IN THIS ISSUE
MAR/APR 2022
BLESSED SACRAMENT
CATHOLIC CHURCH
tewardship 2S The Wise Men’s Gifts Symbolize Our Lenten Obligations 3 The Joy of Lent nderstanding the 4U Importance of Holy Week The High Point of Our Liturgical Year he Story of the 6T Annunciation of the Lord eet Parishioner and 7M Teacher Deb Houdek “I Fell in Love with the Catholic Church”
THE RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS
Lighting the Way on the Journey to the Catholic Church
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e will soon celebrate Easter, the most important day in the liturgical year. Here at Blessed Sacrament, we are blessed to have five people who are preparing to receive the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil. This will be a very special celebration for them and their sponsors. All five are currently going through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) process. The classes started in September 2021 and have continued each Wednesday. RCIA will culminate at the Easter Vigil when three catechumens will receive Baptism, the Eucharist, and Confirmation. Two candidates are already baptized, so they will receive the Eucharist and Confirmation. “It’s so neat to go through this process because we form a strong community with the group,” says Deb Wetzel, Director of Religious Formation. Each of the five has one sponsor who has been attending classes with them. It’s preferred that their sponsor not be a spouse or fiancée. Ultimately, each gets to choose their sponsor. Deb invites anyone who wants to learn more
Gabe Milhon enters the church at Easter Vigil 2021.
Alexis Ronquillo-Perez was baptized at Easter Vigil 2021.
about the Catholic faith to attend RCIA classes — and it’s not just for those new to the faith. While she was raised Catholic, Deb stopped practicing for 18 years. When her grandmother, Marie Wetzel, passed away, Deb was sitting in the front row at the funeral. Marie had helped teach Deb the Catholic faith. Realizing her grandmother would be disappointed, Deb started continued on page 5
BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH
Stewardship
THE WISE MEN’S GIFTS SYMBOLIZE OUR LENTEN OBLIGATIONS
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e experience great joy when we celebrate the coming of the Magi at Epiphany each year. For many of us, it is the completion of Christmas. Yet, the gifts offered by the Magi — gold, frankincense, and myrrh — can serve to guide us as we observe Lent this month. It may seem strange to connect the joyful celebration of Epiphany with the penitential season of Lent. Yet, our spiritual life should not be divided into separate bits that have no connection to each other. In the same way, the Church’s liturgical year should also flow from one season to another. The different feasts and seasons certainly have different emphases, but they are intended to build on each other. So, let’s see if we can connect what the Magi gave Jesus with what we’re going to offer Him this Lent. The basic ingredients for our Lenten rule come from what is termed the “Three Notable Duties” — prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These in turn come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). How do we connect the wise men’s gifts with the Three Notable Duties? Actually, what the gifts symbolize matches up surprisingly well. Frankincense is the basic ingredient in the incense used in the worship of God, in the ancient world, and in the Church today. Offering it to Jesus points out His divine nature, and so it symbolizes prayer. Our Lenten rule needs to include prayer and worship. Of course, we are bound to worship at Sunday Mass year-round. Maybe during Lent, we might add a weekday Mass. Perhaps we can increase the time we devote to private prayer at home or at adoration. Devotional reading from the Bible or another appropriate book can be added. In addition, don’t forget the possibility of adding family devotions during Lent, so that the whole family prays together. When we offer our gold to Christ to build His Church and to help His poor, we are engaged in almsgiving. While giving from the treasure God has entrusted to us is a duty throughout the whole year,
maybe this Lent we can practice being a little more generous than usual. If our giving is a thankful response to the gift of eternal life that God has given us, we will find that the giving is indeed a means of grace. For centuries, myrrh has been associated with fasting. Although myrrh comes from the same family of plants as frankincense, it has a more pungent scent and bitter taste. In the ancient world, it was regularly used in embalming. Generations of theological writers have seen the gift of myrrh as a foreshadowing of Christ’s sufferings. And fasting strengthens us in holiness and prepares us to come into God’s presence after our own deaths. St. Thomas Aquinas himself linked myrrh with repentance and fasting when he wrote that myrrh represents the penance by which we preserve our souls from the corruption of sin. Fasting may be the most difficult of the Three Notable Duties for modern Americans. After all, most of the advertising and many of the magazine articles we see are devoted to making us more, not less, comfortable. We usually think of fasting only under the heading of dieting to lose weight. Instead, try to think of fasting as a way to become more spiritually fit. Body and spirit affect each other. The whole sacramental system is built on the truth that we can receive spiritual grace through material things and physical actions. Our specific requirements of fasting are limited — abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, and a reduction in the quantity of food we eat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. But the discipline of our physical bodies for our spiritual wellbeing does not have to be limited to Lent! Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were indeed valuable gifts for the wise men to present to the Child Jesus. When we look at their symbolism, we can see their relationship to the Three Notable Duties of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. What gifts are we going to offer to Jesus this Lent?
