Christ The King Catholic Community-

This bulletin should hit email accounts as we begin the Sacred Triduum with Holy Thursday’s Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion, and Holy Saturday’s Easter Vigil in the Holy Night. We have included the biblical citations of the readings for the Triduum as well as Easter Sunday below. You can see the texts of them in your own Bibles or on the website of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, usccb.org (can also access those each day by clicking on “Today’s Readings” on our web- site). There is great richness in the Scriptures for these celebrations—far more than can be covered here or even in our homilies. We encourage you to take some time to reflect on at least one of the readings each day!

We also want to wish all of you a very Happy and Joyful Easter and Easter Season. We are so glad that there has been some easing in the COVID-19 protocols. Even the limited choirs seem like angels singing on high! We enjoy having our servers assist us again at Masses. Thanks to all of you for continuing to follow the precautions we have in place. We certainly don’t want to go backwards!! This points to greater and greater possibilities as the Easter Season unfolds. We Frs. Tims look forward to getting our second Moderna shot soon after Easter (we postponed a Good Friday appointment, just in case we have reactions).

THE SACRED TRIDUUM, YEAR B
HOLY THURSDAY Readings: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18 (R: “Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.”); 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15.

The LORD God provides Moses and Aaron with very detailed instructions for the celebration of the first “Passover of the LORD” in the book of Exodus. There is clear urgency in the preparation and especially in eating the meal. The people are ready to take flight. Through the blood of the lamb, the people are saved, for the LORD passes over their homes; through the body of the lamb, the people are nourished for the start of their journey.

The way the evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story of Jesus’s Last Supper makes it pretty clear that Jesus and his apostles are sharing the Passover meal. Nevertheless, Jesus changes— fulfills—its significance. At the beginning of the meal, Jesus blesses and breaks the bread, and says “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:24). After having eaten the supper, Jesus takes the fourth cup of wine, the “cup of blessing”, and again changes the meaning: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (v. 25b).

Yet, we do NOT hear of this in the Gospel of John! Jesus gathers with his apostles “before the feast of Passover” (13:1). John doesn’t narrate Jesus' actions and words over bread and wine. Rather, the actions and words of Jesus concern the service provided by the lowest servant in a big household, the washing of feet. John no doubt knows of the more usual story of the Lord’s Supper (cf. 6:51- 59), but here it appears that John wants to remind his community— and you and me—that reception of the Body and Blood of Christ is not just for our own devotion. Rather, the Eucharist nourishes us for our “journey” as servants who pattern our service after the Master who is willing to stoop and wash feet.

The way John narrates the PN also allows John to focus on Je- sus as “Lamb of God” because Jesus is crucified and dies on “preparation day” (19:1) when the lambs are being slaughtered for the Passover meals at people’s homes. This leads us into Good Fri-day.
GOOD FRIDAY Readings: Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Psalm 31:2, 6, 12 -13, 15-16, 17, 25 (R: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”); Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1–19:42

The LORD’s servant in our reading from Isaiah is described in ways that seem to resemble Jesus in the “Passion Narrative” (PN) in Mark 14:1–15:47, which we heard on Palm Sunday. Mark focuses more on the suffering and even despair of Jesus than does John. The servant in Isaiah is “marred ... beyond human semblance”, had “no stately bearing ... nor appearance that would attract” others, is “spurned and avoided”, and is “a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity.” Yet, it was on behalf of the people that he suffered: “through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.”

Every Good Friday, however, we hear the evangelist John’s PN. As in the other Gospels, Jesus is arrested, falsely accused, tried, and condemned to death by crucifixion. Different from Mark’s narrative, however, John presents Jesus as already victorious. At Je- sus’s arrest, when he uses the divine name “I AM”, the soldiers fall to the ground. When on trial before Pilate, Jesus is calm and seemingly turns the table and tries Pilate—will he choose “the Truth”, that is Jesus himself? Jesus needs no help carrying the cross. He is not alone at his crucifixion, for the beloved disciple, the mother of Jesus, her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene are there (19:25-27). Jesus gives his mother to his beloved disciple— still making decisions, even reigning from the cross. There is no cry of despair, but Jesus’s last breath is a declarative sentence: “It is finished” (19:30). In death, he continues to dispense life for his followers, for blood and water flow from his side. And he is buried as a king, which is shown in Nicodemus’s preparedness with 100 pounds of burial spices for Jesus’s body.

Our Good Friday liturgy follows through on John’s PN, for we adore the cross on which hung the Savior of the world. Though we gather to remember Jesus’s passion and death, we do so as a people who believe in the resurrection. The evangelist John narrates the PN from that point of view, so it is most appropriate for the Good Fri- day Service.

