Holy Week begins

Today, the Church celebrates Passion or Palm Sunday.  With the observance of the liturgies proper to this day, we enter into the final week of Lent, known as Holy Week.  These are the holiest of days for Christians; we recall the final days of Christ's life, the depth of his love for the disciples (and for all of us), his passion and death, and his Resurrection.

As we begin this week, Palm Sunday (which has been combined with Passion Sunday for the past forty years or so), recalls in very broad strokes, the drama that began when Jesus entered triumphantly into Jerusalem, and concluded with his passion and death on the cross.  There will be a few moments in this coming week to deepen this understanding.  For now, here are the headlines:

• Listen in

Looking ahead
One of the first things I ever remember about reading a newspaper is the headlines.  It seems that even as a teenager I would glance at the headlines on the front page, and then decide whether I needed to spend more time delving through the pages, depending on whether the headline in largest print, just below the titles, had caught my attention.  Ah, yes the pictures sometimes helped to attract my attention too.

This weekend’s liturgy is all about headlines, setting the stage for the news that will unfold in the coming days.  As the Lenten period draws to a close, the days immediately surrounding the Easter weekend are the holiest of days, and the liturgies that take place tell a story, not one of ancient times, but one for our times.

On Thursday evening, we will hear a story of great love.  Jesus shared his body and blood for the first time with his disciples on that first Holy Thursday, and we, his modern-day disciples still receive these gifts today.  The liturgy of the upper room was all about showing the disciples how to love, and lessons about love are never outdated.  This first part of the story will take place at 7:30pm on Thursday evening.

The story will continue on Friday.  We remember the suffering of Jesus as he was forced to walk the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering on the way to his own death, and we ourselves are challenged to understand that this story too is unfolding even today, all around us.  This second part of the liturgy will take place here at our Beech Street site beginning at 11:00am and at our Burton Street site beginning at 3:00pm on Friday.

On the third day of the Easter Triduum, we will wait in faith like the disciples did until the daylight begins to fade, then we will gather to retell the story of our faith, to welcome adults who will join our faith, and to celebrate the Lord’s triumph over death.  The Easter Vigil will begin at 8:30pm with the blessing of the Easter fire out on the steps of the church.

The liturgies of the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) are in fact one liturgy that takes place over three days.  Each part of the liturgy tells part of the story, and only when we are present for all three, do we fully understand the whole story.

Like the women who gathered at the tomb early on the first Easter morning, we too come to celebrate the great victory of our God over death on Easter Sunday.  There will be three Masses celebrated on Sunday morning, one at our Burton Street site at 9:30am and two at our Beech Street site, at 9:30am and 11:00am.

So there you have it, the headlines are promising.  The question is, will you and I actually unfold the newspaper?  Will we be here to listen to the story?  Will we take the time to see it in action before our eyes this week (and every day of our lives)?