Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish podcast with Father Greg and jd. Each week, Father Greg and I connect on a variety of topics related to our faith and our parish in beautiful Winona, Ontario. We are here to help spread the good news and to further unite our parish community.
This is episode number 16, and we're going to focus on Holy Week this week. And we've got another resource that will hit perfect perfectly right now.
Remember, you can find us on the Spotify, Apple podcasts and the YouTube every week. So please like or subscribe and we will find your inbox every week. It's going to be in one of those places.
What's happening this week, Father Greg? Besides the whole Holy Week thing?
[00:00:45] Speaker B: All the things. All of the things are happening.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: They're all happening this week.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Life is good.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: That's actually good things.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: The Lord is really working great. Visits to the school today. Looking forward to tomorrow. School visit with Sinky. It was all so many good things. I could be here all day.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: That's fantastic. Okay.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Get to hang out with cool people here. We cleaned the church today. It's great.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: Oh, beautiful. Yeah, I noticed that extra air of. Of cleanliness around indeed makes us that much closer to godliness.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: All right, I do have a quick question before we begin. It concerns the most important words of Jesus at the Last Supper. And now there is some debate about this, but what I saw recently was that he said, all right, everyone, who wants to be in the painting, get on this side of the table. Does that qualify?
[00:01:32] Speaker B: I can't deny that he said that. It's not recorded.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: Okay, all right. And I noticed that you have a painting that replicates that perfectly out there.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It's a good joke about the Last Supper painting and how they're all sitting on the same side, just in case you didn't get what we were joking about.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Okay, well, that is a Father Greg quality joke right there.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: That's actually better than most of my jokes.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Coming soon to a homily near you.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: After that, start writing my jokes like I'm. You have some pretty good ones, actually. I'm ready for, like, the JD pool that I can draw from to draw.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: From in a pinch. Excellent. That'll be a lot of fun.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: That's not a joke. What I just said, though, just so.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: You know, after all this terrific banter, you better start us off with a prayer.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: Sure. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:02:15] Speaker B: God, I thank you for this podcast and our parish and the wonderful blessings that we see that you are pouring out upon us as we just see more people, we see people stepping up, new groups in our parish, and just more and more families and people coming to find the joy of you in their life. And so, Lord, we just ask you, bless us, bless our podcast, bless our parish, bless our listeners, anoint us by your holy Spirit and bless those who listen to us. We pray this in Jesus name. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: Oh, thank you for that, Father.
Well, this week, no saint of the week. This week I noticed in the calendar there weren't any.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: This happens to be a low key saint week.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Is it a low key saint week or are they just not assigned because of Holy Week?
[00:03:01] Speaker B: There's a great question. Holy Week could fall really in a wide variety of weeks because of the variability of Easter. So this just happens that this year the Holy Week doesn't really occlude any other big saints in the current calendar. Now, technically speaking, in like there is at least one saint whose days, like every day of the year, there's at least one saint that way. Yes, yes. But there we could say that their celebration is not done in a universal way by the whole church. So for us, there are some days where we don't have a saint that we in our current universal calendar in the church celebrate, if that makes sense.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: No, totally, I'm with you. There's a universal calendar and then there is a Canadian version, I suppose as well.
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Slightly different. Yeah. And also, like, there are so many saints and like they have a day, but like, they're more obscure saints, so like we don't celebrate them. And part of this is that the church likes that there are some days where like, it's great to have a saint that we celebrate liturgically, but it's also this part of the wisdom of the church says, like, we don't absolutely need a saint every day because maybe we just need to reflect on Lent or maybe we just need to reflect on blank. So the church has been guided by the Holy Spirit to have some level of freedom, it would seem there.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: When is the season of blank?
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Season of blank comes right out. The season of blood, which doesn't exist.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: I'd have to go back and research the calendar more deeply now.
[00:04:29] Speaker B: Yeah, don't think those are in the calendar.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Okay. All right. It was just an example. Just an example.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Yeah. It was a fill in.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Well, we are into Holy Week, so no saint of the week this week, but we'll focus on Haley Week. And so we're marking the final days of Jesus, earthly life, his suffering, death, and resurrection, beginning back with Palm Sunday, celebrating his triumphant return to Jerusalem. And we're progressing through the week, through in into Thursday, the Last Supper, the Sorrowful Crucifixion on Good Friday. And so there's so much to reflect on each day of the week. Sacrifice, redemption, divine love. And we've got our beautiful culmination on Easter Sunday. And so we're looking to transform sorrow into joy this week. And the symbolism of victory, of.
