FAMILIES: Experience a Life Changing Holy Week

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE at St. Francis of Assisi, 525 W. Vista Way, Vista, CA 92083

NO CHOSEN or Family Catechesis Zooms during Holy Week!

HOLY THURSDAY- APRIL 14 The Last Supper of Jesus Christ 7:00 PM Outdoor Sanctuary

GOOD FRIDAY- APRIL 15 The Lord’s Passion Rosary of Sorrows (Bilingual) 10:00 AM Inside the Church

Last 7 Words (Bilingual) 11:00 AM Inside the church Liturgy-

Good Friday (English) 4:00 PM Outdoor Sanctuary

HOLY SATURDAY-APRIL 16 Easter Vigil (Bilingual) 7:00 PM Outdoor Sanctuary

EASTER SUNDAY- APRIL 17 Easter Mass (English) 7:00 AM Inside the Church Easter Mass (English) 9:00 AM Outdoor Sanctuary Easter Mass (English) 5:00 PM Inside the Church

We encourage you to experience Jesus' last days as a FAMILY as never before.

FAMILY CATECHESIS RESOURCES for Holy Week

JESUS REMEMBER ME. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGB2E0NzO2A

Review our lesson on the Last Supper: https://www.northcountyoutreach.org/post/family-catechesis-bible-chronicles-story-55-jesus-offers-his-body-and-blood

STATIONS OF THE CROSS for Children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0qv7c4PsrA

THE VIRTUAL ROSARY: THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=372YtaNXAWI

Read and ponder BIBLE CHRONICLES STORIES # 56 Jesus is condemned to death, #57, Jesus is crucified; and # 58, Jesus rises from the dead.

BIBLE CHRONICLES

Story #56 (pages 251-253)

JESUS PRAYS IN THE GARDEN

(The FIRST Sorrowful Mystery)

Luke 22:41-44

FRUIT for US: Sorrow for our Sins

After his Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to be with his beloved Father in prayer.

Jesus knew God the Father’s Plan to have him suffer and die for our sins.

He was very sad and troubled. He prayed, “Father if you are willing, take this cup of suffering from me.”

He knew the forces that were getting ready to battle him.

But he courageously prayed: “but let YOUR WILL be done.”

As he prayed, angels came to help and comfort him.

FRUIT of this MYSTERY: Our Sorrow for Our Sin

Jesus was left alone with the Father in prayer.

His disciples fell asleep in Jesus’ time of need. Jesus said to them: “Stay awake and pray

so you won’t fall into sin when you are tempted.”

As our hearts are broken as we ponder Jesus suffering alone, let us experience true sorrow

for the times we have not taken seriously all that Jesus did for us that we might live forever

in His glorious Kingdom.

Let us say the Prayer of Fatima:

O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

JESUS IS WHIPPED BY ROMAN SOLDIERS

(The SECOND Sorrowful Mystery)

John 19:1

FRUIT for US: PURITY from SIN

While some of the disciples slept, Judas snuck away to get the religious leaders and the

temple guards to arrest Jesus and take Jesus to Caiaphas the high priest to be put on trial.

The religious leaders believed that Jesus was lying when he referred to himself as “I AM”,

the name the Lord revealed to Moses in the burning bush. Jesus had spoken of himself as

sitting at God’s right hand, in a place of honor and authority.

When Caiaphas asked Jesus: “Are you the Son of God?” Jesus answered, “You say that I

AM.”

The religious leaders wanted Jesus killed. They got the Roman governor Pilate, (who was in

charge of punishing anyone who made trouble) to have Jesus condemned to death.

Pilate didn’t see Jesus as a threat and tried to release him, but was pressured by others to

condemn Jesus to death on the cross.

Jesus was whipped and mocked unjustly.

FRUIT of the Mystery: Our Desire for PURITY

Jesus was condemned and tortured unjustly.

This was all part of God’s rescue plan for us. He would take the beating that we and the

whole world deserved for all the wrong choices we have made that have taken us away

from God’s Kingdom.

As we ponder this unjust treatment of Jesus, let us ask God to create in us a clean heart and

renew a spirit to do what is pure and right.

Let us pray the Hail Mary:

Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou

among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy

Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of

our death AMEN.

CROWNING WITH THORNS

(The THIRD Sorrowful Mystery)

Matthew 27:27-30

FRUIT for US: Moral COURAGE

The Roman soldiers mocked Jesus and dressed him up as a pretend king and pushed a

crown of sharp thorns hard into his head.

FRUIT of the Mystery: Reflecting the Moral Courage of Jesus

We know that God was with Jesus until the very end of his suffering and death for us. It still

took so much courage for Jesus to withstand his unjust treatment.

Let us ask God to enkindle this moral courage in us through the power of the Holy Spirt

given to us in baptism to follow God’s will and plan for each of us.

Let us pray the OUR FATHER:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed b thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil. Amen

CARRYING OF THE CROSS

(The FOURTH Sorrowful Mystery)

Luke 23:26

FRUIT FOR US: PATIENCE

How was Jesus to be killed? By the punishment the Romans used for the worst criminals of

all, for those they wanted to humiliate and use as examples and warning: crucifixion

Jesus had to carry his own cross to his own crucifixion, and so he did. Surrounded by

crowds. The journey led through the narrow streets of the city. They had welcomed him as

king, the hoped for Messiah, just days before.

