Dear Parishioners,

Today we begin Holy Week – that sequence of days which we observe each year that are marked by ancient and solemn rituals, lengthy but profound readings from Scripture and a rich variety of domestic and church related activities that give this week a uniqueness above all others. Within Holy Week, the days of Thursday, Friday and Saturday/Sunday have a distinct prominence because of the historical events that they commemorate in the life of Jesus. Even the way we name these days reveals their significance, i.e., Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

The Church’s official norms on the Liturgical Year describe the Paschal Triduum as follows:

Since Christ accomplished his work of human redemption and of the perfect glorification of God principally through his paschal Mystery, in which by dying he has destroyed our death, and by rising restored our life, the sacred Paschal Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord shines forth as the high point of the entire liturgical year.

Therefore the pre-eminence that Sunday has in the week, the solemnity of Easter has in the liturgical year. The Paschal Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord begins with the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, has its center in the Easter Vigil, and closes with Vespers (evening prayer) of the Sunday of the Resurrection.

On Friday of the Passion of the Lord and, if appropriate, also on Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil, the sacred Paschal Fast is everywhere observed.

The Easter Vigil, in the holy night when the Lord rose again, is considered the. ‘mother of all holy Vigils’ in which the Church, keeping watch, awaits the Resurrection of Christ and celebrates it in the Sacraments. Therefore, the entire celebration of this sacred Vigil must take place at night, so that it both begins after nightfall and ends before the dawn on the Sunday.

We are all familiar with the historical events that the rituals of Holy Week make present through words, gestures and symbols. Holy Thursday recalls the last supper that Jesus shared with his apostles before his death. At this sacred meal (which may or may not have been the annual Jewish Passover celebration), Jesus washed the feet of the apostles as an expression of the radical service they were called to embody in his name. It was also at this meal that Jesus transformed bread and wine into his body and blood thereby giving his followers a perpetual means by which he would be present to them.

Good Friday, the most somber of the three days, directs our attention to the crucifixion of Jesus as the innocent victim of human cruelty. By his embrace of the cross, Jesus demonstrated his undying trust in the will of his Father as well as his total immersion in our humanity which included death.

Holy Saturday, with its vigil leading into Easter, proclaims the victory of Jesus over death as evidenced in that mystery that we call “resurrection.” Here is the defining event for Christians. Our identity as Christians is only verifiable if we believe in the resurrection of Jesus. We may not be able to explain it with empirical exactness given that it is a mystery, but we must assent to it in faith. Remember, faith has nothing whatsoever to certainty. Faith is about having the courage to live with uncertainty.

The remembering that we do throughout the days of Holy Week, while rooted in history, are more than recollections from the past. The ceremonies of these days are not exercises in nostalgia. Rather, they are the visible and concrete means by which these historical events made present to us in our day. This is not always recognized by worshippers who may be content to view these celebrations as snapshots of the distant past. In order to appropriate the events of Holy Week and discover their relevance for us today, I recommend people ask the question So What? After each of the commemorations. This is not intended to be a flippant or disrespectful question. Rather it is an invitation to ponder the difference that these events in the life of Jesus make in our own lives.

So what difference does the Last Supper of Jesus make in my life – in the way I live, the way I eat, the way I serve?

So what difference does Jesus death make in my life? How does it affect the way I view suffering, death and the many ways that innocent people die in our world?

So what difference does Easter make in my life when I feel overwhelmed with sorrow and pain? How does Easter change the way I see the future? How does Easter color my view of eternity?

Ask yourself So what? as we celebrate these days of Holy Week. You may be surprised by the answers to that question.

Blessings,

Fr. Gabriel, O.S.B.

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