Today’s hymns  (# in „Abba Ojcze”):	Today’s readings:
Introduction –Wisi na krzyżu #432 Offering  –W krzyżu cierpienie #433 Communion – Ogrodzie Oliwny  #408 Concluding hymn – O Boże, O Boże  #405	I – Isaah, 43-16-21 II –St. Paul to the Phillipians 3:18-14 Psalm: Ps 126 (125):1-2ab, 2cd and 4,5,6 Gospel: John,  8:1-11

Decorating Easter Eggs and Palms

We will get together to decorate Easter eggs and palms on Saturday, March 27 (before Palm Sunday), at 2 pm at the hall by St. John’s church. Both adults and children are welcome. Tools, decorating materials and wax for the eggs will be provided by the PCM. If you need additional information please call Krystyna Zawada (ph.756-0587).
Almost every Christian family knows and follows the tradition of preparing colored eggs (pisanki or kraszanki) for Easter. Pisanki are chicken eggs painted in different colors and decorated. Kraszanki are usually painted in one color only, with no additional decorations. Empty egg shells can also be painted in different colors and hang on willow branches as table centerpiece.  It was not until the Middle Ages that religious traditions related to eggs – very symbolic in our culture – became widespread among the Europeans.

Gorzkie Żale

We would like to remind you that each Saturday at 6:00 pm at St. John’s church we will celebrate Gorzkie Żale –
a popular Polish worship service that includes the celebration of the Holy Sacrament. Everyone is welcome to participate!

Easter Confession

Each Saturday (except for April 3) at St. John’s church everyone is invited to accept the sacrament of reconciliation right before or after Gorzkie Żale. There is also a possibility to arrange a different time of confession with any of the Polish priests.  

The Mass of the Holy Chrism (March 30, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Central Av.)

Fr. Kazimierz would like to invite everyone to participate in the Mass of the Holy Chrism celebrated by the Bishop at the IC Cathedral on March 30 at 7 pm. This Mass is a special manifestation of unity of the Catholic Church, it shows the authority of the Bishop and his unity with all priests. Oils blessed during this mass are later used for various sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick) and blessings (blessing of a church, an altar, etc.) performed by the Bishop. Oil is the symbol of God’s power, solemnity of the Holy Spirit, health and joy.

Flowers and Construction of Lord’s Tumb

Those who would like to help prepare and decorate Lord’s Tumb for Easter are invited to come to St. John’s church on March 31 at 6 pm. We are also collecting donations for flowers to decorate the church and the tumb. If you would like to donate plants or fresh flowers, please bring them to church as well. For donations please contact Krystyna Zawada or Zofia Schmidt. God Bless you for your help and generous heart.

Easter Foods Blessing - ”Święconka”

Traditional Polish „Święconka” will take place of Saturday, April 3, at 2 pm at St. John’s church. We encourage everyone to visit Lord’s Tumb and spend a few minutes meditating and praying. After the blessing kids are invited to participate in the traditional egg hunt – search for eggs with a sweet surprise inside. In the meantime, the parents will get together for coffee and cake – please bring some cakes, sweets and fruit to share.

Easter Mass

This year our Polish Easter mass will be celebtated on Sunday, April 4 at 8 am at St. John’s. After the mass everyone is invited for the traditional Easter breakfast and sharing of the blessed foods. Please bring some Easter dishes, cakes and sweets to share. PCM will provide bread, sausage and Żurek soup.

Lent

According to cannons 1251-1252 of the Cannon Law Ash Wednesday is a day of abstinency and fasting (qualitative – no meat, and quantitative – one full meal a day only). All persons above 14 years of age are required to follow abstinency from meat foods, except for those who are sick, travelling or cannot choose the food they are eating. These exceptions do not apply on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. In special, justified cases a priest can release a person, or a group of people from the obligation of fasting. He may ask for a donation or a special prayer in the intention of the church. The quantitative fasting obligation applies to all persons up to 60th year of age. Meat should be avoided on each Friday of Lent. On Good Friday both qualitative and quantitative lent applies.

Lent lasts 40 days, beginning on Ash Wednesday. The end date depends on the celebration of Resurrection. On Ash Wednesday we receive ash as a sign of penance and mortification. 

