Day 160: The Liturgical Year (1168-1173)

• It’s Day 160!!

• THE LITURGICAL YEAR

• THE SANCTORAL IN THE LITURGICAL YEAR

• THE LITURGICAL YEAR highlights the big feasts we celebrate each year

• EASTER TRIDUUM is the #1

• HOLY THURSDAY

• GOOD FRIDAY

• EASTER SUNDAY

• These are the HOLIEST DAYS of the Church year

• They are the HEART OF EVERYTHING

• Jesus’ suffering, death, and Resurrection are what saves us

• They are the SOURCE OF EVERYTHING

• Easter is not just one feast among others though it is preeminent

• We have Christmas

• We have Epiphany

• We have the Annunciation

• What is THE SANCTORAL?

• In the course of the Church year we have other feast days

• Feast days honoring Our Lady, the Saints, and events in Church history

• Let’s say a prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise. We give you glory. You are the God of Heaven and Earth. You are the God who made all time. You are the God who made all space. You are the God of it all. And we ask you to please not only sanctify all that you have created. Not only sanctify all the space you have created, all the places you have created. Sanctify time. Sanctify our time, this day Lord God. Let this day be a day that is consecrated to you, a day that is dedicated and set apart for you, no matter when we are listening to this. Lord God, let this day be your day. And may you be glorified in the ordinary. May you be glorified in the normal. May you be glorified this day and every day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• THE LITURGICAL YEAR

• Easter is the PREEMINENT FEAST

• Easter is THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING

• Because of what Jesus did on the Cross for us, dying, and Rising from the Dead for us is THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING

• Paragraph 1169 says, “Therefore Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the ‘Feast of feasts, the ‘Solemnity of solemnities,’ just as the Eucharist is the ‘Sacrament of sacraments’ (the Great Sacrament).”

• All other Sacraments are sacraments of Christ’s ACTIONS

• The Eucharist is not only Christ’s action, it is CHRIST HIMSELF

• THAT IS A VERY IMPORTANT THING!!

• Easter is the HEART OF EVERYTHING

• Why?

• Because what Jesus did on the Cross is the HEART OF EVERYTHING

• Paragraph 1170 says, “At the Council of Nicaea in 325, all the Churches agreed that Easter, the Christian Passover, should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon (14 Nisan) after the vernal equinox. Because of different methods of calculating the 14th day of the month of Nisan, the date of Easter in the Western and Eastern Churches is not always the same. For this reason, the Churches are currently seeking an agreement in order once again to celebrate the day of the Lord’s Resurrection on a common date.”

• There were various rites that sprung up as Christianity spread that developed locally

• They had different dates for different celebrations

• So all those various Churches agreed that the Easter would be celebrated around the time of the Jewish Passover

• We also have other major feasts over the course of the year

• Especially commemorating the Incarnation

• We have The Feast of the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary 9 months before Christmas

• We also have Christmas

• We have Epiphany when God revealed to the world through the Magi coming to visit the Holy Family

• We also have THE SANCTORAL IN THE LITURGICAL YEAR

• These are the feasts commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary, for whom the Church has a SPECIAL LOVE

• Also for the Saints and Martyrs

• Why?

• Not only because we have a special love for Mary

• SHE IS THE MODEL!!

• Her life of faith and her YES to the Lord is UNPARALLELED

• The Church presents us with her and reminds us of her so that we can see that is the disciple we are all called to be like

• Also to be reminded of the martyrs and Saints who are OUR FAMILY

• WE HAVE A FAMILY!!

• August 4 is the Feast Day of St. John Gianni

• October 4 is the Feast Day of St. Thérèse of Lisieux

• We are called to see how the Lord has worked in those peoples’ lives

• God has taken ORDINARY people and made them EXTRAORDINARY

• God has taken BROKEN people like us and made them SAINTS

• So how can God take YOU and make YOU a Saint?

• How can God transform our hesitant YES and make them a PERMANENT YES

• A YES where we always come to the Lord and say, “Thy Will be done.”

• That is one of the reasons the Church gives us the Liturgical Year

• We celebrate Easter at the center and also these feasts of the Saints and Our Lady

• THAT IS WHERE WE BELONG!!

• We belong in the pantheon of Saints

• God has made us TO BE SAINTS

• God has redeemed us to be NOTHING LESS THAN A SAINT OF GOD WHO GIVES HIM GLORY FOR ALL ETERNITY

• We can start that RIGHT NOW

• TODAY!!

• GIVE HIM GLORY TODAY!!

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!