Fr. Kevin’s Corner
Dear Friends and Parishioners,
On Monday, March 30th, our parish will become a teen-ager! It was on March 30, 1996, that I arrived in Amman to begin my assignment as founding pastor for this “personal” or “non-territorial” parish established by the patriarch to serve the needs of the large English-speaking Catholic community in Amman. It has been my honor & privilege to serve as your parish priest over the past 13 years, & I look forward to continuing that service in the future. My deepest thanks to all who helped establish the parish back in 1996 & to all who have continued to serve the parish in so many important ways ever since.
As you know, the Catholic Church in Jordan will join the Orthodox Church in celebrating Easter on April 19th this year, a week later than in most of the Catholic world. That is so that all Christians in Jordan may be seen by the country’s Muslim majority as unified in our observance of the great events of our redemption in Christ. For those of us who live in Jordan all year, this is at best a minor inconvenience. For visitors or newcomers to our community, it can be a bit confusing. For God, all times and seasons are one, and so there is no significant problem!
After the blessing & distribution of palms at all parish Masses of Palm Sunday weekend (April 10-12), the parish’s Holy Week services in English will all be in Jabal Hussein:
- On Monday through Wednesday (April 13-15), the daily Masses will be at 8:30 AM in the Jesuit Center chapel.
- The Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 5:00 PM on April 16th, the Good Friday Services at 12:00 noon on April 17th, & the Easter Vigil Mass at 10:15 PM on Saturday April 18th will all be in De La Salle Church (Frères College).
- There will not be any Saturday evening Mass in English in Sweifieh on April 18th.
- There will be three Masses in English on Easter Sunday, April 19th: at 11:30 AM in St. Joseph Church in Jabal Amman, at 12:00 noon in Annunciation Church in Jabal al-Weibdeh, & at 6:00 PM in De La Salle Church (Frères College) in Jabal Hussein.
Soon after Easter, we will join with the rest of the local Church and all Jordanians in welcoming our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, when he arrives on May 8th for a weekend visit to the Kingdom. The detailed schedule for his visit has not yet been announced, & it will probably be published about the same time as this issue of the newsletter appears. Among his various activities will be a public Mass in the soccer stadium on Sunday morning, May 10th. Subject to the limitations of the stadium’s seating capacity, all Catholics in Jordan will be invited to attend. I expect that tickets for admission to the Mass at the stadium will be made available for distribution through the local parishes, including our parish. As soon as I have more details, I will announce them at the various parish Masses.
In the meantime, we expect to welcome Bishop Salim to the parish Mass in Sweifieh on Saturday, April 25th, for the confirmation of Melissa Chadwick. The following Saturday, May 2nd, we will celebrate the First Holy Communion of some 15 parish youngsters at the parish Mass in Sweifieh. I hope that you will be able to join us for those celebrations.
Congratulations to our Confirmation & First Communion candidates & their families, as well as prayerful best wishes for all the blessings of Holy Week & Easter on our parish & all its members, past & present!
Scripture Readings for the Sunday & Feast Day Liturgies (4/5/09-7/3/09)
5th Sunday of Lent [Julian Calendar] (April 5): Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33.
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion [Julian Calendar] (April 12): Mark 11:1-10 or John 12:12-16 (for procession before Mass); Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1-15:47 [or shorter: 15:1-39].
Monday of Holy Week [Julian Calendar] (April 13): Isaiah 42:1-7; John 12:1-11.
Tuesday of Holy Week [Julian Calendar] (April 14): Isaiah 49:1-6; John 13:21-33, 36-38.
Wednesday of Holy Week [Julian Calendar] (April 15): Isaiah 50:4-9a; Matthew 26:14-25.
Holy Thursday [Julian Calendar] (April 16): Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15.
Good Friday [Julian Calendar] (April 17): Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42.
Easter Vigil [Julian Calendar] (April 18): Genesis 1:1-2:2 [or shorter: 1:1, 26-31a]; 22:1-18 [or shorter: 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18]; Exodus 14:15-15:1; Isaiah 54:5-14; 55:1-11; Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4; Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28; Romans 6:3-11; Mark 16:1-7.
Easter Sunday [Julian Calendar] (April 19): Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8; John 20:1-9 or Mark 16:1-7 [or evening, Luke 24:13-35].
Easter Monday [Julian Calendar] (April 20): Acts 2:14, 22-23; Matthew 28:8-15.
Easter Tuesday [Julian Calendar] (April 21): Acts 2:36-41; John 20:11-18.
Easter Wednesday [Julian Calendar] (April 22): Acts 3:1-10; Luke 24:13-35.
Easter Thursday [Julian Calendar] (April 23): Acts 3:11-26; Luke 24:35-48.
Easter Friday [Julian Calendar] (April 24): Acts 4:1-12; John 21:1-14.
Easter Saturday [Julian Calendar] & Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist (April 25): 1 Peter 5:5b-14; Mark 16:15-20.
2nd Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday [Julian Calendar] (April 26): Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; John 20:19-31.
3rd Sunday of Easter [Julian Calendar] (May 3): Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; 1 John 2:1-5a; Luke 24:35-48.