MAR/APR 2022 A Letter From Our Pastor
THE JOY OF LENT Dear Parishioners,
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ave you ever thought about the joy in sacrifice that Lent provides? Most of us don’t delight in sacrifice; in fact, in our daily lives, we often do our best to avoid challenges and practices that push us outside our comfort zones. In Christianity, there is a beautiful irony between joy and sacrifice, and we are presented with a wonderful opportunity to embrace this uniquely during Lent. In one of his Lenten messages, Pope Francis shared, “Lent is a fitting time for selfdenial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty.” While giving up sweets in favor of healthy snacks for Lent is a common and noble endeavor, the goal of Lent should not only be a spiritual excuse to lose weight! In choosing acts of self-denial, we are saying “no” to things in order to get into the practice of saying “no” when inclined towards sin, ultimately deepening our faith and our relationship with the Lord. Victory can be found when we deny ourselves and pick up our crosses and hardships in order to grow closer to Christ! Therein lies the joy. When we grow closer to God by denying our will, we say “yes” to a life of abundance with Him. Our God is a benevolent God; He will not hold back His grace from those who honor Him and choose challenging things to grow and give Him glory. Christ even tells us Himself, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Without question, Lent is a time for conscious penitence and spiritual preparation
for Easter. And it is important to remember that God loves us whether we make Lenten changes or not. At the same time, Lent provides us an opportunity to make God a greater part of our life, and to take our faith to new levels. Stewardship is a God-centered way of life — a spiritual way of living that, above all, acknowledges God’s presence in all we do. Lent is a time for every one of us to do more than simply deny ourselves; we need to welcome God into our lives in greater ways so that when we get to Holy Week and Easter, we have an even greater appreciation for the sacrifice the Lord made for us. Talk about pure joy! May you and your loved ones enjoy a holy and joyous Lenten journey. Sincerely yours in Christ,
Fr. Martin Egging Pastor
BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH
UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORT THE HIGH
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oly Week is the highlight of the church year when we are led in a very real way through the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord with the liturgies of the Triduum. Music Director Richard Clawson emphasizes the importance of Holy Week to us as Catholics, particularly in terms of its significance on our liturgical calendar. The liturgical year is marked by seasons including Ordinary Time, Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. “For the church year, it builds to Holy Week,” Richard says. “It really is the crown of the liturgical year with Easter being the high point. We need to understand the sacrifice that was made for us to ensure eternal life if we are going to grasp the importance of this week.”
Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday. This liturgy is different because we hear a Gospel reading before the traditional beginning of Mass. We hold palms to represent the branches that the crowd scattered in front of Christ as He rode into Jerusalem, the masses paying Him homage mere days before He was crucified. We then process into the church. “You really feel like we are entering into a different time in the church year with this liturgy,” Richard says. “It is one of those rare times that we break the tradition and ritual of the Mass.” Holy Thursday begins with the Sign of the Cross and is the start of one long liturgy that ends with the Easter Vigil. This is the celebration of the Institution of the Eucharist. During this liturgy, the priest once again takes the form of Christ and washes the feet of parishioners. On Good Friday, the liturgy is a solemn one that looks very different from a typical Mass. There is a silent procession into the church and there is no clear dismissal. This shows how the Triduum liturgies all flow together. It is the one day of the year that the Liturgy of the Eucharist is not celebrated. “We are asked to spend time with Christ Crucified,” Richard says. “We venerate the cross. We are meant to be uncomfortable — we should be uncomfortable.” The tabernacle is left empty until the Easter Vigil when we celebrate the resurrection. The Easter Vigil is the highest liturgy of the entire church year. It is truly an experience that enlightens all of the senses. We hear the extended Liturgy of the Word from Genesis through the resurrection. The bells are rung through the Gloria which we have not heard since Lent began. We smell the fragrant lilies and the incense. The lights are dimmed and
MAR/APR 2022
ANCE OF
Holy Week
POINT OF OUR LITURGICAL YEAR we hold candles. We touch and taste the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. We also celebrate as catechumens, those entering the church, who are baptized, confirmed, and receive their first Holy Communion. “It truly is the great celebration,” Richard says. “We are dying to sin and rising to new life!” As Richard explains, celebrating the Triduum and truly experiencing it brings us to the foot of the Cross. “Thursday is all about the Eucharist, Friday is about the crucifixion and Easter is the
resurrection,” he says. “It is taking what we experience every Sunday and expanding it. It takes us so much deeper into these mysteries. It shakes us out of our complacency and invites us to see our faith in a way we don’t always experience.”
“For the church year, it builds to Holy Week. It really is the crown of the liturgical year with Easter being the high point.” — Richard Clawson
Holy Week services are April 14, 15 and 16 at 6 p.m. each night.
THE RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS
continued from front cover
attending RCIA the next week and was asked to join the leadership team. And even Deb’s mother, Genevieve Wetzel, joined the Catholic church at age 78. “I’ve been trying to make my grandmother proud ever since,” Deb says. The Easter Vigil is Deb’s favorite Mass of the year — she hasn’t missed an Easter Vigil in 29 years! It’s always rewarding for her to see the catechumens and candidates receive the sacraments after walking with them through the RCIA process over the previous months. She most enjoys teaching about Mary, the Eucharist, and the Communion of Saints. “It means a lot to me to be present when they receive the sacraments,” she says. “We are a very
sacramental church. It’s fun to teach them some of the ways we stand apart as Catholics.” However, RCIA doesn’t end with the Easter Vigil. Deb tries to encourage all of the participants to get involved in a ministry at Blessed Sacrament. “When RCIA is over, it can be a letdown,” Deb says. “We want to encourage participation so they don’t get disconnected. Your faith means more to you when you are involved.” The participants and sponsors will meet for one more week after the Easter Vigil to enjoy ice cream and cake and to discuss the Vigil. Deb asks that we all pray for the catechumens and candidates as we get closer to Easter. If you see them at church, be sure to make them feel welcome!
Please visit blsachurch.net/sacraments to learn more about the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process, or call Deb Wetzel at 308-395-8521 for more information.
BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH
THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD
Celebrating the Moment God Became Flesh The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:26-28)
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he Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is observed on March 25. This feast is named such because it celebrates the “announcement” that God has chosen Mary, a virgin, to bear His only Son and it marks the moment that God became flesh within Mary’s womb nine months prior to the Nativity of the Lord in December. A Solemnity is a feast of the highest order in the church calendar — they include all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. The Annunciation was elevated to a Solemnity as part of the liturgical reforms of 1969. Throughout the church year, there are 17 feasts dedicated to Mary and three of them, Mary, Mother of God (January 1), The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15), and The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (December 8) are Holy Days of Obligation. Luke’s Gospel gives the only account of the
Annunciation. Gabriel’s greeting (“Hail, full of grace! “) is unlike any other in Scripture. Mary is not only the recipient of God’s grace and favor — she was also chosen from the beginning. Church dogma holds that Mary was born without the stain of original sin. She was chosen to be the pure vessel of the incarnation.
