One of my favorite Lenten hymns is Ricky Manalo, C.S.P.’s “In These Days of Lenten Journey,” #129 in the current edition of Today’s Missal/Music Issue. It compellingly calls us to examine how well we as individuals and as a Christian community are responding to the charitable and self-sacrificial love aspects of being genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus. The refrain goes: “In these days of Lenten journey we have seen and we have heard the call to sow justice in the lives of those we serve.” When you get the chance, please take a look at this hymn and its verses and then consider the questions: How am I doing? How are we doing?
This weekend we are already celebrating the Fifth Sunday of Lent – how quickly this year’s Lenten journey is progressing! An addition you’ll surely notice in church beginning this week is the covering of the statues of our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph as well as the veiling of the Crucifix on the back wall of the sanctuary. This ancient practice originated in places where crosses and crucifixes in many churches were encrusted with jewels and precious gems, objects which while honoring the cross of Christ could serve to distract the Faithful from attending to the pain and suffering our Savior endured during His crucifixion and death.
As we move through this fifth week of Lent, we will find ourselves at the beginning of Holy Week, a time which is truly the holiest of all weeks in the Church’s liturgical calendar. The Universal Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar (31) states “Holy Week is ordered to the commemoration of Christ’s Passion, beginning with his Messianic entrance into Jerusalem.” So many special celebrations are part of this great week: Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord with its palm processions and the proclamation of the Passion of the Lord at Mass; the Chrism Mass, when the Bishop of the diocese gathers with his clergy and the faithful to bless the Holy Oils that will be used for the celebration of the sacraments during the coming year and the priests renew their commitment of service as pastors of God’s holy people; the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday when we remember the institution of the Most Holy Eucharist, the gift of the ministerial priesthood and the mandate of fraternal service symbolized as the priest acting in the person of Christ washes the feet of parishioners; the Good Friday Celebration of the Passion and Death of the Lord with its Proclamation of the Passion of the Lord from John’s Gospel, solemn intercessions for the Church and the world, and the showing and adoration of the Holy Cross. Then the three great Holy Days called the Triduum – which is a liturgical season all unto itself – reaches its climax as we celebrate the Easter Vigil in the Holy (Saturday) Night with its Lucernarium or service of light, the proclamation of the Church’s great Easter Hymn, the Exsultet, the vigil readings, the return of the Gloria and the Alleluia, the Gospel proclamation of the Resurrection of the Lord, the celebration of the sacraments of initiation and renewal of Baptismal promises, and the celebration of the Eucharist. Thus we transition to the glorious Easter season of fifty whole days!
The question for each of us: How will I respond to the invitation this year to participate in all these sacred mysteries the Church gives us at this time? I hope to see you in church!
With a brother’s love in the Lord and Mary Immaculate, Deacon Dave, O.F.S. T In Persona Christi Servi