Dear Parishioners,

Bishop Mulvey has sent word that the suspension of Masses will continue until further notice.  He has dispensed all of the faithful from their obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, also until further notice.  He encourages the faithful to make Sunday holy by refraining from unnecessary work and by taking part in some form of spiritual devotion, such as the rosary or Bible Reading.

The bishop is encouraging priests to live stream their Masses, which must be celebrated in private.  As you know, I am celebrating Mass every day and live streaming the Mass on Instagram (10:00 am on Sunday, 7:30 am Monday through Saturday).  I encourage you to find us on Instagram at st.helena.catholic.church.  You can also find televised Masses on EWTN, and the Mass at the Corpus Christi Cathedral is televised live on Sundays.

The liturgies for the Easter Triduum will be carried live on Instagram.  Here is the schedule:

April 9 (Holy Thursday): The Mass of the Lord's Supper will be celebrated at 7:00 pm.
April 10 (Good Friday):  The Liturgy of the Lord's Passion will be celebrated at 3:00 pm.
April 11 (Holy Saturday): The Easter Vigil Mass will be celebrated at 8:00 pm.
April 12 (Easter Sunday): Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 am.

Parents of Confirmation students: I am still awaiting instructions about Confirmations, but I think it's safe to suppose that the Confirmation Mass will be postponed.  I wish I could tell you more but I don't know anything else.  I will keep you posted.

I will continue to pass along information as I get it.  Please be sure that I am praying for all of you.  Let us remain close to God and united in prayer.  

In Christ, the High Priest,

Fr. Richard Libby

How do we make ourselves pleasing to God?
 
In Sirach of the Old Testament today we hear to keep God’s commandments, the Law of Moses, to make simple moral choices.  What do you want? Life quenching water, or to burn in fire?  Wisdom comes from simple moral choices says Sirach. 
 
Now here’s Paul who says “mature up,” a deepen wisdom awaits you, but not a contemporary wisdom, not the wisdom of this age, not the wisdom of Wall Street, not the wisdom  of glamor, of glitz, of spending money on neat and cool things, not the causes of glory that pleases this world. He makes it clear that he’s talking about a thin wisdom, a false wisdom, but he takes a step farther than Ben Sirach and preaches about the mysterious, hidden wisdom of Christ, crucified in glory, the wisdom of the cross, which is the wisdom of self-sacrifice, the wisdom of Christ who undertook pain, suffering, insults and worldly death for us, for you, for me. 
 
This wisdom of the wise choices we make, the wisdom of sacrificing for others like Jesus did for you and me, leads us into the presence of the eternal Divine. The wisdom of Christ leads us to wise choices through our being Christ to others and our life that awaits us is this: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.”  And our love of Christ is based on how we love others through our aiding the poor, the sick, the hurt, the homeless, the refugee, the orphan, by our hands and feet, by our pocket books, by our prayer, through our love, our charity.  We don’t wait for government to do these things, but roll up our sleeves and engage directly with God’s hurting children. It’s all about how we love. And this strength, this courage, this wisdom, this grace, this hidden wisdom comes to us through the greatest gift of all, through the Eucharist of the Last Supper celebrated at every Mass, today here and around the world. 
 
Such a wonderful quote in our bulletin from last week, from the great Catholic social activist, a convert to Catholicism, Dorothy Day: “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.” That’s jaw-dropper.
 
And now comes the ultimate Jaw-Dropper Jesus Christ who shocked the establishment of His day who spoke up for the poor, the sick, the downtrodden and gave hope to every person no matter their standing, no matter if rich or poor, no matter is powerful or powerless.
 
Jesus says he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.  He will fulfill the Law of Mose through justice, through the importance and dignity of human interrelationships, through love and divine mercy that is deeper than the so called righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. 
 
Jesus in this gospel of Matthew today is calling us to a higher level of living, a higher way of love. He wants us to avoid spiritual minimalism, which is doing only the minimum of what is required that is living by the ”hey, it’s good enough” method.
 
Jesus today says it isn’t good enough to keep from murder, it isn’t good enough to follow the law that you shall not kill.  You must avoid being angry, holding a grudge your neighbor, even the stranger.  He says you must be reconciled with your neighbor, with the stranger by your self-sacrifice of reconciliation, by your reaching out to them as Jesus did.  He was the God-man of action, of doing, of reaching out. 
 
Jesus says today it isn’t enough to avoid committing adultery.  We must avoid looking at others that belittles them, or discount them for our own gratification.  In so doing we must not take advantage of others to build up ourselves falsely.  Rather than looking at others for our benefit we should engage is self examination to find our deepest faults, bring them to the surface and banish these faults.
 
And about divorce, and once again he engages in his ”It is said..., but I tell you..” Yes he says divorce is wrong but does a man treat his wife in total respect, in total love. Does each marriage partner fulfills the other in every way without anger, without deceit, without the defilement of the psyche and soul.
 
About oaths: Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all...” He says it is enough to avoid making a false oath but avoid having to find yourself in a situation where you be obliged to say to swear to anything. It’s really abousay what you mean and mean what you say. He says to be truthful always, not cunning with words, not skirting the line between truth and falsity but always engage in honesty, to never lie. 
 
Again Jesus today says to be rid of spiritual minimalism.  It’s not enough to avoid lying, but be truthful at all times; be disciplined in body and soul. It isn’t enough to be frugal or even parsimonious, that is excessive frugality, even being stingy, but be instead generous with your talents, with your time, with your money. 
 
Jesus calls us to be like him, to be his body on earth, we the living Christs, to adorn our souls with his divine life, so we can be the lights on the mountain beckoning all to come to the light, to the light of our devotion to Jesus by our being living examples of honesty, righteousness, of virtue, of charity toward all no matter who they are, to do this promptly and frequently. Our Christianity, our Catholicism must be an open door for many to pass through in hope, awe and reverence because of our example for all to see and say, “Hey, I want to be a Christian too. Hey I want to be a Catholic too.”
 
This how we can make ourselves pleasing to God.