Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The great days of our faith lie ahead. Beginning this Sunday, known as Palm or Passion Sunday, the Church embarks upon a tremendous journey through both the historical recounting and faith-filled reliving of all Our Blessed Lord went through in His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. And while these realities are made present to us every time the Mass is celebrated, in the days of Holy Week and in the Triduum, each element is given more time for us to sit and dwell with, in order that we might more fully appreciate them.
In some ways, this is the busiest week of the entire liturgical year. There is so much happening, all of it wonderful, all of it deserving of our full attention. Starting with the Sunday celebration, in which we are given palm to herald the triumph of Jesus entering Jerusalem, but by the time of the Gospel, recount His Passion, we see that this week is much more than usual. I encourage everyone to consider joining us Sunday evening at 7PM for our annual presentation of Tenebrae, a moving prayer service in which the Passion is recounted through the extinguishing of candles, until only the Christ candle remains.
On Monday, the whole Diocese of Trenton gathers for a significant moment known as the Chrism Mass. While traditionally this would take place on Holy Thursday morning, in modern times, it has been brought to Monday evening so that both the priests and faithful of the diocese can be present as the Bishop blesses and distributes the holy oils to be used for the year ahead and for the priests to recommit themselves to the bishop and to their ministry. If you’re interested, I recommend looking for the livestream of the Chrism Mass, available on the diocesan website.
And then we hit the greatest of days: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday. All of which also leads to Easter Sunday. Thursday we share together in the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, unique with its foot washing and the recalling of the Last Supper. Friday brings us to the Passion of the Lord, with the adoration of the Holy Cross and the solemn intercessions the Church Universal prays on behalf of the world. Late on Saturday, we enter in the Easter Vigil, with the blessing and exulting of the Paschal Candle, the bringing of new members of the Church through Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist, and the realization of the Resurrection once more in the lives of all the faithful.
Truly, if you have an opportunity to join for any and all of these celebrations, I highly encourage you to consider doing so. Yes, the liturgies themselves can be involved, but the beauty of them and of what they celebrate, are certainly worth it. I hope that we might all experience in our own way, the beauty of our faith as the Church wants for us.
Peace and Goodness,
Fr. Dan
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