Now he was carrying this cross bearing the sins of all of us.

Some jeered at him, but others wept. Jesus gave comfort to those who were sad, and he

accepted comfort from those who gave it, like Simone of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry his

cross.

On he walked, until he reached a hill called Golgotha, outside the city walls.

FRUIT of the Mystery: PATIENCE to wait on GOD

Just a few hours before, Jesus had spoken to his friends of love and sacrifice. He told them

there was no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends. He had shared

bread and wine with them and also a great mystery: that in that meal, in that moment, they

were sharing his very life, which was being poured out for them in the New Covenant.

As we see when we experience the Stations of the Cross, Jesus thought about others and

poured himself out for others even as he painfully stumbled toward his own death. He

knew that in the end, he would be lifted up beyond the cross, but he had to patiently endure

this suffering and death to give those who believe, the path to new life.

Let us pray for PATIENCE in our own lives when we face challenges. Let us ask for God’s

grace to imitate Jesus: loving and serving others and laying down our own lives for the

well-being of friends and family.

Let us pray the Hail Mary:

Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death AMEN.

THE CRUCIFIXION

The FIFTH Sorrowful Mystery

Bible Chronicles Story #57 (pages 255-257)

Luke 23:33-46

FRUIT FOR US: PERSEVERANCE

Now, Jesus, who had walked among the people sharing nothing but love and truth, hung on

a cross.

How had he gotten there? Jesus without sin himself, was there on the cross in our place to

take away the sins of the world.

On either side of him were two thieves, also condemned by the Romans, nailed to their own

crosses. One of them made fun of him, angry and suffering himself. “Are you not the

Christ? Save yourself and us!” He cried.

But the other there scolded him. “Don’t you fear God?” He said. “We deserve our

punishment—-but this man was innocent. He didn’t do anything wrong.” And then he

begged Jesus, “When you come into your kingdom, remember me.” And Jesus, suffering

there on the Cross assured him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.

When everyone else fled in fear, three faithful people remained at the foot of the Cross:

John, the young apostle who later wrote as an eye witness about Jesus, Mary of Magdala

who was eternally grateful to Jesus for driving out terrible demons from her soul, and of

course, his Mother, Mary.

Jesus spoke to his Mother and to John. He told them to take care of each other. He gave

his mother to the apostle John —not only to care for him, but also as a sign that she would

now be his mother and the mother of the Church who would carry on God’s mission in the

world.

After three hours of suffering on the cross, Jesus said: “It is finished.” And Jesus died.

When it was almost evening, Jesus was taken down from the cross by the women who

stayed with Jesus and a man named Joseph of Arimathea. They wrapped his body in linen

cloths and laid him in a tomb. They rolled a heavy stone across the opening and in a sad

moment, they said good-bye to Jesus.

FRUIT of the Mystery: PERSEVERANCE

God gave his creation the gift of life, and now, as Jesus said yes to God’s will in another

garden, the gift of eternal life would be ours again. But Jesus needed to suffer, be crucified,

and die first to win that victory.

This was not an easy path. Jesus, through God’s grace had the PERSEVERANCE to

complete his mission, that through his death and resurrection, those who believed and

trusted in Jesus would have a way back to eternal life in God’s Kingdom.

Let us hold close to our hearts, the truth that Jesus was the Lamb of God who took away the

sins of the world.

Let us say the Prayer of Fatima:

O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

JESUS RISES FROM THE DEAD

Bible Chronicles Story #58 (pages 259-261)

Three days after Jesus died on the cross, the women returned to the tomb where his body

was laid to finish preparing his body with oils and herbs and burial cloths.

They found the stone rolled away and an empty tomb. Two men, dazzling with bright light

told them: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. HE IS RISEN.”

The women remembered that Jesus had told them that on the third day…..he would rise!

They shared the good news with others.

The apostle Peter ran to the tomb to confirm for himself that Jesus had risen from the dead!

In the beginning, God created the first man and woman and gave them a life of beauty,

peace, and harmony in the Garden of Eden. He had created them out of love, spoken them

into existence through his word, and breathed his own life into them. He declared that this

was all very good.

Now this was the first day in a different garden. It was the first day of a new creation, the

gift of eternal life with Jesus, the “Word made flesh”, the Son of God, victorious over sin and

death, risen from the dead.

The sin committed in Eden had been reconciled, the death of that disobedience conquered

by the OBEDIENCE of the Son of God.

God’s creation at the beginning of time was a GIFT. It was a gift of life and love, poured out

in unbelievable variety, beauty and order, from the tiny atoms to the magnificent stars in the

sky.

And so on the first day of the new creation, the gift of new life is poured out, eternal life and

reconciliation between human beings and God….if we choose to listen and follow and say

yes to the one who says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Let us pray:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it

was in the beginning, is now and always shall be, world without

end, AMEN.