The first thing to recognize about the Triduum is that it is “The Three Days”. It is a unified observance that extends over three days, and it forms its own unique and central part of the liturgical year. For many people today, these three days are still as part of Lent; for others, they stand as three separate and somewhat independent days celebrating different events in the life of Christ. But Lent ends on Thursday afternoon, and the Triduum is best seen as one integral observance that includes a variety of liturgical moments.
The Triduum is more than its liturgies, too. Keeping these three days, means exactly that – three full days live as one central moment in the life of every Christian and of the Christian community as a whole.
The liturgy of the Triduum begins with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper and concludes with the last Mass on Easter Sunday. Between these two gatherings for prayer and worship, the Christian church is called to enter into a period of prayer, fasting and vigiling, which reaches a climax at the Easter Vigil. The principal liturgies even suggest the unity of the Triduum by the way they end and begin. On Thursday, there is no dismissal or conclusion; on Friday we gather and leave with no introductory or concluding rites; and at the Vigil we gather around the fire and begin without the usual introductory rites. We begin on Thursday and don’t conclude until after the Vigil, with Easter Sunday as a kind of extension of the celebration of the Vigil.
Understanding the Triduum as one three-day-long liturgy can help us find the right approach to each of the various ritual moments within it. The Evening Mass on Holy Thursday is a liturgy of entrance into the Triduum, not primarily a celebration of the institution of the Eucharist or of the ordained priesthood. Good Friday’s main liturgy commemorates the death of the Lord, but as a part of the whole paschal mystery (note that we call it “Good Friday”), which is celebrated in its fullness at the Easter Vigil, when our newest members enter into the death and resurrection of the Lord through the waters of baptism. Easter Sunday is a day of reveling in the mystery we celebrate at the Vigil, a day for the glow of the feast to be enjoyed and savored.
These days are the hinge of the year, the central moment around which all else revolves. The Triduum gives meaning to Lent, which precedes it, and to the Fifty Days of Easter that follow. As the Lent-Easter cycle is the core of the year, so the Triduum is the core of Lent-Easter. These days are central because they draw us into the heart of our identity as church. The paschal mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrections is the core of our faith and our participation in that mystery through the celebration of baptism defines what it meant to be Christian and what it means for the community to be church.
Peace and All Goodness,
Father Roger

Scrutinies are rites of self-searching and repentance. When people from another spiritual background seek baptism in the Catholic Church, they do so by stages. First we accept them into the order catechumens. Then as they complete their catechetical formation we enroll them among the “elect”, or those chosen for baptism. This rite of election generally coincides with the beginning of Lent. Three times during Lent the church prays the Scrutinies to encourage a spirit of repentance among those who seek a worthy celebration of baptism.

Although Scrutinies have returned fairly recently to Catholic parishes, they originated early in church history. St. Ambrose and St. Augustine celebrated them in the fourth and fifth centuries to mark the spiritual progress of the catechumens. The moral preparation of catechumens included prayers of exorcism, to drive out the spirit of evil which kept them from embracing Christ as their light. In the Scrutinies the church discerned if those exorcisms had achieved their effect. Catechumens entered the church, stood barefoot on goatskin and renounced evil influences all night. Those unworthy of Baptism had to wait another year for Easter to roll around again.

Today’s Scrutinies seem less intense. They still include an exorcism, in which the priest or deacon prays that the spirit of evil may be replaced by the spirit of good. Their purpose is not so much to examine the candidates’ mental readiness, but their spiritual readiness. Scrutinies offer the catechumens the support they need to approach the waters of baptism worthily.

For those who are already baptized, the Scrutinies invite us to embrace the same spirit of self-searching and repentance. At Easter we renew our baptismal promises as we see the catechumens baptized. So during Lent we renew our repentance as we see the catechumens scrutinized. The Scrutinies remind us of the seriousness of our Christian life and inspire us to turn from evil and pursue good. They enliven our recommitment to Christ at Easter.

