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Father Barry's March 2010 Pastor Pages
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of what the ancient Christian Church called "The Great Week" and "The Week of Salvation."
Today we often refer to it as "Holy Week." The three most significant days of "The Great Week" are Holy Thursday, Good Friday
and Easter Vigil. These three days are referred to as the Holy Triduum which is Latin for "The Three Days". In the 4th
century these days were considered so special that the emperor of the Roman empire forbade work and all forms of amusement during
these three days. And from the 4th century to the 17th century (for 1300 years) these were strict days of holy obligation -- an
obligation that bound Christians to honor them through prayer, worship, fasting and giving consideration to the poor.
Today in the midst of our hectic lives we can be tempted to jump from Palm Sunday to Easter, without remembering or honoring the
key events that lead to the resurrection. These events are remembered and honored at the Holy Thursday Mass and Good Friday services.
A brief overview of these celebrations perhaps will be helpful to assist you in appreciating their worth and value for your spiritual
life.
HOLY THURSDAY: No other Masses are permitted on this day (even funeral Masses) except for the main Holy Thursday celebration
in the evening which is officially named "The Mass of the Lord's Supper." The Holy Thursday celebration commemorates the historical events
surrounding the Last Supper and how the Eucharist was instituted by Christ. Also at this Mass there is the solemn ritual of washing of the
feet in imitation of Jesus. Jesus washes the feet of the disciples as a model of service, humility and love. Jesus commands all those who
wish to be his disciples to demonstrate like service to those in need. Also at this Mass the Holy Oils for the new year are presented.
These Holy Oils were blessed by the Bishop at the Chrism Mass. Holy Thursday Mass ends with the stripping of the sanctuary in anticipation
of Good Friday.
GOOD FRIDAY is the most somber day of the entire Church year since it honors the anniversary of the death of Jesus on the cross.
The liturgy is very restrained, simple and straightforward. The altar is bare, without cloths or other decorations. In many places all
statues and crucifixes are covered. It is the ancient church tradition (and church law) that NO Mass be celebrated on this day. Even
funeral Masses are strictly prohibited on Good Friday. This tradition is still honored today by every Catholic Church throughout the
world. It is a day of fasting. On this day, there are no greetings to begin the service, no genuflections (tabernacle is empty), no
opening songs, no processions in Church. We simply come and prostrate in humble submission before the Word and glorious cross of Christ.
It is a day of quiet sadness and mourning for the crucified and dead Jesus. On this day we publicly venerate the wood of the cross.
EASTER VIGIL (Holy Saturday): St. Augustine called this night "the mother of all vigils", the night of all nights, because
no other moment of the church year is as rich in powerful and very earthly symbolism as the Easter Vigil. With some modifications, today's
Easter Vigil is much like it was int he first centuries of the Christian community. The liturgy begins with nightfall, with a dark church.
The liturgy begins with a light service, the blessing of the new Easter candle and the singing of the ancient hymn the Exultet. Powerful
readings from Sacred Scripture are proclaimed with emphasis on the theme of how God is bringing about a new creation and salvation through
sacramental signs such as water and fire. At teh Easter Vigil people joining the Catholic Church receive the sacraments of initiation
(baptism, confirmation and Eucharist). The Easter Vigil concludes with the celebration of the resurrection, or Easter. That is why Easter
Sunday is called the "First Sunday of Easter" because Easter has already been celebrated at the Easter Vigil service the night before.
There may be the temptation to avoid the Holy Week services because they are different or a bit longer. They indeed are very different
because we are celebrating the wonderful mystery of our salvation - how the cross leads to resurrection, how our dying with Christ leads
to eternal life. It is only by passing through Holy Thursday and the cross of Good Friday that we can fully appreciate the joy of Easter and the
Resurrection.
Stripping of the Altar and Sanctuary
At the conclusion of the evening Mass on Holy Thursday, the altars and sanctuaries of Catholic Churches are stripped; all decorations, unnecessary
furniture, and other objects are removed. This is in anticipation of the suffering and death of Jesus. The altar, symbolic of Christ, is
stripped in silence. At times in the past, this action was considered symbolic of the stripping of Jesus before His crucifixion. This custom
at the Holy Thursday Mass was reinstated by the liturgical reforms which began at the Second Vatican Council in 1965. The stripping of the altar
and sanctuary is also a reminder of how poor and empty our lives would be without Christ's sacrificial love.
The offical start of Holy Week begins next Sunday with what is commonly called "Palm Sunday". The church officially calls
this "Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion" because the theme of Jesus' suffering is highlighted and introduced this Sunday.
The "Lord's Passion" refers to Jesus' suffering and eventual death on the cross.
The palms we use on Palm Sunday recalls the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11). At this Passion
Sunday Mass, after we recall the attention and praise Jesus received at his appearance in Jerusalem, we also recall his suffering
by reading about his condemnation, persecution and death in the Passion story. Passion or Palm Sunday recalls and celebrates
the beginning of Jesus' passage from life to death to new life or what we call the Paschal Mystery - it is ultimately a wonderful
mystery how God brings forth life from death.
In recalling Jesus' life people in the early Christian church paraded or processed in the original footsteps of Jesus from the little
village of Bethany into the city of Jerusalem. As part of the celebration and remembrance, they carried real palm fronds or olive
branches, the two most common trees in Palestine (Matthew 21:18). Later, this custom of celebrating this event spread from the Holy
Land into Europe, where palm branches (which weren't available) were replaced with other types of branches - willow branches, cedar
branches, pussy willows and flowers.
