Home is the Holy Place

HOME IS THE HOLY PLACE

AT HOME GUIDE TO

APRIL 5TH - APRIL 12TH, 2020 PHONEÂ 913.684.8992 or find us on Facebook

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK!

Like our Facebook page and Subscribe to the brand new St. Ignatius YouTube page.

JOIN US ONLINE FOR...

Mass at M-W 12:00 pmÂ

Easter Sunday Mass 09:30

Holy Thursday Mass at 17:30

Women of St. Ignatius Virtual Fellowship

Good Friday Service at 17:30

Guidance and Encouragement from Fr. Jeff

Easter Vigil Mass at 20:00

Resources for the Whole Family

HOW TO PRAY HOLY WEEK LITURGIES AT HOME Creating a sacred space to reverently watch the Mass in your home.

Create a prayer altar under your TV or streaming device. Consider setting a crucifix or other sacred art in the prayer space.

Open your bible to the gospel of the day and place it on your "home altar" to remind you that the Word of God is among you.

Light a candle to symbolize the beautiful light that shines in the darkness and to help your home resemble the Church Set up chairs like a pew to help you engage in the Mass and keep you from passively watching from the couch Get dressed as you normally would when attending Mass. Keeping this routine is especially helpful for children.

If you have holy water at home, bless yourself and your family before you begin the Mass.

Take a few moments to transition from the busyness of home to the sacredness of the Mass.

Fully Participate by standing, kneeling, sitting and responding during Mass.

Engage in community by having coffee and breakfast with your family after Mass or by calling your loved ones to connect.

HOLY WEEK

PALM SUNDAY

Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Holy Week, and commemorates the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, days before he was crucified.

Palm Sunday is known as such because the faithful will often receive palm fronds which they use to participate in the reenactment of Christ's arrival in Jerusalem. In the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey, and to the lavish praise of the townspeople who threw clothes, or possibly palms or small branches, in front of him as a sign of homage. This was a customary practice for people of great respect.

Palm branches are a widely recognized symbol of peace and victory, hence their preferred use on Palm Sunday.

The use of a donkey instead of a horse is highly symbolic, it represents the humble arrival of someone in peace, as opposed to arriving on a steed in war. The colors of the Mass on Palm Sunday are red and white, symbolizing the redemption in blood that Christ paid for the world. A week later, Christ would rise from the dead on the first Easter.

Bringing it home...

What if everyone on Sunday April 5 in the morning, puts a palm or branch on the door of their house or on the window, to celebrate Palm Sunday?

It could be the palm you pick up from our no contact palm distribution or it could be any green branch you can get. This would help, despite the social distancing, to be connected as we enter into the Holiest of Weeks.

Want to join?

We may be physically isolated, but not separated. We are united as the body of Christ.

We are the Church.

HOLY WEEK

HOLY THURSDAY

Except for the resurrection on Easter, Holy Thursday is possibly one of the most important, complex, and profound days of celebration in the Catholic Church. Holy Thursday celebrates the institution of the Eucharist as the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and the institution of the sacrament of the priesthood.

During the Last Supper, Jesus offers himself as the Passover sacrifice, the sacrificial lamb, and teaches that every ordained priest is to follow the same sacrifice in the exact same way. Christ also bids farewell to his followers and prophesies that one of them will betray him and hand him over to the Roman soldiers.

This Mass stresses the importance Jesus puts on the humility of service, and the need for cleansing with water, a symbol of baptism. Also emphasized are the critical importance of the Eucharist and the sacrifice of Christ’s Body, which we now find present in the consecrated Host.

Normally, at the conclusion of the Mass, the faithful are invited to continue Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the night, just as the disciples were invited to stay up with the Lord during His agony in the garden before His betrayal by Judas.

After Holy Thursday, no Mass would be celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil celebrates and proclaims the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bringing it home...

Reenact the Last Supper in your home. Everyone in the family washes someone else's feet. Leave a pitcher, bowl and towel on your front porch.

In commemoration of the Lord’s agony in the garden, it is customary to spend the night in Eucharistic adoration. While attending adoration at a church is not possible, we recommend spending time in quiet meditation, reflection on relevant Gospel passages, recitation of the Rosary or making an act of spiritual communion.

HOLY WEEK

GOOD FRIDAY

“‘It is finished’; and he bowed his head and handed over his spirit.”