Father Roger

We are nearing the end of our first year of FIRE IN THE LORD and so we take a look back and a look ahead to what has happened and the direction for the future. Last May we had our first meeting to form a committee of both teens and adults who were interested in developing a contemporary style mass with a focus on our young people of the parish. Each month on the second Sunday of the month we held our Fire In The Lord mass. The feedback over the year has been very favorable. Through the hard work and dedication of so many people who have been involved with this important project we have found much success. I want to give special recognition to Kevin and Judy for their tireless hours of rehearsals and help they have given to teaching new music in song to your young people who became involved as musicians and choir singers.
Although we have had much success there have also been many challenges in terms of promoting this special Liturgical celebration to our young people, encouraging them to get involved as musicians and singers. And even though we have had a small number who have remained steady some have come and gone for various reasons. Perhaps this is to be expected with such a new project. This just means that we all need to be supportive and encouraging to our youth to find excitement in making their liturgical experience their own and continuously building upon what we already have.
We have only two more Fire In The Lord masses scheduled for Easter which is a total parish experience and May 13th which is also Mother’s Day and our May Crowning Sunday. They have been practicing hard for May 13th to make it not only special for our mother’s but also for our Blessed Mother. We encourage all of you, the Family of St. Maurice to continue to encourage and up-lift our young people. They are important to the growth of our parish as we look into the future.
We are planning another “JAM FEST” for the month of July for all who have been and for persons who are interested in being a part of Fire In The Lord in the future. There is a real need to have more involvement by our youth and more encouragement and commitment is called for on the part of the parents to be sure that they are able to make it to rehearsals and do the necessary practicing at home to be ready for every monthly mass. This commitment on the part of the youth and the parents is absolutely essential if we are to continue to grow and succeed in making this mass all that it can be.
I want to say THANK YOU to all those who have been a part of Fire In The Lord this year for your dedication. I also want to encourage other teens and parents to get involved with Fire In The Lord so as we look to next year we will know there is a real desire and willingness to make the commitment to making this special youth liturgy a joyful and total success. On behalf of myself and Fr. Roger we thank all those who have been involved with Fire In The Lord this past year and look forward to your continued dedication and encouraging others to get involved as we shape the future of FIRE IN THE LORD.

Sincerely, Father Dennis

The Lord is calling for talent with a heart.
For you to serve his St. Maurice Family in our new Fire in the Lord Youth Mass.
Kids 12 and older can participate in:
Signing in the choir
Play your favorite instrument in the band
Greet your fellow parishioners
Read Gods word to the family
Serve as an acolyte

Contact Father Dennis in the church office for more information:
954-961-7777

At our liturgy committee meeting last May, the committee decided that we needed to have a “youth” mass to encourage our youth to attend Sunday Mass and to have a liturgy that was contemporary in style and tone. Father Roger asked me to take charge and to put together a committee and move ahead with this most important ministry for our young people. They are the future of the church; they are the future of our parish and the family of St. Maurice.
In July we held a “July Jam Fest” to encourage musicians and singers to come together in a sort of jam type session each Sunday. It went very well and we have been able to identify several of our young folks who are now in regular practice with Kevin preparing for our first FIRE IN THE LORD mass on Sunday, October 9 at the 10:30 mass.
We have been holding meetings all summer and have made some very significant progress in identifying great talent among our young adults and are now working hard to prepare for this October liturgy. We are still looking for more people to get involved to cover all the ministries that are needed at every liturgy: Eucharistic ministers, Lectures, ushers/greeters. What a wonderful witness value and a testament of faith to see our young people fully participating in all aspects of our Sunday Liturgy, and especially to see a young adult giving communion to their peers. WONDERFUL! We are looking for more volunteers.
As a parish we need to get behind this ministry and show our support and encouragement to our youth and young adults. Personally, I am hoping to see the church packed, like at Christmas and Easter for our first FIRE IN THE LORD mass on Sunday, October 9 at the 10:30. Let’s give it all we have and boost this much needed ministry in our parish.
Look for weekly announcements in the bulletin about what’s happening with our teen ministry and the FIRE IN THE LORD masses that are planned for the second Sunday of each month at the 10:30 mass. For more information or to volunteer please call the office and leave your information for me. Each week my homilies are posted on the parish web-site www.StMaurice.org
Blessings, peace and wellness to all,
Father Dennis