Blessed palms have always been respected as holy objects or sacramentals. Some families place one or more on the wall behind a crucifix
or holy picture or braid them for decorations. Other families save blessed palms, burn them and spread them over farmland and crops as a
blessing; this custom comes from Austria, Bavaria and Slavic countries. The proper way to dispose of palms from previous years is to either
bury them in ground that will be undisturbed or burn them and scatter/bury the ashes in the soil. Because blessed palms are considered holy
objects, they are not to be thrown away with the trash or garbage. This rule applies to any blessed object.
The blessed palm branches we receive remind us that it wasn't Jesus' wisdom, popularity or intelligence that brought about salvation. Rather
it was Jesus' love, his willingness to die a horrible death for those who at one moment laid palms at his feet in praise and then the next moment
cried out "Crucify him!" Jesus revealed that true power rests in participating in the very life of God through love. Genuine love always involves
a cross and self-sacrifice which are words and realities we don't like to think about. The love Jesus reveals, and the love he invites us to
experience is both a passion and a resurrection for us, as it was for Him.
We are approaching the midway point of the Lenten season. In many cases, it is only now that many people are beginning to
become more engaged in this special time of year. Some regret the fact that they haven't done anything to make Lent a special
time of spiritual growth. If you are one of those people, don't give up in despair or think this season can't still be
spiritually fruitful. You will find below some suggested spiritual activities which will assist you to make Lent a time of
ongoing conversion and deepening of your faith. (The suggestions below were on the various slips of paper than parishioners
were invited to draw out of a basket at the Ash Wednesday Masses. If you participated in this and have yet to begin the
Lenten activity you drew, now is the time to begin!)
- Fast from television one day a week during Lent.
- Write brief thank you notes throughout Lent to those people you most appreciate in your life.
- Visit or call a homebound person or a lonely person once a week during Lent.
- Attend at least three activities offered by the parish during the six weeks of Lent (i.e. Sunday evening program, Stations
of the Cross on Fridays, weekday Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, etc.).
- Memorize one new prayer during the season of Lent.
- Pray the Stations of the Cross during the season of Lent.
- Spend time in prayer at the beginning and end of each day.
- Each day of Lent, say a brief prayer for people you see who are in need during your normal daily routine (i.e. child, classmate,
teacher, police, city workers, sales person, retired person, etc.).
- Reflect on the reasons why you are Catholic and share this with someone you know.
- Begin making a written list of all the people and material blessings for which you are grateful and continue to add to the list.
- Help someone who is poor during the season of Lent.
- Take time to thoroughly examine yoru conscience and make a good sacramental confession during the season of Lent.
- Secretly do good deeds for people each week without them ever knowing who did it.
"Be not anxious about what you have, but about what you are." - St. Gregory the Great
Each time we pray we are changed. This was an observation made by Fr. Raymond Brown who was a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission
and one of America's preeminent biblical scholars. Fr. Brown was twice appointed a member of the Pope's biblical commission, by Pope
Paul VI in 1972 and by Pope John Paul II in 1996. He wrote extensively on the Bible and produced many commentaries on various books
of the Bible. Brown observed that each time we pray we are to come away from that experience of God as a changed person. This change might
be so minor as to be almost imperceptible or it may be so major that it is noticed by all. Brown asserted that each time we pray, there must
be a change, otherwise our prayer has not been truly authentic or absolutely sincere. However, that change that prayer brings about may not
be easily sustained. Because of this, frequent prayer is needed, "frequent prayer encounters should punctuate our days and nights for all
our lives so that, in our changing and changing, we become more and more like the One whom we meet in prayer."
This observation about the power of prayer to change us is an appropriate theme for Lent. There are a plethora of problems taht we must
confront in our personal lives as well as in our life together as a Church, nation and world. There are many things in our world in need
of change. There are wars, famines, poverty and disease. There is unchecked greed, and there is abuse on so many levels. Frequently these problems
seems insurmountable and change seems impossible. Nevertheless, if we change what we can, that change can have an exponential affect and radiate
out to our relationships with one another.
The change we want to see in the world must first begin with us. If we want a world that is more loving, just, compassionate and peaceful, those
attributes must begin within us. Lent is a season that urges us to change to bring about these attributes. Viktor Frankl once called the ability
to change or to choose one's attitude in any given circumstance "the last of human freedoms." Frankl's own circumstances were horrible.
A prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp, he had no power to change anything except the manner in which he would make his way through those
circumstances. Throughout the season of Lent, Jesus invites us to share in the intimacy he had with God. Jesus encourages us to choose
his attitude as his own as he faced temptation, persecution, and evil. For this to come about, we are to pray and, in our praying, to change
little by little, day by day so as to grow into more authentic images of God.
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Pastor Pages Archives/h4>
Prayer and Change 3/7/10
A Question for the middle of Lent: "How are you doing?" 3/14/10
Palm Sunday 3/21/20
The Week of Salvation 3/28/10
December 2009 Pastor Pages
January 2010 Pastor Pages
February 2010 Pastor Pages
April 2010 Pastor Pages
May 2010 Pastor Pages
Current Pastor Pages
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