THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD AND HUMANKIND'S REDEMPTION..........

The Fourth Eucharistic Prayer at Mass, which begins with a beautiful prologue that is a sweeping statement of salvation history says, "In the fullness of time ( God the Father) sent...the only Son to be our Savior". The door that opened the Coming of the Lord Jesus into the World as God made Man, is the mystery of our Faith we celebrate today - the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. Although Pentecost has traditionally been called the Birthday of the Church, the Annunciation is the true beginning of the Church, as the Blessed Virgin Mary's YES, to the angel Gabriel's pronouncement that she was to conceive and bear a son by the power of the Holy Spirit, is the faith response that set God's Plan for humankind's redemption in motion, making her the first disciple of the Body of Christ, that is the Church. This Annunciation Day, is also 7 months since my kidney transplant, and I continue to proactively recover and resume more of my priestly ministry successfully. It is also our annual Chrism Mass Day in the Sacramento Diocese, which began for the priests after our morning Masses, with a conference at St. Anthony's Parish in the Greenhaven/Pocket Area, with a presentation by Rev. Fr. Pat Mullen, a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who teaches at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo. He spoke to us on the Passion Narratives in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. This evening the Mass of the Blessing of the Holy Oils, (Chrism Mass) will be concelebrated by Bishop Soto, in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament at 6 pm. It is one of the major liturgical highlights of the Church Year, as Bishop, priests, religious women and men, deacons and their wives, and the laity, gather together to truly celebrate our commitment and participation as the Diocesan Church, in immediate preparation for Holy Week, the Easter Triduum, and the Rites of Christian Initiation in the next ten days. If you are in Sacramento and can attend this evening I encourage you to do so. If you are reading my blog in a different diocese, find out when your Chrism Mass takes place during this coming week and attend it if you possibly can..........In The Joy Of Savation Christ's Annunciation Brings To Us For The Redemption of Humankind, Fr. Troy