Prayer, fasting and good deeds help us make most of the period of Lent. There are also additional services celebrated during Lent: Gorzkie Żale on Sundays and Stations of the Cross on Fridays. Masses in this period do not contain certain hymns such as "Chwała na wysokości Bogu", "Ciebie, Boże, chwalimy" or acclamations: "Alleluja".

Other holidays celebrated in Lent:

• March 4 – St. Casimir, the prince

• March 19  - St. Joseph’s, husband of Mary

• March 25  – Annunciation of Christ

All 6 Sundays, which are the most joyful rememberances of the Resurrection, are excluded from Lent. The last Sunday of Lent is called the Sunday of Christ Passion or Palm Sunday. It marks the beginning of the Holy Week, the introduction to Easter. Lent ends on Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Last Supper celebrated in the evening.

Help needed!

We encourage everyone to let us know if you can help with any of the activities performed by the Polish Catholic Mission. We need choir singers, collection ushers, lectors, altar servers as well as volunteers to help in the sachristy. Let’s remember that all talent comes from God and he deserves our respect and glory by our work, prayer and song. If you can help, please contact Zofia Schmidt or Fathers Kazimierz, Krzysztof or Jacek. 

Financials

The offering collected on February 20th mass totaled $141.  $100 was donated to St. John’s church. For your convenience we are providing collection envelopes at the church entry. Envelopes are addressed to the Polish Catholic Mission or the Seminarians.

Ads in the Newsletter.

Just a reminder: we take orders for ads and announcements to be published in our newsletter. If you have an ad, or your own business you would like to advertise, please contact Zofia Schmidt (372-5794).

Monthly Celebration

At the end of each monthly mass we would like to recognize those who celebrate their birthday, nameday, wedding anniversary or another important occassion that month. Best wishes for everyone and traditional „Sto Lat”!

 Holy Masses in the upcoming months of 2010
 

April	May	June	July
3-Food Blessing 4-Easter 16- Prayer and movie	1-Crowning of Mary 22- Mass and picnic (OLPH)	6- Tri-lingual Mass 12- Mass in Polish	10- Mass in Polish

In Poland – Celebration of the 5th anniversary of death of John Paul 11 – April 10

This year the anniversary of John Paul II death falls on Good Friday. Because of that the mass in the intention of JP II and his beatification will be celebrated on April 10 – the Saturday before the Sunday of God’s Mercy.

Good Friday is the only day in a year when mass in not celebrated. 5th anniversary of John Paul’s death falls on Good Friday, April 2. Because of that, the Stations of the Cross in the streets of Warsaw will be dedicated and relate to our Pope in a special way. The participants will, among others, adore the cross that the Pope was holding in his hands while leading the last Stations of the Cross in His life – on Good Friday, March 25, 2005. The procession will begin at the university church of St. Ann’s.

The Episcopate decided that this year official celebrations of the annivesary of John Paul II’s death will take place on Saturday, April 10. This is the vigil of the Sunday of Christ Mercy, which was established by John Paul II to fulfill the wishes of Jesus revealed in the visions of sister Faustyna Kowalska. Masses in the intention of Pope’s beatification will be celebrated in many places around the world.
In April the church will begin the preparations for beatification of JP II. Each second Sunday of the month will be dedicated to the teachings of John Paul II. More details will be announced on March 25 at the press conference in Warsaw.  

In Memphis – Celebration of the 5th anniversary of death of John Paul 11 – April 16

Everyone is invited to join us on Friday, April 16 at 6:30 pm at St. John’s hall for a prayer. This will be the beginning of a series of gatherings dedicated to discussing and answering many questions concerning today’s church and faith. We will try to find some answers by reading the Bible, poetry and religious texts (films, books, articles) and discussing the newly explored content. The Bible consists of God’s word written by the people inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The prayer will be followed by the presentation of a film based on Karol Wojtyla’s play „In front of the Jelewerer’s store” directed by Andrzej Maria Marczewski. Meditation over the Sacrament of Matrimony is, in fact, a reflection over the phenomenon of Love. Phenomenon of despair. Bitterness. „On the other side of all of our loves, which are the essence of our life – is Love”.  This film is kind of a philosophical study, resulting in deep faith in a human being, in love which is available to all of us, which allows us to overcome loneliness.

Everyone is welcome to participate!