Anchored in Hope, Forward in Faith
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Lenten Travelers
Arriving For Holy Week
Reflection by Fr. Billy O’Riordan
Friends in Christ, for five weeks of Lent we have been preparing, by works of charity and self-sacrifice for the celebration of the Lord’s Passion. United with Christ in his suffering on the Cross, may we share in his resurrection and new life … Those words come from the Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as an address to the beginning of Holy Week. At the beginning of the Mass on Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, the priest blesses branches as we joyfully acclaim Jesus as our Messiah and King. Imagine Jesus as Messiah and King entering Jerusalem - the excitement, people waving branches as someone new with a message of hope arrives in Jerusalem. It’s natural to be excited and emotionally drawn into the arrival of someone new. As we know, the mood changed very quickly and the crowd was stirred-up to the point of yelling: “Crucify him!” Oh, but I would never say that … But we have. We are in the Palm Sunday Gospel at the Table betraying Jesus in some kind of way, selling him short as we put ourselves before him, denying him like Peter when put to the test, resisting helping like Simon of Cyrene, crucifying him by our unkind words and gossip about others - the Body of Christ ... Recently, I came across this quote: “If you are not hungry for God, you are probably full of yourself.” Remember those Ash Wednesday words: Repent, and believe in the Gospel. God can heal a broken heart, but you must give him all the pieces. Jesus Christ is our model of humility as we enter Holy Week.
Did you notice the statues and crucifixes covered? When and why do we do that? It seems strange that during the most sacred time of the Church year that we cover the crucifix and statues in our shrine. Shouldn’t we be looking at Jesus on the Cross as a reminder of God’s love for humanity? The guidelines in the Roman Missal say: “In the Dioceses in the United States, the practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from the Fifth Sunday of Lent may be observed. Crosses remain covered until the end of the celebration
of the Lord’s passion on Good Friday, but images remain covered until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.” This current practice is small by comparison to what was once practiced. For example, in Germany in the ninth century there was a tradition of veiling the altar from view throughout Lent. This cloth was referred to as the “Hungertuch” [hunger cloth] which hid the altar entirely from the faithful during Lent, and was not removed until the reading of the Passion on Holy Wednesday at the words “the veil was rent in two.” Some authors say that there was a practical reason for this - often people were illiterate and thus they needed to know it was Lent. The veil also focuses our attention and brings about a heightened sense of anticipation for Easter. The unveiling before the Easter Vigil is a great reminder of our own life on earth. We live in a “veiled” world, in exile from our true home in heaven. It is only through our own death that the veil is lifted and we are finally able to see the beauty of everything in our lives.
As we enter Holy Week, Palm Sunday teaches us to let God be God, and to trust in God’s infinite wisdom. Having prepared ourselves during Lent by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, we move into The Sacred Paschal Triduum [Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday, and The Easter Vigil] which transitions us from Lent to Easter, from red vestments to white, from death to resurrection, and from human frailty to the hope of eternal salvation in Jesus Christ.
The Easter Triduum is filled with the LIFE of what it means to be Church: the presentation of the Oil of Catechumens, the Oil of the Sick, and the Sacred Chrism, Jesus’ act of washing the feet of his disciples, celebrating the Last Supper, the agony in the garden, the passion and death on a cross, and a stone rolled back to reveal the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... The Sacred Triduum is all about prayer. These three days are the holiest days and demand our attention. Good Friday, above all days, is NOT a day for partying with drinking beer and stuffing your face with crawfish until you can’t eat anymore … Some may complain that the veneration of the cross takes too long. Hello! Jesus didn’t run up the hill to Calvary in a pair of Nikes. Good Friday is a day of fast and abstinence! The rule states: Every person 14 years of age or older must abstain from meat and items made with meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent. Every person between the age of 18 and 59 must fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Most people forget that Good Friday is the only day of the year that the Church does NOT celebrate Mass. The Good Friday Celebration of the Lord’s Passion usually takes place in the afternoon at 3:00 PM, consisting of the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross, and Communion Service with hosts that were consecrated the evening before at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. On Good Friday, the altar is completely bare - we should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our salvation. Only one Cross should be used for veneration. There is no need to rush this part of the liturgy.
The Easter Vigil is obviously celebrated after nightfall and with the church in darkness. Shattering the darkness, the great Paschal Candle is lit from the Easter fire. The Easter fire is meant to be a blazing fire prepared in a suitable place outside the church where people can gather. Once the Paschal Candle has been lit from the Easter fire, a procession forms. The order of the procession is: The thurifer carrying a SMOKING thurible/censer, the deacon carrying the lighted Paschal Candle, followed by the priest and assisting ministers. At three different stations, the deacon lifts high the Paschal Candle and sings: “The Light of Christ” and the faithful sing: “Thanks be to God.” With the Paschal Candle in its stand, the Easter Proclamation [Exsultet] is sung. The Liturgy of the Word has seven readings from the Old Testament, two New Testament readings and the Gospel reading. Some readings may be omitted but parishioners should understand that the solemn Easter Vigil is not just another Mass, nor is it a “long” Mass. The Easter Vigil takes time. The Gloria is sung in its splendor since we have not heard it sung in about 40 days. Only incense is carried in procession with the Book of the Gospels - no need for other candles since the Paschal Candle is at the ambo/pulpit. As St. Augustine said: “We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song.”
No Holy Water! The practice of the Church is to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation for the blessing at the Easter Vigil. We need a certain anticipation and waiting with expectancy! Following the blessing of water at the Vigil, servers carry jugs of holy water to the fonts by each entrance.
I share this quote by St. John Paul II: “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures. We are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”