e are a Roman Catholic community of believers in Jesus Christ in Lincoln Park and surrounding areas, located in the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey.  Our Bishop is Bishop Arthur Serratelli.  Please feel free to visit the pages of our Parish site, learn about who we are as a community of faith and the services our parish provides. If you are thinking about moving to the Lincoln Park area, we cordially invite you to make St. Joseph's your parish.

April 14, 2019:  The Passion of Our Lord:  Palm Sunday

This Sunday is the first day of Holy Week. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday are called the Triduum, three days that are the highlight of the Church year. At the Liturgy of the Word this Sunday, we read the passion of Jesus as found in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 22:14—23:56.) We will hear these events proclaimed again during the Triduum when we read the passion of Jesus from the Gospel of John.

In today’s Gospel, Luke sets up his version of the Passion and death of Jesus earlier in his gospel with a description of the long journey that Jesus takes to Jerusalem. We hear Luke's description of the Last Supper when Jesus speaks of Judas' betrayal, saying that the Son of Man “goes as has been determined.”

All along the way he teaches his disciples what his death and resurrection will mean and how they are to imitate him.

As you listen to the story of the Passion, follow St. Paul's advice in our second reading.

Let your attitude be the same as Jesus’. Learn from what he does, from the upper room to Calvary, and all along the way. As Jesus has taught to his disciples throughout the Gospels, we ask ourselves, how must I pray in the times of temptation? Whom must I embrace in compassion? How do I send the forgiveness that God has shown to me to others?

Throughout Holy Week, we will reflect on the events of Jesus' Passion and death. As we meditate on the cross, we ask again what it means to make the statement of faith that Jesus, in his obedient suffering and dying, revealed himself to us as God's Son and brought to fulfillment the Kingdom of God.

As we walk with Christ this Holy Week, as we gather for the breaking of the bread, as we imagine his footsteps along the streets of Jerusalem, and stand with him at Calvary, and as we will see with the stone rolled back on Easter morning, may we become his witnesses to the world, knowing that God's kingdom has been fulfilled in all of us.