Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Welcome to Holy Week and the focal point of our liturgical year! This is a moment when our hearts and minds join together to commemorate the events that brought Jesus to his “hour,” as the Gospel of John reminds us. His “hour” was the culmination of his public ministry of teaching and healing that reached its zenith at Calvary when he gave his all – his very life – to redeem us.
We begin with today’s celebration of Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. This title reflects the two distinct aspects of the day’s liturgy: his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem astride a colt (or donkey) while the crowds cheered him with shouts of Hosanna!, followed by the reading of the Passion from the Gospel of Luke.
The story of the Passion of Jesus Christ is certainly a timeless one because, no matter how many times we’ve heard it, there is always something new or something contemporary about it. The cast of characters, while they remain the same from year to year, seem to represent for us the best and the worst in human nature. On the one hand we see the best in our nature, represented by the women of Jerusalem who mourn for Jesus; or the criminal who confessed his guilt, yet pleaded for mercy; or the Roman centurion who professed Jesus’s innocence; or Joseph Arimathea who gave Jesus his burial plot.
There are, on the other hand, those who represent the worst in human nature. Judas, Pontius Pilate, King Herod and all the others who were so easily swayed into thinking they had all the answers and thought they had Jesus figured out as an impostor and a blaspheming, seditious revolutionary to boot.
While some of the characters who populate the Passion narratives come across as charitable, humble or even heroic, there are just as many whom we would consider to be cowards and grifters. As we look around our world today, we recognize those who also embody the best and the worst in human nature, and that suffering is often a result of the sins of greed and envy. Would that we could learn from our past mistakes.
On Tuesday I will participate in the Chrism Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral when Arch- bishop Coyne will bless the new Oil of the Sick and Oil of Catechumens, and consecrate the Sacred Chrism which is used in Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination. These oils will be presented to the parish at the beginning of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday which begins the Sacred Triduum.
The Liturgy of Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper in which Jesus gave his disciples a lasting memorial of his sacrifice on the cross by taking ordinary bread and wine and transforming them as his Body and Blood to be shared among his followers. As Catholics we believe that the bread and wine truly become his Body and Blood, thus giving us a share in his divine life on earth as we await the final feast in the kingdom of heaven.
On Good Friday we will commemorate the Lord’s Passion and Death at 3:00 PM. This solemn and stark liturgy is beautifully enhanced by the chanting of the Passion according to John by our choir. As we have done in the past few years, some of our can- didates for the Sacrament of Confirmation will carry the cross in procession.
On Holy Saturday at the Great Vigil of Easter, we will bless and light the Paschal Candle, listen to Scripture readings that recall the history of salvation, and celebrate the final Rites of Initiation of three of our members (Angel Cintron, Angela Hornung and Trung Nguyen) with Baptism, Confirmation and first Eucharist, as well as the reception of Joanne Linn into the Catholic Church. This year we will be joined by Br. Kevin McGoff, O.F.M., who will direct our choir for the Easter Vigil.
May your Holy Week be a time of deep intimacy with the Lord who showed us the ultimate meaning of service and self-emptying love for all people. May you know, too, the joy of new life as we celebrate his resurrected presence among us!
Fr. Tim Shreenan, O.F.M.
Pastor
