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From the Pastor... Holy Week |
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Holy Week is once more upon us! And there are so
many things to reflect upon. This is, after all, the week that
celebrates the central teachings of our faith in Jesus Christ -
that He is Son of God who suffers for OUR sins, dies to redeem
us, and rises to restore our hope in paradise. For many of us, though, it will be just another week. School is still in session, we have to head out to work everyday and the normal stuff of our lives remain constant and consistent. Monday will flow into Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, then … Admittedly from my own perspective there will be lots to do this week in preparing for the various Masses and ceremonies. They are not the “usual” forms of celebration but once-a-year happenings, each with its own format and needs. There will be flowers to arrange, tabernacles to move, candlestands to polish and prepare. There will be songs to practice, rubrics (the little instructions in our Mass books that tell me what to do!) with which I will need to refamiliarize myself. I truly enjoy it all. In the midst of all this activity, the meaning for it all will call out loudly. I hope that I, and all of you will hear the call. Jesus Christ was the gift given us by our heavenly Father, knowing that we were at a place humanly speaking, to accept His plan for us as we never had been before. To witness Jesus’ miracles and teachings, to listen to his words and learn His way of living, we can have hope. Our lives are to change daily and our will be more and more conformed to God’s plan and will for us. Jesus is our King, our Lord! He alone has the words of everlasting life. He is the victorious lamb, once slain but risen forever. He calls to us all to this day, and waits for a heartfelt response from each of us. I can only answer for myself. I cannot do it for you or anyone else. This week is to be far from ordinary. It is to be a celebration of the gift of salvation given to each of us, personally. It is to be a week when we consciously reflect upon and accept again the gift of what Jesus is doing for us all. I renew my encouragement of all who may read these humble ramblings, to join together for the entirety of the week ahead. Jesus washed the feet of the disciples to call us all to service, and nourished them with his own body and blood in the first Eucharist so that we can be nourished to this very day. We will celebrate these gifts on Thursday night. Jesus was betrayed by human nature, the weakness of sin that works in all of us who are God’s sons and daughters. He was condemned to death, innocent though he was, and crucified as a common criminal. All to put sin in our hearts to death as he dies to this world. This is the joy of Good Friday! Jesus then rises to prove that in him, even death has no power. The Vigil of Saturday finds this to be its central focus, and in recalling our own baptism, our life in the Risen Christ, we are made whole. To celebrate one part of this gift of life in Christ and not all parts is to miss out on so much of what is truly ours. To celebrate it all, however, is to reaffirm the full meaning of all that Jesus did, and an acceptance of hope in our own lives. Be with us, won’t you? |
