For the first time in his papacy, Pope Francis led the Way of the Cross from St. Peter’s Square rather than Rome’s Colosseum, where it has been held annually for more than five decades.
Standing at the foot of the cross on Good Friday with Mary, we look upon her crucified Son, asking God, “Why did he have to die? Couldn’t there be some other way?” Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles said in a homily April 10.
Since by his death, Jesus has defeated the forces of sin and death, let us approach God confidently with our needs, and those of our families and our world.
Click play above to watch a livestream of the 6 p.m. Stations of the Cross with Archbishop Lori from the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. For a worship aid, click here. For a schedule of the cathedral’s other upcoming livestreaming liturgies during Holy Week, click here.
Click play above to watch a livestream of 7 a.m. Holy Thursday morning prayer from the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.
Somehow in this time of anxiety and indefinite quarantine, when so much seems uncertain, we seem to be primed for those moments of happy discovery—those moments when we see how much we are loved by God and by others.
Unable to invite Rome’s priests to mark Holy Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis thanked all priests for their service and called those who died ministering to the sick and health care workers part of the community of “saints next door.”
Click play above to watch a livestream of 7 a.m. Holy Thursday morning prayer from the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.
Click above to watch a livestream of the April 9 Solemn Mass of the Lord’s Supper with Archbishop Lori at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. For more online Masses, click here.
In times like these, when fear and uncertainty, suffering and death, are all around us, it may be difficult for us to focus on much more than our immediate problems.
It is irresponsible to assert that we know enough about the virus to encourage, in good conscience, the sorts of decisions that could very well end up becoming matters of life and death.
This plague has opened our hearts and minds to questions that we should have been asking all along: What is most important to us? Do we love well? What can we count on?