Well, victory over sin and death.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: Wow.
And how.
How are we differentiating our celebration of Holy Week here, the Immaculate Heart of Mary?
[00:05:41] Speaker B: Do you mean what's special about our celebration of Holy Week?
[00:05:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:05:46] Speaker B: It's a good question. I haven't thought about that.
I don't really know. Like, I hope we're doing everything the way everyone else is doing. Doing it. Well, like, I mean, like, we had.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: Palm Sunday, a beautiful procession to start the Mass.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:05:58] Speaker A: And your special. I want to call it a cape, but I know your cope.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: The red coat. There is an option to come in with. Yeah. But then you have to take it off and switch to the chasuble.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:06:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: And I didn't notice a change in wardrobe. I think Rain pointed it out, but I. I didn't notice.
[00:06:13] Speaker B: It was so smooth that no one noticed.
Yeah. And then also, I don't know if people would notice, but there was palms attached to the crucifix, the processional cross, which is really fascinating. And that's. That's also the rubrics say that according to, like, local custom, the crucifix is decorated with palms.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: So we had them.
But none of this is, like, unique to our parish. Like, this is just stuff in the book.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: I'm just trying. My goal is if we do the things in the book with as much love and kindness as possible, I think we're doing well.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, exactly. I loved how some processed with you around the church prior to rejoining their seats in the pew. Just gave a really special feel to it.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: Yeah. It was like reliving like. Like, the real procession of Jesus into Palm Sunday would have been a little bit like, whoa, what's going on here? Hey, this is pretty cool.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: So, I mean, I think that we had a bit of that, too.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: Okay. All right, Excellent.
I will throw out a quote, of course, just because we're in that part of the show where we talk about things and saints. So this Is coming from Fulton Sheen, of course. Who says, unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.
There's a lot there.
[00:07:26] Speaker B: Did he also say, jesus I trust in you?
[00:07:29] Speaker A: I think it was followed up after. It's not included in the same quote, but I think he did say that.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Good ongoing joke, by the way. I thought of something totally unique to our parish.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: About Holy Week, that I will be not only washing the people's feet.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:07:45] Speaker B: But on Holy Thursday. But I will be rapping as I wash their feet. Wash feet like I'm fresh off the street. So cool to see all 12 of you. 12 of you. Good to meet. Yeah. Peep. Yeah. Anyways, this is a joke. I'm not really rapping.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: Oh, I was, I was just saying you're like, get a front row seat of this.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You're like, how do I get my feet washed?
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:08:07] Speaker B: Everyone that I watched the features them gets a personalized like, rap right as I'm washing their feet.
Love your feet, you know, now they're so clean. Look at how see, you're so peaceful, serene.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Oh, very good.
[00:08:19] Speaker B: I got some more water. Let me wipe that all off. Yeah. Don't be like those people that don't like Jesus and scoff. These are not good. These are just. That's just me being silly.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: So that's Thursday.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: Thursday night as part of the Holy Thursday Mass.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: That's right. Feet will be washed.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: That's okay. Feet will be washed on Thursday.
Wrapping may or may not take place. You're going to have to attend in person to find out if.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: That's right. Please come and see if the rap happens.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: It's going to be a game time decision by Father Greg.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: That's right. Whoa.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Father really wrapped the homily and then two masses on Good Friday, two liturgies.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:52] Speaker A: 11Am and 3pm and the Easter vigil on Saturday. Very special. Beautiful ceremony.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Oh, it's always beautiful. Yeah. And the instruction is that it starts after sundown and that goes back to ancient times in Christianity. So that's why it's 8:15 because I checked out like, when is sundown?
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Okay. All right.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: Sunset really happen? And it's slightly after 8 o'clock, which means the most, like, normal. I'm not going to start the event at like 8:08pm That's a little bit odd.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: So as much of a rule follower I should love to be. That's right.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: A little bit of leeway.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: Something that sounds a little more natural a 15 is a little bit more normal.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: Okay, excellent. I. That answers that question.
[00:09:29] Speaker B: Why 8:15?
[00:09:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And I hadn't consulted the, the sundown calendar either, so that was great. And then our beautiful Easter Sunday Mass.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: That's right. It's going to be great.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: Excellent.
Will there be an Adoration overnight?
