With Sunday Evening Prayer I, Holy Week is upon us. With the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, we begin this sacred week. We are invited as the People of God to journey with Christ this week.
A fitting beginning to this week is our own profession that Jesus is Lord, the promised Messiah, sent from the Father for the salvation of the world. It is important to make this profession of faith, which we have heard in the Gospel so much this week, that Jesus is the one sent from the Father. Through the events of the Holy Week, we recall his triumphant, self-abandonment, return to the Father.
Through these forty days of Lent, Jesus has once again reminded us that He is the Life, He is the Light, He is the true means of satisfying the deepest thirst and longing of the human heart. He challenges us to discover His abiding presence in this passing world, while calling us to set our hearts on the Kingdom that never ends. This is nothing less than an invitation to give Him the first priority in all things.
This Holy Week calls us to seek the Lord, to return to Him with all our hearts. Throughout the Church some of the most beautiful, most meaningful liturgies will be celebrated this week. I encourage all of you, please, go to Church this Sunday, Palm Sunday. Give yourself to God that He may continue to give you the Gift that alone satisfies and transforms. When you leave, take a bulletin with you so you know the Liturgical schedule for the rest of the week. Please, make an effort to attend the celebrations of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and by all means, Easter Sunday.
Holy Thursday is a beautiful celebration of the Lord’s Supper. On Holy Thursday, we recall the Last Supper, when Christ enters into His passion. It is during this sacred meal that Jesus institutes the Priesthood and Eucharist. It is a marvelous opportunity to enter deeply into the spirit of the saving work of Christ.
Good Friday recalls the passion of Jesus. The day recalls the total self-sacrifice of Jesus in loving abandonment to the Father for the salvation of the world. It is the great manifestation of the great love of Christ for us.
Holy Saturday, we keep vigil as Life itself lays in the darkness of the grave, waiting to take up His life once again, to die no more. All of this culminates in the great Easter Vigil of Holy Saturday night and the celebration continues Easter Sunday, indeed for the entire Octave of Easter.
So, Church, let us enter “Jerusalem” for this great and Holy Week!
Jesus, walk this earth, with earthly me. Grant that I may walk with you through this life, living as did you. Sent from the Father, you send me. Word spoken, Seed planted, Life abandonded, Life bestowed; help me live as you now, so as to live with you for eternity.
+pde
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