Dear friends,

Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, marks the beginning of Holy Week, during which we celebrate one of the major feast days of our faith. As they made their way to Jerusalem, Jesus often spoke with His apostles about the suffering and cross that awaited Him. He wanted to prepare them for what was to come. The apostles, however, were afraid and found it difficult to understand that the world was to be delivered through the Passion and cross of Christ.

“Save us, Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.” (Psalm 106:47)

During the coronavirus pandemic, our Catholic faith lifts us up and takes us deeper into the heart of the Church while also reaching into a stricken world. We are affected by the stress and heartache, but not shocked. Scripture tells us of such things will happen when we turn away from God.

Fr. Antony Kadavil reflects and comments on the readings at Mass for the fifth Sunday in Lent. He says that today's readings on our ultimate desire to share in eternal life with the risen Lord.

Ez 37:12-14; Rom 8:8-11; Jn 11:1-45

The Bible opens with a song of jubilation, a hymn to the creation that is born from God's hand and Word: "And God saw that it was good."

This astonishing and luminous affirmation punctuates the first seven days of the story of Genesis. At the same time, it leaves us with questions.

If creation is good, then why is there evil in our world? Why does God allow suffering, disease, pandemics like COVID-19 and the death of the innocent?

Pope Francis meditated on the calming of the storm from the Gospel of Mark during the prayer service over which he presided on the steps of St Peter's Basilica on Friday evening.

Following is the full text:

Humankind has outlived multiple pandemics in the course of world history. The kingdoms and states of Central and Western Europe abolished the institution of serfdom once it had become clear that medieval rule in the aftermath of devastating pestilence would founder without ending the dependency and servitude that characterized the Dark Ages.

When you get right down to it, reaching into the very bottom of the barrel of faith, what are you likely to find that in fact determines everything? I mean, is there some absolutely bedrock belief upon which the whole shooting match depends?

There surely is. And — surprise, surprise — it is not Christmas or Easter. In point of fact, in the absence of this single event, neither birth nor resurrection could possibly have happened. Nor would there be anything to celebrate.

Lowliness is assured by majesty, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the debt of our sinful state, a nature that was incapable of suffering was joined to one that could suffer. Thus, in keeping with the healing that we needed, one and the same mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, was able to die in one nature, and unable to die in the other.

Following is the message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the 2020 World Day of Vocations, MARCH 24, 2020:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On 4 August last year, the 160th anniversary of the death of the Curé of Ars, I chose to write a letter to all those priests who daily devote their lives to the service of God’s people in response to the Lord’s call.

March 24, the day in which Mgr. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador was assassinated in 1980, was chosen 28 years ago by the then Missionary Youth Movement of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Italy to celebrate annually the "Day of prayer and fasting in memory of the missionary martyrs".

The Archbishop, assassinated while celebrating Mass, was beatified on May 23, 2015 and canonized by Pope Francis on October 14, 2018.