[00:09:47] Speaker B: Oh, no. Holy Thursday. Yeah, there'll be like, you can go to the Adoration chapel and watch with Jesus. Right. Like at the end of the Holy Thursday Mass, there's this beautiful procession and there's this invitation to kind of keep watch with the Lord for those who want to kind of in some sense relive and enter into that agony in the garden experience where after the Last Supper, they go out and Jesus is praying and he asks his disciples to watch with him. Right. And so it's in that spirit that many will stay and really, really enter deeply into what Christ is doing and about to do.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Okay, fantastic.
All right. Holy Week, very exciting. We're in the midst of it now and it's only going to get better.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: Indeed.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: All right, well, let's slide over to ask Father Greg. Each week we respond to a question submitted by a listener or one that we make up ourselves. In Holy Week we have Good Friday. So the day in which Jesus is brutally tortured and crucified. And at the time, all hope seems lost, evil and death seem to have triumphed.
And so I'm wondering what can be good about that?
How have we attributed good to that? All this evil that's happening on this day?
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah. How do we call Good Friday good, given the evil that was done to our Lord? Yeah. I think the simple answer is it's not good in the sense that it's a good thing that Jesus was crucified in the sense of like that on its own is a good.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: It's not.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: It's a sad thing, it's a tragic thing that Jesus, innocent God himself, like, it's a. It's an infinite injustice that God would be treated this way, would be mocked, scourged, crucified, and all the other evil things that were done to him. But what's good about it is that he did that for our salvation. In his goodness, Jesus as the good shepherd, comes and dies for us. Not only does he give us the good news, but he does the greatest act of good possible. This self sacrificial, salvific act of redemption. And this is the goodness that Jesus overcomes all evil with the supreme good of his saving love, his redemptive sacrifice. And not only is it good for that, but we know it's good because its fruits are supremely good, our salvation. And we will see the goodness in full. On full display come Easter, when Christ has overcome all that evil. His goodness is infinitely beyond the evil that we could throw at him. And it's so profound to think about this limitless love, this infinite goodness and mercy that Jesus reveals paradoxically through his willingness to go through this evil.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: So we really have to look beyond the evil that's done to him and the physical suffering for. For the purpose behind it. And what. I guess, his purpose behind it. Yeah. And what truly we gain from it.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: That's right. Also, I think, you know, he quotes Psalm 22 on the cross when he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Those are the opening lines, Psalm 22.
And he's not just. He's not just saying, like, oh, I can't feel God. Like, there is a certain sense in which Jesus is. Is experiencing so much of the punishment of our sin that it's. There's a certain sense in which, like, he's one with the Father, but he's experiencing the pain of all that sin. But also, the rest of Psalm 22 is actually a psalm of trust and hope, and it talks about how the Messiah will be vindicated.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Right.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: And so by quoting the beginning of Psalm 22, he's really. Because he's not going to be able to say the whole thing from the cross, he's really saying, this is not the end of the story. I've got good news for you. And it's really profound to think that he would kind of drop that hint that all the Jews would have caught. They would have realized he's quoting Scripture.
And so we see a glimpse of that goodness that will triumph evil, just even in that particular part of his speech from the cross.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: And wasn't it part of the custom at the time that they could just recite the opening part of a psalm and understand that they're referencing the whole song, too?
[00:14:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Maybe that's. You know, that is probably the case. I'll be honest with you.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: My ignorance.
[00:14:14] Speaker B: I didn't know that, but it's probably true.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Okay. Something I picked up in. In sort of reviewing the last seven words of Christ.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: And you know, with these words, it may sound like Jesus really believes that the Father is abandoning him, but he's not. It's a. As you said, it's. The rest of the hymn is a hymn of salvation.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like that, that Psalm 22 really goes through the struggles and the trials. Right. I just put it up here like this. As many bulls surround me. This idea that he's surrounded by, like, injustice and maltreatment. But then you go further after he says, I can count all my bones. They stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among them, which is what they did for my clothing. They cast lots. That's exactly what they did.
But then he says, then I will proclaim your name to my brethren in the assembly. I will praise you. And then he has not spurned or disdained, etc. He did not turn away from me. He heard when I cried out. And he kind of comes towards the end celebrating how there will be deliverance. The Lord will work this out to the good.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: Wow. Okay.
Lots to unpack in those seven words.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: Gosh. And. And I suppose that we will continue to explore those over time and perhaps even the resource of the week slide that transition in on you. The Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen. Archbishop Fulton Sheen. The venerable Fulton Sheen, a man of many titles and great repute and great authorship. And so chapters devoted to all parts of the life of Christ.