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) The events of the Annunciation also show Mary to be a model Christian disciple. Her selfless “yes” to God is an example for all ages. The Second Vatican Council summarized the events of the annunciation thus: “At the message of the angel, the Virgin Mary received the word of God in her heart and in her body, and gave life to the world” (Constitution on the Church, 53). Mary’s role, not only as Mother of God but also as the first disciple of her Son, Jesus, exemplifies
her participation in His salvific work. She is a bridge between the human and the divine. Even today we turn to her not only as mother of us all but also as a true model of faith. Her courage, her faith, and her witness should help to strengthen us all. While Mary’s call to physical motherhood was unique — we are all called in various ways to follow her example: to live faith-filled lives and to say “yes” to God’s will and presence in our lives.
MAR/APR 2022 MEET PARISHIONER AND TEACHER
DEB HOUDEK
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“I Fell in Love with the Catholic Church”
eb Houdek and her future husband, Gary Houdek, had been dating about a week when he asked if she would consider attending Mass with him. She asked simply, “What’s Mass?” “Right from that first experience of the Mass, I fell in love with the Catholic Church,” Mrs. Houdek says. “It was Gary who brought me to the Church and to Blessed Sacrament, and now we’re celebrating 35 years of marriage together.” It truly has been a “love story” not only for the Houdeks but also for Mrs. Houdek and the Catholic Church and Catholic education. “I have seen my children on both sides, meaning in public schools and in Catholic schools,” she says. “Catholic education and providing faith-filled education is so important. Catholic schools take time to help really build that relationship with God.” A year after Mrs. Houdek was confirmed in the Catholic Church, she was asked to be a leader of a Godparent youth group, and after years of being part of that group, Mrs. Houdek went to the Archdiocese of Omaha to receive a certificate for youth ministry. Then she was asked to sub for a few classes at Grand Island Central Catholic. “I told them that I don’t know anything about teaching but that I would try!” Mrs. Houdek says. “But it was the best week or two of my life. Right then, I decided I needed to be a teacher. It was my calling.” At 35 years old, Mrs. Houdek started college at Central Community College and then attended Hastings College. The same year she graduated from Hastings College she received an endorsement from Creighton University in Religious Education after driving a semester to Omaha for classes. Then a job opened at Grand Island Central Catholic — and “the rest is history.” “I absolutely love my job, my students, and these families,” she says. “I teach study
Blessed Sacrament’s Deb and Gary Houdek
skills and religion courses for sophomores and juniors. Currently, I am teaching the sacraments and morality for the juniors and salvation history for the sophomores.” Each week, Mrs. Houdek has “chapel Tuesdays” and holds her classes in the chapel. Sometimes the students say the Rosary together or the Stations of the Cross. The students also attend Mass every Thursday and have adoration once a week. As the Lenten season approaches, Mrs. Houdek will be helping her students create intentional Lenten journeys as they participate in different Stations of the Cross each week. “There are stations from Mary’s perspective that we do and also a virtual Stations of the Cross with a slide show, and that might be my favorite,” she says. “Before Stations, we always spend 10 minutes just with God.” Statistics have shown, Mrs. Houdek shares, continued on back cover
BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC CHURCH 518 W. State Street Grand Island, NE 68801 (308) 384-0532 www.blsachurch.net
Meet Parishioner and Teacher Deb Houdek continued from page 7 that children who graduate from a Catholic school are driven to stay with or return to the Church. She’s honored to be part of building these relationships with Christ and the Church through Catholic education. “You’ve got to have a relationship with God in your heart, and I know in my heart that I am serving God,” she says. “Within my school family, the parents and students are wonderful and so are my coworkers. I can’t imagine doing this with a better team of people. They’re so devoted to Catholic education.”
The Houdek family
“You’ve got to have a relationship with God in your heart, and I know in my heart that I am serving God. Within my school family, the parents and students are wonderful and so are my coworkers. I can’t imagine doing this with a better team of people.” — Deb Houdek