Read the Roman Missal page 1

Read Roman Missal page 2

International Hunger Facts: About 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five. Although famines and wars cause 10% of hunger deaths, the majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition. Families simply cannot get enough to eat.
It is estimated that some 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition.

Hunger in the United States:
It is estimated that approximately 12 million American children are food insecure.
It is estimated that more than eight million children in the U.S. live in working poor families.
It is estimated that many senior citizens in this country must choose between buying food and buying needed medicine.

It was facts and information like the above that brought the Pastor, Father Sean, and a group of parishioners together in the fall of 1976 to discuss this human tragedy. As a result of those discussions, the Hunger Program was launched to help in the eradication of world hunger.

The first step taken was a concerted effort to educate the entire parish community about this specific humanitarian need. It was not long after this that a barrio outside Bogata, Colombia was adopted as the first international hunger mission. A short time later Rice Thursday was started and many in the parish made a commitment to eat only rice on each Thursday and then to donate the money saved from the sacrifice to the Hunger Program.

Later on, it was decided to donate part of the monies from Country Fair to the Program. That idea became very popular and led to the decision to donate 100% of the profit to this worthy cause.
When Father Sean left in 1998, the Hunger Program had grown and missions across the U.S. and the world were receiving funds to help them feed hungry people. In order to ensure the continuity of the Program, Father Sean established a Hunger Board made up of members of the Parish. These people are responsible for the administration of the monies generated.
It can be said that the Hunger program is one of the pillars of our parish and, with the grace of God, we will fulfill our gospel commitment to feed the hungry in this country and across the world.

Hunger News
When we began our Lenten journey, Father Dennis challenged us to focus on the positive aspects of sacrifice.  By doing so, we experience a spiritual renewal and also renew the lives of those we touch.  We would like to recommend to you that you and your families include the practice of Rice Thursday in your Lenten sacrifices.  You could incorporate a mini-liturgy at your evening meal.  Light a candle, read from the Bible ( Matthew 25: 31-40 or Isaiah 58:6-12, and have your rice meal.  Not only will your family be spiritually renewed, but by donating the money saved from not eating meat to the Hunger program you will renew the lives of those that you feed.  Consider this- a donation of $10.00 can feed a noon meal for 49 destitute elderly people in Haiti, or lunch for 20 school children in the Dominican Republic, or feed 12 refugees in Uganda.

Just a small sacrifice on your part, can have such a positive effect on the lives of hungry people.

Two new projects were presented to the members of the Board of Directors at the board meeting on February 23 to be considered for funding.  The first project is the At Risk Children Foundation which is in two locations:  Cape Rouge and  Cayes in Southern Haiti.  The children being cared for are orphans or children that have been abandoned The cost for food  is $1.50 to $2.00 per child per day, as inflation has greatly increased the cost of food in Haiti.  The second project is Ecole Joseph De Pevedic du Limbe which is located in Oimbe, Haiti.  The money donated to this project will help with the cost of providing lunch to very poor school children.  When Ramona Rung and Jim Worl visited this project in December, Ramona asked one of the mothers how we could help them.  She said, “Help us feed our children.” Without adequate food the children cannot learn. As we reported previously, two of our projects, one in Bolivia and one in Kenya no longer need our help.  Therefore, we are able to take on these two new projects.

We ask that God bless your Lenten sacrifices and reward you with a blessed Easter.

The Board of Directors of the Hunger program