Readings - http://www.usccb.org/nab/041711.shtml
Today after 5 weeks of Lent, we come to the beginning of Holy Week with our celebration of Palm Sunday. This is a week in which each year the Liturgy asks us lift ourselves out of the Ordinary / day-to-day to contemplate the great mysteries of our faith.
Today, we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem after an active ministry outside, beginning in Galilee and proceeding then through the hill country of Judea, Samaria, Jericho and finally to Jerusalem. We also proclaim the Passion, this year according to Matthew to remind us of the other events that will follow during this week.
On Thursday, we will be remembering the Feast of the Last Supper where Jesus left us with two mandates; the first, the celebration of the Eucharist which we do each Sunday, indeed each day, during the year; the second, the washing of feet, we do only that one evening a year, reminding us of Jesus’ call to minister to others in our following of him. At the end of the Mass, we will process out with the Blessed Sacrament and then be given the opportunity to keep vigil with him until midnight remembering Jesus’ time in prayer in the Garden of Gethsamane on the night he was betrayed.
On Friday, we will remember the Lord’s Passion in a Special Liturgy in which we will ask each of you participating to come forward and reverence the Cross of Jesus that set us free. We will also pray on behalf all the people of the world.
On Saturday, we will celebrate the Easter Vigil, in which we will recall key passages in our Salvation History, from our Creation, to the Fall, to the Exodus, to the Prophets, ending finally with the Proclamation of the Resurrection of Jesus. We will baptize and initiate adults into our faith who have been preparing for this moment for the better part of the yaer.
Finally on Sunday, we will celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection, renew our baptismal promises and seek then to celebrate the joy and the promise of Easter throughout the rest of the Easter season and throughout the rest of the year.
Parents and Grandparents, I ask you to find a way during this week to make this week special for your children and grandchildren. Teach them what we celebrate this week and why. These are dramatic days. And this is a week, offered to us each year, to deepen our commitment to God.
Most of our lives are lived in the mundane day-to-day. Yet this is a week that is offered to us to be special. Let us make it so. God bless you all and may you have a blessed Holy Week.
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