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March 30, 2013I would like to speak to those in our parish who in the past have not taken part in the liturgy of Holy Week or have not attended the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night. I would like to invite you to join in on the celebrations this year and see how the experience might impact your spiritual life and your faith journey in Catholicism.
Much has been written about the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has been called the “greatest story ever told.” It has been immortalized in musicals from Godspell to Jesus Christ Superstar. It has been brought to life in movies including The Passion of the Christ. And volumes of books and scholarly articles have been penned. But as noted in the book Wisdom from a Pastor’s Heart (Jossey-Bass), “Holy Week’s big finish begins simply enough—friends around a table for a meal—but the significance is something else: “Of all the things in the Lord’s Supper, this ought tom come home to us with tremendous force: God thought we were worth dying for. It is a very humbling thing and a staggering thing that, knowing ourselves for what we are, God should think we are worth so much.”
HOLY THURSDAY—At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us the words and rituals of the Eucharist, saying, “Do this in memory of me.” The Eucharist is center stage during the Holy Thursday liturgy, situated between the rituals of washing of one another’s feet and adoring the Blessed Sacrament. As Catholics we attend Holy Thursday liturgy not only because Jesus asked us to remember Him in the Eucharist, but because Communion means “we do not come to Christ alone but with and through one another.” I hope you will make it a priority to attend the Mass of the Lord’s Sup-per on Holy Thursday and together we can recall that we also belong to a parish family. Leave time afterward to spend a few minutes before the Blessed Sacrament and in making the night one of remembering in your own home—remember the dearly departed in your family; remember the trials and the joys that you and your family have shared together and how they have made you hopefully stronger as a family.
What can our family learn from this Holy Thursday Eucharistic meal? Jesus and His disciples are like any other fam-ily that huddles together to find reassurance and support. Sharing food reminds us that we find sustenance in each other. Gathering around a meal is also a way we celebrate our faith—not just at the Eucharist, but at Christmas dinner, the Thanksgiving feast, or the potluck that follows a funeral. Eating together we feed the bonds of hope and memory that we share as a believing family
Good Friday—The day is somber and reverent—liturgically speaking—showing our respect for the death of our Lord and Savior. The Church asks all adults over 18 to make it a day of fasting—the pain of hunger reminds us of the suffering of Jesus and helps us focus on the significance of the day. It is not a day for the movies or the mall but to consider what God did for us.
The cross that Jesus bears is a tool of torture and scandal that the Roman government reserved for lowest of criminals of the day—it was the electric chair of His times. By its use a slow and public death occurs and the Roman authorities made an ex-ample to others. At Golgatha the soldiers stripped and crucified Him but before breathing His last breath, Jesus says, “Father, for-give them, they know not what they do,” and according to John’s Gospel, “It is accomplished.”
Oddly, Christians call this Friday “good” because we believe that His sacrifice has saved us. When we as a parish stand on Good Friday and recite the ancient words of the crowd in Jerusalem, “Take Him away, Crucify Him!” we acknowledge we too are capable of lashing out at innocent people. We are cruel when we could be kind.
But what Christ did upon that cross—His act of immense forgiveness—is two fold: first, he forgave our debt to God; second, He provides us with an example of how we are to respond to others each every day: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” What can learn from this to help our families? We know the need for forgiveness in our homes. It is hard to live in one house in harmony. If one person, a spouse, snaps at another a chain reaction of hurtful comments begins. A sibling in a rage of impatience with another hurls a favorite CD or a biting comment. Far too often we “know what we are doing.” Christ gives us an example of Love—forgiveness is the answer—granting it, asking for it—even when the offender isn’t sorry. This is mercy. Without mercy, sin grows all the more; with it, grace abounds…to paraphrase St. Paul.
Easter—and its Vigil—In the words of the Eucharistic prayer for Easter, “We wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ” now modern-day Christians hear this know-ing full well the outcome of the “Easter story.” History—and the broad shoulders of Holy Mother Church—are great helpers in our faith journey. Not so the first followers of Christ—rather that Easter morn came to light in fear and fleeing, in disbelief and in an inability to recognize the risen Lord.
The Easter Vigil is considered the crown jewel in the Church’s liturgy. We enter into our church in darkness, with the Paschal Candle as the only light—and from that singular candle hundreds of other smaller candles are lit until the Christ light illu-mines us all. The history of the world comes to light in the Exsultet, sung only this night, followed by the readings, the rituals of baptism, confirmation and then Eucharist—combining music and song, light and darkness, hope and joy—the Resurrection of life everlasting. The words of the Exsultet express our hope best:
“Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God’s throne! This is the night when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin.... This is the night, when Jesus broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave!”
For us and our families, this means that sin does not have the final word. “That no sacrifice made for our family, done out of love, is wasted. Our flawed attempts to do the right thing are redeemed; our pettiness, or pride can be forgiven if we but recognize them for what they are and repent” (Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin any more). John 8:1-11 God never gives up on anyone—and neither should we as we go through the trials of raising teenagers, mending marriages, and sorting out family feuds.
Don’t give up. God doesn’t. Easter means that sorrow is now joy, suffering is victory, and the sting of death is transformed into everlasting life—all this if we surrender ourselves to God’s love and providence. Join us this Holy Week and reawaken, re-new and recommit ourselves to the Lord.
A most blessed and sacred Triduum and Easter season to you and your family.
-Father Michael
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