Archbishop Paul Etienne
As the Solemnity of Easter continues through the week, here is a slideshow of the Triduum here in Anchorage! Hope to add some pics from the Easter celebration as well. Many thanks to Ron Nicholl for the photos. Also, to all the priests, deacons and any and everyone who assisted in any way to make all our liturgies grand – thanks! Now, get some rest. Here is praying that your Easter continues well beyond this week, into the Eternal Easter! Peace!
Our Lenten journey is now over. We have accompanied Jesus through his agony, passion and death. Tonight / Today we celebrate that he who was dead now lives forever, and holds the keys of death and hell. (3rd Antiphon; Holy Saturday Morning Prayer) Just when those who sought to silence Jesus once and for all thought they had succeeded, when the disciples were bereft and downcast, ‘the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus’ discover when they visited the tomb the astonishing scene. The stone had been rolled away, but his body was not […]
Our reflection today resumes from where we left off yesterday – Jesus is the Priest and the Sacrifice, revealing the truth that “our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29) Yesterday we reflected upon Jesus as the Priest and Sacrifice in the Eucharist and in the Priest. Today we go to the source of that truth, the cross. In the Old Testament, a sacrificial offering was made in worship to God. Very often, the sacrifices were consumed by fire coming forth from God’s own hand. (Judges 6:21, Leviticus 9:24, 1 Kings 18:38) Today, Jesus, the […]
Tonight, the church begins the three-part Liturgy known as the Triduum. Our celebration begins with this Mass of the Lord’s Supper, in which Jesus bestows upon his church the gifts of Eucharist and Priesthood. The Eucharist is the perpetual celebration of the Paschal Mystery – of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Through the Eucharist Jesus shares his Divine Life with us, offering the grace and possibility that we be transformed more fully into him- into another christ (St. Catherine of Siena) – that we are equipped for his work of proclaiming the Gospel […]
We stand on the Eve of the greatest Liturgy of the Year – the Triduum – Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, which culminates in the celebration of Easter. Jesus is calling us to spend time with him during these Holy Days. The One who as God came to dwell among us is inviting us to accompany him through his final days when he instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, through his being handed over, passion, death and resurrection. These days are the greatest revelation of his true identity as the Son of […]
Monday’s Gospel finds Jesus in Bethany, a small town just beyond the Mount of Olives. He is visiting his friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. (John 12:1-11) This account immediately follows the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, (John 11) and immediately precedes Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem (John 12: 12 ff.) It is here in the home of friends that John places the story of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus. Is it any wonder that Mary has in her possession “a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard” which she […]
All of salvation history revolves around the events of Holy Week. God, who created all things, and found them good, who created man and woman in his image and found them very good. The creation account reveals the creative nature of God, who is love. It also reveals that the human person is created for communion with God, to ‘walk with God’ in perfect love and harmony. After the parents of all humanity fell into sin, God remained faithful, ever looking for ways to reconcile us to himself, through covenants, prophets, priests and kings – […]
Holy Week and the great Paschal celebration draws near. In fact, the Chrism Mass is traditionally celebrated on the morning of Holy Thursday. “This Mass is a clear expression of the unity of the priesthood and the sacrifice of Christ, which continues to be present in the Church today.” (Ceremonial of Bishops, #274) During this Mass, we consecrate the holy chrism and bless the other oils that will be used in the coming year for sacramental celebrations. Tonight, we focus our attention on the Lord, Jesus, who was anointed by the Father and sent into […]
Recently, I have been rereading some documents from the Second Vatican Council. These documents speak just as prophetically to our present situation today as they did over 50 years ago. As part of our strategic planning and because of some of the challenges we face today, I wanted to take a fresh look at the document Lumen Gentium (LG) – The Dogmatic Constitution On The Church. Each generation benefits by growing in their own understanding of the nature of the Church and the grace and calling that belongs to each of us as members of […]
In Today’s Gospel (Mark 10: 28-31), Peter begins a conversation with Jesus, saying: “We have given up everything to follow you.” If Jesus had not interrupted Peter, one wonders where this thought was leading … Perhaps once again, Jesus saves Peter from putting his foot in his mouth. Regardless, as we are on the eve of another Lenten journey, we have a great focus. First from Peter: Have we given up everything to follow Jesus? Second and more importantly, we do well to ponder the promise of Jesus. We cannot possibly give up more than […]