Our joy depends upon the cross, and our Lord would not enter into his glory except by the way of bitterness. He leads you by the same path as the saints. --St. Vincent de Paul Click here for the daily MASS READINGS for this month.
Palm Sunday
All who see me mock me;
they curl their lips and jeer;
they shake their heads at me:
"You relied on the LORD--let him deliver you;
if he loves you, let him rescue you."--Psalm 22:8-9Monday of Holy Week
Wait for the LORD, take courage;
be stouthearted, wait for the LORD! --Psalm 27:14O God, I beg of You the grace to devote myself to You and You alone. Give me the will to follow You, the power to obey You. O how sweet it would be to lead a holy life--the life of angels! O how pleasant to have done with sin! How fitting, how right, to die unto sin and to live unto holiness. Amen
Tuesday of Holy Week
The men who held Jesus in custody were ridiculing and beating him. They blindfolded him and questioned him, saying "Prophesy! Who was it that struck you?" --Luke 22:63-64
Rouse me from sloth and coldness, and make me desire You with my whole heart. Teach me to love meditation, sacred reading, and prayer. Teach me to love that which must engage my mind for all eternity. Amen.
Wednesday of Holy Week
See you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, take heart!
For the LORD hears the poor;
does not spurn those in bondage. --Psalm 69:33-34My God, cleanse my heart and mind of all that is past. Wipe out entirely all my recollections of evil. Rid me of all languor, sickliness, irritability, feebleness of soul. Give me a true perception of things unseen, and make me truly, practically and in the details of life, prefer You to anything on earth, and the future world to the present. Give me courage, a true instinct discerning between right and wrong, humility in all things, and a tender, longing love of You. Amen.
Holy Thursday
I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it [again] until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God. Luke 22:15-16
O most sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus: You are concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and you beat for us still. Now as then you say, "With desire I have desired. . ." I worship You will all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will. Amen.
Good Friday
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head. . .Then he handed him over to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to. . .Golgotha. There they crucified him. John 19:1-2, 16-18
My Lord, how far am I from acting according to what I know so well! I confess it, my heart goes after shadows. I love anything better than communion with You. I am ever eager to get away from You. Often I find it difficult even to say my prayers. There is hardly any amusement I would not rather take up than set myself to think of You. Give me grace, O my Jesus, to be utterly ashamed of my own reluctance when I see what You suffered for us on the cross! Amen.
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil
I shall not die but live,
and declare the deeds of the LORD. Psalm 118:17O my Savior, now in the tomb but soon to arise. You have paid the price; it is done--consummatum est--it is secured. Oh, fulfill your resurrection in us, and as You have purchased us, claim us, take possession of us, make us Yours. Amen.
Easter Sunday
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. --Colossians 3:3-4
(Excerpted from Prayers, Poems and Meditations and Sermons, Prayers and Devotions by John Henry Newman.)
The cross is to me certain salvation. The cross is that which I ever adore. The cross of the Lord is with me. The cross is my refuge. --St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Joseph Catholic Church
1304 Sixth Avenue
Huntington, West Virginia 25701
304-525-5202
Rev. Msgr. Lawrence Luciana, Pastor
Rev. Fr. Julian Marneni, Associate Pastor
