Thanks to the graciousness of his Lordship, the Bishop, we will be able to celebrate the Sacred Triduum here in Georgetown, which is a remarkable privilege.   I invite you to walk with us in the Oratory community in this beautiful upcoming Holy Week. Of course, next Sunday is Palm Sunday and you should just be aware that because of the Procession and the reading of the Passion, the Palm Sunday liturgy is somewhat longer than usual.

The beginning of Holy Mass on Palm Sunday will be outside, weather permitting, at a second station near the statue of Our Lady. We will begin next Sunday outside of the church with the distribution of palms and the Procession.

One of the tricks the devil plays on us is to think that things will never change, with our situation today the way it will always be. It is a very devious trick, because it is the one thing which is definitely not true; that things will never change, because things are constantly changing. At the moment, this Sunday Mass community is one Mass gathered around one altar and then we disperse into the week and we go our different ways. And that lends a kind of peripatetic nature to the Sunday Mass community here in Georgetown.

The coming of the Triduum will change everything. Perhaps it is a fruit of the graces that we received from the 40 Hours Devotion. Put it simply, it is a Sunday community that celebrates the Holy Triduum and a Sunday community is more than just one Mass. So clearly as things develop here at the Oratory, our mission of beauty is not going to stay the same. It is not going to get smaller either. It is going to get larger, and therefore the opportunities to participate in the priority of beauty are only going to grow and grow. I am very grateful to each and every one of you for the support that you offer to our community and to me personally by your attendance here at Sunday Mass at what is perhaps not the most convenient time.

The Oratory here in Georgetown is a safe place for you to put down roots. It is a safe place for you to bring up your children, but it has a wider mission than simply the village of Georgetown within the town of Redding. Our mission of beauty extends to the whole diocese and indeed to the whole world because beauty is God himself. It is universal. So consequently, the way that we reach out to the diocese is one of partnership and collaboration. I know that things have not always been easy. Things have not always been clear; but I also know that the Lord is the great clarifier. And if we are humble, simple and honest, if we follow in His footsteps as a community, these things will be revealed to us, all in God’s time.

The docility of spirit is so necessary for a good spiritual life. Docility of spirit means that I do not listen to the deceit of the evil one if he tries to take away my peace. But also, if things are not precisely my way, then I have the humility to wait and to see how the Lord will unfold things. Such an attitude will give you a much greater peace. A peace that the world cannot ever give; a peace that truly satisfies; one in which although things may look odd, they may look difficult, they may look extraordinary, nevertheless: in God’s time and in God’s way, things will be resolved. I hope that gives you some kind of comfort.