmvic.net.

Though it doesn’t seem possible, NEXT WEEK IS HOLY WEEK!  If you have never participated in the Sacred Triduum in its entirety perhaps this is the year.  Plan today to pray with us as we celebrate Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 P.M.  This liturgy is followed by adoration until 11:00 P.M.  The liturgy of Good Friday is at 1:00 P.M.  The Easter Vigil will begin at 8:30 P.M.  This is our holiest time of the year.  Come, let us worship.

This week’s mercy moment(s) come from Charles Dickens.  The first allows me to pursue some amateur literary criticism.  One of the “great mysteries” of A Christmas Carol is the precise business of Ebenezer Scrooge.  He is a keeper of accounts, yet also engages in loaning money and trades on the stock market.  This makes his line of work difficult to pinpoint.  I suggest this ambiguity is deliberate on Dickens’ part.  Early in the novel Scrooge is approached by two gentlemen seeking donations for the poor.  “’It's not my business,’ Scrooge returned.  ‘It's enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people's.  Mine occupies me constantly.’” 

That same night this exchange takes place between Scrooge and his late partner, Jacob Marley.  “’But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.  ‘Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. ‘Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!’”

Later, in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Past, Dickens will think of his neglect towards his clerk, Bob Cratchit, while he reminisces about how gracious and kind the man who apprenticed him was.  With the Ghost of Christmas Present Scrooge is stung by his own words as he looks upon Tiny Tim, ``If they would rather die,'' said Scrooge, ``they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”’  By the story’s end a converted Scrooge learns how to keep Christmas and Dickens adds, “May this truly be said of us, and all of us.”  Thus the entire story can be read through the lens of “business.”  Scrooge’s line of work is purposively vague because no matter our trade, profession or vocation, mankind is our business; charity, mercy, forbearance and benevolence are all our business. This is the business that must occupy us constantly.

Good old “CD” makes for a great lead in to Holy Week. Here are more Dickensian quotes on mercy.

O, if the deeds of human creatures could be traced to their source, how beautiful would even death appear; for how much charity, mercy, and purified affection would be seen to have their growth in dusty graves! (Master Humphrey’s Clock)

When death strikes down the innocent and young, for every fragile form from which he lets the panting spirit free, a hundred virtues rise, in shapes of mercy, charity, and love, to walk the world and bless it. Of every tear that sorrowing mortals shed on such green graves, some good is born, some gentler nature comes. (The Old Curiosity Shop)

Without strong affection and humanity of heart, and gratitude to that Being whose code is Mercy, and whose great attribute is Benevolence to all things that breathe, happiness can never be attained.” (Oliver Twist)

Our BLOOD DRIVE IS TOMORROW!  While walk-ins are welcome, it is still helpful to sign-up even at this late hour.  Sign–up sheets are in the Gathering Space.  Thank You for giving the gift of life.

Next week is “Reconciliation Week.”  St. Michael will have a communal celebration of the Sacrament of Penance on Monday, March 14th at 11:00 A.M.; St. Isidore will be the following evening, Tuesday, March 15th, at 7:00 P.M.; and St. Martin de Porres will celebrate communal reconciliation on Friday, March 18th, at 7:00 P.M.   For a complete listing of Reconciliation liturgies in our area visit the Central Macomb Vicariate website: www.cmvic.net.

 We have received an important video from our Archbishop, The Most Rev. Allen Vigneron, setting forth the Archdiocesan wide Synod and the summons to “Unleash the Gospel.”  Unfortunately our projector is not functioning (otherwise photos would have accompanied my homily a few weeks ago!)  Fortunately, THE ARCHBISHOP’S MESSAGE IS AVAILABLE VIA A LINK ON OUR WEBSITE. It is only about seven minutes in length and I urge you to view it so to understand and to be prepared to join in events both at our parish and throughout the Archdiocese as they unfold.

Research shows that some ways of saying “no” to temptation are more effective than others.  In a study of 120 undergrads, one-half of the group was told that each time they were tempted to eat something unhealthy they were to tell themselves, “I can’t eat X.”  The second group was told to say, “I don’t eat X.”  All the students were then asked to answer a set of questions related to healthy eating.  As they handed in their answer sheets, thinking the study was completed, they were offered a complimentary treat.  They could have either a candy bar or a granola health bar.  The researchers found that of the students who told themselves, “I can’t eat X,” 61 percent chose to eat the candy bar.  Of the students who told themselves, “I don’t eat X,” only 36 percent chose the candy bar.  (“Journal of Consumer Research”)   

 Evidently the terminology of will, (“I don’t”) was stronger than that of rules (“I can’t”) in helping people make a healthier food choice.  How we say, “no” seems to have some influence on how well we resist temptations.  This isn’t surprising.  A response of volition, or from our will, (“I don’t”) comes from within our self, while ‘I can’t,” barring physical restriction, generally comes from a force outside our self.  The latter we tend to rebel against while the former we tend to embrace as part of own values.  Now try applying this to our faith, its practices and especially our Lenten disciplines.  

This week’s “mercy moment” is taken from the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, who once described God as “mercy within mercy within mercy.”

“Mercy heals in every way.  It heals bodies, spirits, society and history.  It is the only force that can truly heal and save. . . . Mercy heals the root of life by curing our existence of the self-devouring despair which projects its own evil upon the other as a demand and an accusation.  When we are enabled by God’s gift to become merciful, we are given the power to understand mercifully, to accept and to pardon the evil in others, not as the fruit of some godlike magnanimity rooted in our own justice, but first of all as the fruit of a self-knowledge which is librated from the need to project its own evil upon the other.” (Thomas Merton, “The Climate of Mercy.”)