Good Friday is a time when we focus our attention on the events that occurred three days before Easter. It is a solemn day where we recount Jesus Christ’s Passion, specifically the Crucifixion. It’s a time that reminds us of our own mortality but also reminds us that in Christ there is life everlasting and without Christ we don’t exist. The Church, in the decoration, is displayed in a way that indicates “a day of mourning, not a day of festive joy.” No “Mass” is celebrated on this day, but normally at the service of Good Friday, we venerate the cross and receive communion from the consecrated hosts of Holy Thursday.

By not celebrating the Eucharistic Prayers (The priests consecrating the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ) naturally leads to a sense of malnourishment and an increased realization that Christ conquered death and is our source of strength and our true desire.

Bringing it home...

Set a crucifix on your front door or front yard.

Spend time in family prayer. Pray the Stations of the Cross.

Good Friday is one of two annual obligatory days of fasting for Catholics. With life so jarringly altered, perhaps our fasting will take on new meaning this year, and perhaps we can increase our fasting for the good of all those suffering and caring for the sick throughout the world. Fasting certainly creates a void within us, so that we may recognize our dependence on God above all else. But it can also be an opportunity to open us up to the needs of others, particularly those who need our prayers during these days.

HOLY WEEK

HOLY SATURDAY & EASTER VIGIL

Holy Saturday is the final day of Holy Week, and of the Easter Triduum, the three days (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday) immediately preceding Easter, during which Christians commemorate the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ and prepare for His Resurrection.

Also known as the Easter Vigil (a name more properly applied to the Mass on Holy Saturday night), Holy Saturday has had a long and varied history. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, "in the early Church, this was the only Saturday on which fasting was permitted." Fasting is a sign of penance, but on Good Friday, Christ paid with His own Blood the debt of our sins. Thus, for many centuries, Christians regarded both Saturday and Sunday, the day of Christ's Resurrection, as days on which fasting was forbidden.

As on Good Friday, there is no Mass offered for Holy Saturday. The Easter Vigil Mass, which takes place after sundown on Holy Saturday, properly belongs to Easter Sunday, since liturgically, each day begins at sundown on the previous day. That is why Saturday vigil Masses can fulfill our Sunday duty. Unlike on Good Friday, when Holy Communion is distributed at the afternoon liturgy commemorating Christ's Passion, on Holy Saturday the Eucharist is only given to the faithful as viaticum—that is, only to those in danger of death, to prepare their souls for their journey to the next life.

In the early Church, Christians gathered on the afternoon of Holy Saturday to pray and to confer the Sacrament of Baptism oncatechumens—converts to Christianity who had spent Lent preparing to be received into the Church.

(As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, in the early Church, "Holy Saturday and the vigil of Pentecost were the only days on which baptism was administered.") This vigil lasted through the night until dawn on Easter Sunday, when the Alleluia was sung for the first time since the beginning of Lent, and the faithful—including the newly baptized— broke their 40-hour fast by receiving Communion

Bringing it home...

In the evening set a lit candle on your front porch or safely in your front window(s). Spread the light of Christi to others. Be the church!

BE THE CHURCH

Even though we may not be together as a community to celebrate Easter, the Lord is risen! Let us rejoice, therefore, and be glad!

As you begin your Easter celebration, take time to read one of the Gospel accounts of when the tomb was found empty (there are several options). This is the center point of human history and should take on that significance in our lives. Be sure, also, to watch Mass on online with us!

Because we can worship in all that we do, we celebrate Easter with all we have. Many traditional foods are associated with Easter from cultures around the world. Perhaps do some research and try to make a special paschal cuisine. Easter eggs, be they dyed or plastic, can be hidden in the yard or the house, and they remind us of the endless possibilities that flow from Christ’s triumph over the grave.

Another special Easter practice is to adorn the cross (you could use the same one as used on Good Friday) with spring flowers, a visible reminder that God has transformed the meaning of even suffering and death. If flowers are hard to come by at home, another possibility is to encourage children to draw, color or paint such decorations.

Perhaps large “Alleluia!” posters can be made to add a bit of Easter festivity to the home. Easter songs are not as well-known and popular as Christmas carols, but don’t let that stop you from letting your alleluias ring out, for Christ is truly risen from the tomb. No matter the difficulty of crisis, Easter reminds us that God always wins — indeed, he’s already won, and so no matter the sorrow around us, we can be filled with joy.