EASTER VIGIL Readings: Genesis 1:1–2:2 [or 1:1, 26-31a]; Psalm 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12, 13-14, 24, 35 (R: “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”); Exodus 14:15–15:1; Exodus 15:1-2, 3-4,5-6, 17-18 (R: “Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.”); Isaiah 55:1-11; Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (R: “You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.”); — GLORIA— Romans 6:3-11; Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 (R: “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”); Mark 16:1-7.
EASTER Readings: Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22- 23 (R: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”); Colossians 3:1-4 [or 1 Cor 5:6b-8]; —Sequence— John 20:1-9.

We will have lots of opportunity to reflect on the good news of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout the Easter Season. So, I will only make a few points here. First, the full slate of Easter Vigil readings contains 7 Old Testament readings (+ Psalm responses), a reading from Romans (+ Psalm response/Gospel acclamation), and a Gospel passage (we will do the abbreviated number of required readings). This reminds us that the salvation that Christ Jesus won for us was part of God’s plan from the moment of creation, through the long history of his Chosen People, and now in the Church. What a blessing it is for us to know of and believe in what our Lord has done “once for all”. This is a favorite expression in Hebrews 7, 9 & 11 and Jude; perhaps it’s inspired by Ps 89:36: “By my holiness, I swore once for all: I will never be false to David.”

Second, both the Easter Vigil and the Easter Sunday Gospel passages leave us with an empty tomb and no Risen Lord in sight! At the vigil, we hear from the evangelist Mark that “a young man” tells the women that Jesus “has been raised”. We are spared the most troubling verse 8: “Then [the women] went out and fled from the tomb, seized with trembling and bewilderment. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” That is where Mark’s Gospel ends; the longer ending, 16:9-20, was added later. On Easter Sun-day, the evangelist John tells us that “Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark”; she sees that the stone had been removed, so she runs to tell Simon Peter and the beloved disciple. They run to see the tomb; Peter goes in first. When the beloved disciple enters, we are told “he saw and believed”. But what did he believe? Certainly, as St. Augustine noted long ago, he believed what Mary had said about the tomb. It doesn’t appear that he believes in Jesus’ resurrection, for he and the apostles will be behind locked doors when the Risen Lord first appears to them.

So, on this Easter Sunday—as on every Easter—we are left with the empty tomb and less than complete faith. Like the women in Mark, we rely on the testimony of others to help us in our faith in the Risen Lord. May we, with the Spirit’s help, be witnesses to our faith and not flee in fear. When we struggle or are dismayed, may we, like Mary of Magdala, run to other followers of Christ Jesus to share our concerns, so that they can accompany us into greater faith. In the Easter Season, we will accompany the original followers of Jesus on their journeys from the empty tomb to faith in the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. — Blessed and joyful Easter and Easter Season to you all!

ANNUAL CELEBRATION: Please join us on Sunday, April 11 at St. Bernard Church. We will begin the celebration with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 2:30 pm. After a period of Adoration, we will pray The Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3:00 pm. At 3:30 pm we Frs. Tims will pray the Litany of Saint Joseph and close with Benediction.

This is a “Stewardship Prayer” from Our Sunday Visitor. We Frs. Tims believe that the prayer provides all of us good food for reflection.

My parish is composed of people like me. I help make it what it is.
It will be friendly, if I am.
It will be holy, if I am.
Its pews will be filled, if I help fill them.
It will do great work, if I work.
It will be prayerful, if I pray.
It will make generous gifts to many causes, if I am a generous giver.
It will bring others into worship, if I invite and bring them in.
It will be a place of loyalty and love, of fearlessness and faith,
of compassion, charity and mercy,
if I, who make it what it is, am filled with these same things.
Therefore, with the help of God,
I now dedicate myself to the task of being all
the things that I want my parish to be.
Amen.

ST BERNARD-Breda
Office Hours Mon - Fri: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Phone: 712-673-2582
stbernard@westianet.net

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST-Arcadia
Office Hours: Mon & Fri 7:30-11:30 am Phone: 712-689-2595
stjohnarcadia@gmail.com

ST AUGUSTINE-Halbur
Office Hours Mon & Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Phone: 712-658-2464
Fax: 712-658-2464 staug@iowatelecom.net

PASTOR
Rev. Timothy A. Friedrichsen
Breda Rectory Office (712-673-2351) t.a.friedrichsen@gmail.com

PAROCHIAL VICAR
Rev. Timothy A. Pick
Breda School Office (712-673-2582) 
pickt@scdiocese.org

Donna Wesely
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Phone: 712-673-2582
stbernard@westianet.net