Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

Holy Week Begins

 

With palm in hand, we echo the ageless antiphon "Hosanna to the Son of David."  Palm Sunday begins our celebration of Holy Week, which includes the TRIDUUM: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.  These three days of the Triduum are celebrated as one continuous liturgy.  We ponder the Paschal Mystery, (Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ), by washing feet, sharing in The Last Supper, venerating the cross, lighting the fire, retelling the sacred stories, blessing the water, professing our faith, Baptizing, Confirming, and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion!  All this Jesus Christ accomplishes for us, to restore a fallen world by His Grace.

 

In truth, what we celebrate in these Three Days, as if in slow motion, is what we celebrate each and every time we gather for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  We are touched by the salvific work of God in Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection, in the Most Holy Eucharist.

 

For the forty days of Lent the Church has prepared with Catechumens and Candidates, now the Elect, to celebrate the Easter Sacraments.  Marked with ashes, we all began a holy time of Purification and Enlightenment, so that we might approach Easter with mind and heart renewed.  This renewal is God's work of grace in us – for both life-long Catholics, and for all who will be Baptized or make a Profession of Faith into Full Communion in the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday.  Together, we encounter God's grace in the liturgies we celebrate.

 

Our Easter Celebration is the center of our liturgical year, just as Jesus Christ is The Center of our lives.  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the defining event of redemption, and of human history.  God reveals to us that the consequence of sin does not end in death.  In Jesus, "the sadness of death gives way to the bright promise of immortality."  Where He is, we live in joyful hope to follow.

 

The forty days of Lent now yield to the Easter Season of fifty days, an extended celebration of our resurrected life in Christ. Starting with the Easter Octave, we celebrate a whole week as though it was a single day, culminating with Divine Mercy Sunday.  Rather than being the end of the Easter Octave, Divine Mercy Sunday is itself a blossoming into the Grand Easter Season, with Baptisms and Confirmations, First Holy Communions and Weddings, Religious Professions and Ordinations.  We celebrate with all those who have entered the Church, and we welcome all Catholics Returning Home. We reaffirm, with thankfulness and praise, God’s gracious gifts of mercy, reconciliation, love, grace, peace and joy for us all, trusting that Jesus Makes All Things New!

 

This is a Holy Week indeed!  Let us celebrate our salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

      Holy Thursday:  April 6       8:00 a.m. – Morning Prayer

                                                  7:00 p.m. – Mass of the Lord’s Supper

                                                   9:00 p.m. -  Night Prayer

 

      Good Friday:     April 7         8:00 a.m. – Morning Prayer

                                                  12:00 noon – Stations of the Cross & Seven Last Words

                                                  3:00 p.m. – Celebration of the Lord’s Passion

 

      Holy Saturday:  April 8        8:00 a.m. – Morning Prayer

                                                  8:00 p.m. – Easter Vigil

 

      Easter Sunday:  April 9       7:00 a.m. – Mass

                                                  9:00 a.m. – Mass

                                                 11:00 a.m. – Mass