Saint Matthew's Church
A Roman Catholic Community
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You Belong Here

Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday Vigil at 5:00 PM
Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30 AM
Full Schedule of Services
Weekly Bulletins
Ministry Schedule
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Pastor's Message 


This Sunday, Passion (or Palm) Sunday, begins our holiest week of the year. Our readings invite us into the heart of the Christian message and give us a profound portrayal of what it means to believe in God. If this week truly is to speak its message to us then words will always fail us as we try to explain its meaning. This week shows us what it means to be human and to be called to divinity. This week invites us to see within ourselves the capacity to be Judas, the betrayer; Peter, the denier; or the criminal crucified with Jesus who mocked him. This week invites us to see within ourselves Mary, his faithful Mother; the good thief crucified with Jesus who asked to be remembered when Jesus entered his Kingdom; or one of the women who stood watch and then went to the tomb with Joseph of Arimathea. This week invites us into what it means to be both sinner and saved not by our own strength of will but by the grace and gift of God.
 
The power of this week is summed up beautifully in our second reading from Paul's letter to the Philippians. Jesus, our Savior and model does not, like Adam did in the garden of Eden, want to be equal to God. Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave...he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. It is this obedience to being fully human, to being a creature, a creation, of God; to not want to be equal to God; to not want to control his life and his destiny that allows Jesus to be exalted by God. Paul goes on in this remarkable hymn to say: Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name... That exaltation in Christ is to be ours as well.
 
The passion of Jesus Christ which we read this Sunday and live with Jesus throughout the coming week: eating with him his last supper on Holy Thursday; walking with him as he carried his cross on Good Friday; waiting with him as he lies in that cold tomb on Holy Saturday; are experiences that are meant less to be argued about and understood but more to be lived and pondered in our hearts. This week invites us into the center and the heart of what it means to follow Jesus. Let us together walk with Jesus through this week to know our sin and inability to save ourselves but more importantly to know that by grace we have been saved by the pure gift of God in Christ Jesus. Let us promise to make this week truly the holiest week of the year.
 
Fr. Chris 
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Seasonal Messages

2019 HOLY WEEK CALENDAR 

​Palm Sunday Masses
Saturday –April 13th – 5:00 PM
Sunday – April 14th -- 8:30 AM 
Sunday - April 14th - 10:15 AM
Please note our 10:30 AM Liturgy will begin at 10:15AM
 
Holy Thursday – April 18th
Liturgy of the Lord’s Supper 7:00 PM 
 
Good Friday – April 19th
Soup Supper - 6:00 pm (reservations required)
Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion 7:00 PM
 
Holy Saturday – April 20th
Blessing of Easter Food Baskets – 11:00 AM

The Night Watch of the Resurrection
Easter Vigil 8:00 PM
 
Easter Sunday – April 21st
Easter Masses – 8:30 AM and 10:30 AM