Solemnity of St. James, First Bishop of Jerusalem & Principle Patron of the Diocese, and St. Philip, Apostles (May 4, from May 3): 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; John 14:6-14.
4th Sunday of Easter [Julian Calendar] (May 10): Acts 4:8-12; 1 John 3:1-2; John 10:11-18.
Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle (May 14): Acts 1:15-17, 20-26; John 15:9-17.
5th Sunday of Easter [Julian Calendar] (May 17): Acts 9:26-31; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8.
6th Sunday of Easter [Julian Calendar] (May 24): Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48; 1 John 4:7-10; John 15:9-17.
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord [Julian Calendar] (May 28): Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23 or 4:1-13 [or shorter, 4:1-7, 11-13]; Mark 16:15-20.
7th Sunday of Easter [Julian Calendar] (May 31): Acts 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26; 1 John 4:11-16; John 17:11b-19.
Pentecost Sunday [Julian Calendar] (June 7): Acts 2:1-11; Galatians 5:16-25 or 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 15:26-27; 16:12-15 or John 20:19-23.
Trinity Sunday [Julian Calendar] (June 14): Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20.
12th Sunday of the Year; Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ [Julian Calendar] (June 21): Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26.
Vigil of the Birth of St. John the Baptist (June 23, evening): Jeremiah 1:4-10; 1 Peter 1:8-12; Luke 1:5-17.
Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist (June 24): Isaiah 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26; Luke 1:57-66, 80.
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus [Julian Calendar] (June 26): Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9; Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19; John 19:31-37.
13th Sunday of the Year (June 28): Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43 [or vv 21-24, 33b-43].
Vigil of SS. Peter and Paul, Apostles (June 28, evening): Acts 3:1-10; Galatians 1:11-20; John 21:15-19.
Solemnity of SS. Peter and Paul, Apostles (June 29): Acts 12:1-11; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16:13-19.
Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (July 3): Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29.
UpComing Events (3 April - 3 July 2009)
April 3 First Friday & Mass of the Day - 12:00 noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh).
April 10 Anticipated Mass of Palm Sunday with Blessing & Distribution of Palms - 12:00 noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh).
April 11-12 Regular weekend Mass schedule; Blessing & Distribution of Palms at each Mass.
April 16 Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper - 5:00 PM at St. Jean-Baptiste De La Salle Church (Frères College, Jabal Hussein).
April 17 Good Friday Celebration of the Lord’s Passion - 12:00 noon at St. Jean-Baptiste De La Salle Church (Frères College, Jabal Hussein).
April 18 No 5:00 PM Mass at St. Mary’s; Easter Vigil Service & Mass of the Lord’s Resurrection - 10:15 PM at St. Jean-Baptiste De La Salle Church (Frères College, Jabal Hussein).
April 19 Solemnity of Easter Sunday according to the Julian Calendar; Easter Masses - 9:30 AM in Tagalog at OWWA; 11:30 AM at St. Joseph Church (Jabal Amman); 12:00 Noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh); 6:00 PM at St. Jean-Baptiste De La Salle Church (Frères College, Jabal Hussein).
April 25 Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist - Mass at 8:30 AM at the Jesuit Center (Jabal Hussein); Parish Confirmations at the Mass in Sweifieh.
May 1 First Friday & Mass of St. Joseph the Worker - 12:00 noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh).
May 2 Parish First Communions at the Mass in Sweifieh.
May 4 Solemnity of St. James, First Bishop of Jerusalem & Principle Patron of the Diocese, and St. Philip, Apostles - Mass at 8:30 AM at the Jesuit Center (Jabal Hussein).
May 14 Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle - Mass at 8:30 AM at the Jesuit Center (Jabal Hussein).
May 28 Solemnity of the Ascension - Mass at 8:30 AM at the Jesuit Center (Jabal Hussein).
May 29 Mass of the Ascension (from Thursday) - 12:00 noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh).
June 5 First Friday & anticipated Mass of Pentecost (from Sunday) - 12:00 noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh).
June 7 Solemnity of Pentecost - regular weekend schedule of Masses.
June 12 Anticipated Mass of the Most Holy Trinity (from Sunday) - 12:00 noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh).
June 14 Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - regular weekend schedule of Masses.
June 21 Solemnity of the Body & Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) - regular weekend schedule of Masses.
June 24 Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist - Mass at 8:30 AM at the Jesuit Center (Jabal Hussein).
June 26 Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - Mass at 12:00 noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh).
June 28 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - regular weekend schedule of Masses; Sunday evening Mass of the Vigil of the Solemnity of SS. Peter & Paul, Apostles.
June 29 Solemnity of SS. Peter & Paul, Apostles - Mass at 8:30 AM at the Jesuit Center (Jabal Hussein).
July 3 First Friday & Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle - Mass at 12:00 noon at Annunciation Church (Jabal al-Weibdeh).
Kevin G. O'Connell, S.J.
The Jesuit Center
P.O. Box 212074
Amman 11121, Jordan
Mobile: +962 79 556-5062
E-Mail: kgoc@jesuits.jo
Skype ID: kgocsj
Skype-In: +1 617 297-2728
Parish URL: www.wfu.edu/~horton/amman
Center URL: www.jescenter.org