One that kind of just jumped out in significance was actually from readings today about Peter denying Jesus three times. And just how he presents it in this chapter, the way he lays out the words and his explanation is so heart wrenching for somebody who says in one breath that I will die for you, Jesus. I will follow you to the ends of the earth. And to suddenly say, I don't know this man. And sort of downgrading his.
Seemingly downgrading his perception of Jesus at that time, it just. His style of writing and how it's laid out just is a perfect capturing of that particular moment. That's one that kind of stood out to me right now. But the Life of Christ of Fulton J. Sheen as our resource of the week. People are gonna have to get busy reading all these books.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: There you go. Exactly.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: All right, Father Greg, there is so much happening in our community in this freshly cleaned church. Our parishioners can always check out the bulletin every week. But for everyone else out there, what are some of the highlights of the coming weeks? What's happening in the church right now?
[00:17:10] Speaker B: Well, other than Holy Week, which, you know, we touched on, and so much good stuff. I could go on and on. Actually, we have a really cool thing that's happening in our parish.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: So who is the really cool thing that's happening in our parish?
[00:17:20] Speaker B: The really cool thing? The person that is here in our parish with us for the summer is actually seminarian Giuseppe, who's been sitting here all along. And it's a nice little surprise. I'm gonna slide the microphone over if you have anything you want to say to all of our listeners and viewers.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: Hi, everyone.
[00:17:39] Speaker C: My name is Giuseppe Njualim, and I've actually been here before. I was here for last Christmas. So it's really nice to be. To be back and thankful that Greg so much for having me. I'm looking forward to praying with you guys and equally chatting. Thank you.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: Amazing. That's great. We're so glad that Giuseppe is here. And. And so he's studying to be a priest. All right. He's a seminarian. That's someone studying to be a priest. And he was here a couple Christmases ago, and it's great to have him back.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: So excellent. Welcome, Giuseppe.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Yeah, he's from Cameroon. Right. And he's studying for the Virgin Islands. The U.S. virgin Islands. They're not the other Virgin Islands. That's right. That's right. That's amazing. So that's. That's kind of like a very noteworthy thing that's new in our parish. We're blessed to. To have had the chance to have another seminary. Father Mark Morley and Bishop Lobsinger said they would be very happy if you could be here, so. And I'm also happy to have him here.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: Fantastic. And we're happy to have him here, too.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:18:34] Speaker A: All right. There are so many people doing great work at the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish. Who do you want to recognize in the parish this week?
[00:18:43] Speaker B: I think I have to give a shout out to Giuseppe. Giuseppe. Great. He's been here for about 24 hours. He's doing a great job here at the parish. He did a great job when he was here for Christmas a couple Christmases ago. And so I can actually, this is the first time that I think, other than, like, J.D. and Lucia, when I give the shout out, you're actually here. So that's great. You're doing great. We're so blessed to have you here. It's always a privilege for a pastor to have a seminarian, too, because the pastor can share things with the seminary, but the seminary helps the pastor out and it really blesses the parish community. I know you're going to be a blessing for us. You're going to help us in so many ways. So we're looking forward to continuing to enjoy that. It's my shout out.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: Excellent. Love it. Well, that is just about all the time we have for today. Thank you for your insights, Father, and welcome, Giuseppe. Shall we close with a prayer?
[00:19:29] Speaker B: Sure. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:19:32] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: God, we thank you for all you're doing in our parish community and in each one of our lives. Continue to bless us. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and help us to walk by the path you have that we know is the best way for us. Your way is always best, Lord. Help us to walk your path and to trust in you when we're not clear on why or where we are going, that you will always guide us and we can trust you. So bless us and we pray this in Jesus name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: Thank you for that, Father. And thank you for continuing to remind us that God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called.
[00:20:05] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: Thanks also to our fans and friends and odds and ends for joining us again this week through the Immaculate Heart of Mary social media channels. The Apple podcasts and the Spotify and the YouTube.
[00:20:17] Speaker B: The YouTube.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: And if you like our show, subscribe and tell your friends.
[00:20:21] Speaker B: Subscribe.
[00:20:21] Speaker A: And if you don't like our show, tell your friends anyway. And let them discern for themselves.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Let them discern.
[00:20:27] Speaker A: Have a great week, everyone. We are Father repeating Greg and JD Leaving you smarter, happier and more blessed than you were yesterday.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: Way more blessed.
