Now that we are done with Catholic Calisthenics, let’s go over a few points of “etiquette.”  As I mentioned last week, those of us with a few gray hairs remember kinder, gentler times.  When kids used to call grown ups “Mr.” and “Mrs.,” when four letter words were not part of the vocabulary, let alone routine part of the dialogue on radio, TV and in movies.  So, as I said, let’s go over a few points of etiquette, because it would be awful if good manners became extinct!  And no, good manners are not “old fashioned.” Here’s a refresher course on good-old Catholics do’s and don’ts.

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I just pushed out some changes for the website that were a mix of small enhancements and bug fixes. The most notable ones are the ‘Mass Service Schedule’ block style and the addition of the ‘Catholic Resources’ block in the right sidebar. The ‘Mass Service Schedule’ block is better, but still needs some work – look for another update to it sometime next week. Also, there is now a map for the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. If you see any problems or find bugs please leave a comment so I can log it and fix.

Tonight, just after midnight, about half of the bulletin stories will publish. Currently, I am just putting the Pastor’ Page, School News, Youth, and Religious Education material from the bulletin online weekly. You can view all of the bulletins in PDF format here.  Enjoy!

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Welcome to the new Holy Trinity Catholic Church & School website.  The website remodel has been brewing for two years and is finally done.  The new website is a blog style design with a top main navigation and right sidebar secondary navigation to supplement the main navigation. The emphasis is on information presentation with weekly posts about parish activities and events of a time critical nature. In the near term the WebTeam will focus on improving the visual appearance and fixing any latent bugs. We are interested in your feedback on how it looks and what can be improved and/or any problems you found.  Feel free to leave a comment to this post and it will show up shortly as we moderate all comments to insure prudent responses.

WebTeam is comprised of the following members:

• Rick Balzen – Network and Server Administration
• Troy Bettinger – Webmaster Church Renovation website
• Joseph Crotty – Webmaster Holy Trinity website
• Dennis Mohr – Creative Direction/Lead

Feel free to contact any of us with ideas for content and improvements.  Also, to everyone who made the old website tick a big thank you!

Bowing

Hopefully, we have covered most of “Holy Mass basics,” but occasionally people see us Catholics do “strange” things, such as bowing, crossing ourselves, etc.

In an attempt to include all of our “exercises,” let’s go over bowing because, of all of our practices, this seems to be the most misunderstood.  But, if we stop and think about it, bowing is a sign of respect, and when we see it that way, then everything else will make sense.

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When going to confession this Lent, we ask the loving God to restore us to grace through the forgiveness of sins. To help you, we have added some extra Confession times to our regular schedule this week, here they are:

• Friday, March 27, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
• Monday, March 30, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
• Monday, April 6, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
• Tuesday, April 7, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

The last two weeks of Lent are called Passiontide because the readings and prayers for the Holy Mass draw our attention in a very intense way to the Passion and Death of our Savior Jesus.  The church building itself is in mourning and the veiling of all of the familiar objects of devotion helps us to concentrate upon the great essentials of Christ’s work of Redemption.

The custom veiling the statues probably finds it’s origins in Germany, where from the ninth century, a large cloth was hung in front of the entire altar area throughout Lent.  This cloth, called the “Hungertuch” (hunger cloth), hid the altar entirely from view during Lent and was not removed until during the reading of the Passion on Holy Thursday at the words “the veil of the temple was rent in two.”

As we look upon our church, shrouded and sad, may our minds dwell in gratitude upon the Passion of Jesus by which He won salvation for us, and may our hearts swell with deeper love for Him who died for love of us.

Soup Supper, Stations of the Cross, and Benediction are scheduled for each Friday of Lent, and you’re invited! Soup is served from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm in the parish hall, and Stations of the Cross with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament is celebrated in the church at 6:45 pm (English) and 7:30 pm ( Spanish). Come and have dinner with your brothers and sisters in Christ and join in this beautiful prayer where we walk beside our Lord Jesus as He carries His saving cross for us and for our salvation.

The adoration chapel will be closed as indicated below, in observance of Holy Week:

• Holy Thursday: Closed at 7 PM
• Good Friday: All Day
• Holy Saturday: All Day
• Easter Sunday: All Day

We have some lonely hours at our chapel in need of committed adorers and subs. Especially needed are weekend adorers. Is there someone who would love to spend one hour with Jesus each week? Please call Debbie Coash at 303-426-9002, if you can help with any of the following times:

• Monday: 3PM , Tuesday: 3PM, 5PM, 9PM
• Wednesday: 4PM Thursday: 11AM, 12PM, 5PM
• Friday: 4PM, 5PM
• Saturday: 2PM -8PM Sunday: 1PM, 2PM

As part of the Archdiocese of Denver’s accreditation through the North Central Association, all of its schools are asking parishioners to complete opinion surveys. Parents, teachers, staff, and priests are also completing surveys, but we are inviting parishioners to complete surveys as well. It is named the “Catholic Identity School Survey.”

After being closed March 23 through 27 for spring break, school will resume March 30. From March 30 to April 2 parishioners are invited to pick up a survey from
the school office between of 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Completed surveys must be returned to the school by the end of the school day April 2.

This survey gives parishioners a chance to comment about our school and how well it is fulfilling its mission and purpose. Many questions ask about Catholic schools in general, but parishioners are encouraged to answer the questions based on their opinions of Holy Trinity School. These surveys are specifically coded for our school so that the archdiocese will be able to match surveys to each school. All surveys are anonymous and will be sent from our school to the archdiocese where results will be compiled by the survey service.

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