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CATHEDRAL OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Altoona, PA is a welcoming and compassionate community of believers striving to grow as God’s people.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we offer lifelong faith formation for children, youth, and adults; and we live out Christ’s invitation to serve our sisters and brothers.

We gather to worship in prayer and song and invite all to joyfully participate in word and sacrament, especially the Eucharist.

SERVING THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN THE CITY OF ALTOONA, PA SINCE 1851.

DAILY MASSES

Monday-Saturday at 12:00 P.M.

WEEKEND MASSES

Vigil, Saturday at 5:00 P.M.

Sunday Masses at 8:00 A.M., 10:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.

Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Church at 11:30 A.M.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

Wednesday at 7:00 P.M. 

Saturday at 12:30 P.M.

By appointment by calling or texting 814-937-8240

Lenten Communal Penance on Wednesday, March 20, at 6:00 P.M.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS

The Fridays of Lent at 5:30 P.M.

SUNDAY EVENING PRAYER WITH BENEDICTION

Sundays During Lent at 6:30 P.M.

 

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

MARCH 17, 2024

GOSPEL MEDITATION

Jn 12:20-33

A middle-aged woman sat on the couch in my parish office and recounted to me a shocking list of terrible calamities in her life: addictions, terminal illnesses, financial loss, broken relationships, and so on. She smiled as she did so. “Please forgive me,” I asked, “but you seem to be smiling as you share this.” She said, “Father John, I am totally over-whelmed. But I’m smiling because I just can’t wait to see what good things God does with this mess.” She expected God would manifest His glory when she most needed it.

This week in the Gospel, God speaks from heaven for the third and final time in Jesus’ earthly ministry. It’s at a tough moment. Gentiles seek Jesus, who announces his terrible suffering, and then boldly prays, “Father, glorify your name!” John then writes: Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” Was the task of drawing the whole non-Jewish world to himself overwhelming? Or was it the terrible specter of crucifixion? Whatever it was, the crushing weight triggers his turning to the Father with an unshakeable expectation of divine glory to burst through. And indeed, it did on Easter Sunday. In our burdens, our greatest strength is to turn to God and boldly ask Him for His glory.

Lenten challenge: This week, I invite you to list out every-thing which is a burden to you. Write it down. Then add these words: “Father, glorify Your name in all these things!” Put that paper in your pocket or purse when you come to Holy Week liturgies next week. You might smile at the most unlikely times.

Father John Muir

A FAMILY PERSPECTIVE

Relationships come with a price tag. We must be willing to en-trust ourselves to another, to let go of our autonomy and die to our independence. It is in dying to our independence that we find interdependence with others.

Bud Ozar

EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP

As we are nearing the end of our Lenten journey, our readings today remind us of the goodness that our God has to offer us.

Jesus states in the Gospel, “whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” God should have our entire heart, not just a portion of it. When we regularly practice the discipline of detachment by offering small, daily sacrifices to the Lord, we are also better preparing our hearts for the ultimate happiness in eternal life.

As our Lenten journey soon concludes, let us strive to more faithfully live out our covenant with God by actively living as disciples of Christ. And may we consider the ways in which we might continue the practice of self-denial by offering small, daily sacrifices to the Lord.

2024 Catholic Stewardship Consultants

PRACTICING CATHOLIC – RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS

I don’t know Fr. Stu personally, but I’ve heard a fair number of his homilies. I think it is safe to assume that if he and I were to get into a discussion on any number of things, from church history to liturgical music to stand-up comedy, each of us would cringe at the opinions of the other. But Fr. Stu happens to offer just about the only confession time within 20 miles of me that consistently works with my
schedule. That means that, quite by accident, Fr. Stu is my regular confessor. For years now, he’s sat patiently on the other side of the grille, listening to me pour out the details of my transgressions, from the pathetic to the embarrassing, and he absolves me of my sins.

In the Gospel, Christ links vision with humility and pride with blindness. We see again and again in Scripture how God delights in surprising us, in revealing himself through people, places, and experiences we not only didn’t expect but perhaps had totally written off. We are right to be proud of the truth, but we are wrong if the truth causes us to be proud of ourselves. The truth no more belongs to the one who believes it than sight belongs to the blind man in the Gospel. A gift does not reflect on the recipient. It reflects on the giver.

After a great deal of thought, I’ve decided to be grateful that God contrived to give me a confessor whom I strongly disagree with on so many things. It’s a powerful reminder of how much I must receive from other people, even those I may think are wrong. In that confessional, Fr. Stu is only a priest, and I am only a sinner.

“Not as man sees does God see.” — 1 Samuel 16:7

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