These days are full of energy, anticipation, anxiety and hope for the holy Church around the world. For parish priests the next few days are blessings that fill us with each these emotions as we await the great celebration of Easter morning. It is a time of quiet and prayer in which the songs of joy enter into the silence we are called to enter into through prayer and contemplation.
It begins a bit weird for me each year because each Holy Thursday morning as I pray my Holy Hour in front of the tabernacle I realize the next few days will be different. I will go and pray but the tabernacle will be empty as we begin the Triduum of our faith. That night we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper with the washing of the feet and procession with the Eucharist to a place of repose. The church will be left silent as we begin to journey with Jesus to Garden of Gethsemane and into the darkness of the night. Jesus will invite us to be with him, to pray with him and to walk with him. We will hear him speak the same words of hope and blessing he speaks to the disciples when he asks them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch.” (Mk 14:34) It is his invitation to seek him as we are to be transformed into the gift of new life. He has washed us of our sins and invites us to live with him forever.
“Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” (Jn 18:4-5) One of the eternal truths we know is our hearts were made for God and the search for God, even by those who do not believe, will always ultimately bring us into and encounter with the Cross of Jesus Christ. It is on the Cross of Salvation where we finally discover the true meaning of the peace Jesus offers to us each day. The peace which comes from dying to our sins and entering into a deep and intimate relationship with God in the Most Holy Trinity. “This cross is the destruction of enmity, the source of peace, and the chest of our treasure. Thanks to the cross, we no longer wander in the desert, for we have found the right way; we are no longer outside the palace, for we have found the entrance; we no longer fear the flaming arrows of the devil, for we have seen where the font of water is.” (St. John Chrysostom) This call to enter into the mystery of the cross is central to our Catholic faith which through the Eucharist we are united in love and blessing. As our Holy Father Francis echoing St. Paul reminds us, “Anyone who turns away from the Cross, turns away from the Resurrection.” (Pope Francis)
Our Paschal journey continues through Holy Saturday as we await in silence and contemplation the day of Resurrection. As we do with our churches, we are called to prepare our souls to hear and receive the Good news, “Jesus changes our sins into forgiveness and our fears into trust. In His Cross our hope is reborn again and again.” (Pope Francis)
Our Catholic Church prepares to welcome those searching and be renewed in the light of Christ. The church is once more filled with light as we sing and celebrate in prayerful hope the victory of life over death. “For the many great peoples who gather everywhere around the world to celebrate this solemnity in the name of Christ, the sun may disappear but the day does not end, for the brilliant Earth and dazzling sky take its place… allow the light to open our eyes, so that we may look upon the splendor of light with radiant eyes, able to see the causes for such a brilliant night with unclouded minds”. (St. Augustine)
May the light of Christ fill your hearts during the coming Easter Sunday and season that follows.
God Bless
Fr. Mark