Palm Sunday of the Passion of The Lord

Dear Parishioners,

    Holy Week begins this coming week. We will be trying to livestream most of the services. Palm Sunday service will be on our website/Facebook page this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. You can go to sacredheartmoline.org, and scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the words "Sacred Heart Church Moline, Illinois" next to our Logo in the St. Joseph picture. That will take you to our Facebook page live. On Holy Thursday we will have services at 7:00 p.m. Good Friday we will be streaming at 3:00 p.m.  On Easter Sunday we will be streaming Mass at 9:00 a.m. These will be simplified services due to the circumstances. There will be no congregation. Only Fr. Matthew and Deacon Pat, a musician and the technical people will be in attendance

You can watch the Easter Vigil at the Peoria Diocese’s Facebook page.  We are not allowed to have Easter Vigil anywhere, but in a church building according to the liturgical directives we have received.  Since we do not have internet coverage in our church and since it would take a lot more equipment to try and stream there, we will not be broadcasting that service.  The Vigil is supposed to be done with great solemnity and that would be hard this year.

This certainly will be the strangest Holy Week that any of us have ever been through, but this does not mean that it cannot be a Holy Week that is full of meaning for us.  I encourage everyone to read the scriptures at home and reflect each day of Holy Week on the Paschal Mystery.

The Good News is that Jesus walks with us in this time of sadness.  We are asked to embrace this cross.  Jesus went through his passion alone.  He certainly felt abandoned, but he continued to trust in the divine plan.  He never lost faith.  If we continue to love the Lord and talk to our God, we will make it through the passion our world is enduring right now.

May the Angels watch over you,

Fr. Mark