With the Fifth Sunday of Lent we enter a period in the church calendar called Passiontide; the two weeks between Passion Sunday and Easter Sunday. Some of you may remember that beginning this weekend all the statues were covered with purple cloth as a reminder that we must focus solely on the passion, death and finally the resurrection of Jesus. This Fifth week we are called to examine how we will make Holy Week, that begins next Sunday; a week of personal spiritual growth and not just an ordinary week of Lent, and most especially not just an ordinary week in our lives.
As much as we strive through prayer, fasting and acts of charity throughout the Lenten Season, Holy Week is considered the “final stretch” of our spiritual exercises to move with the universal church with the power of the Holy Spirit. Many traditions abstain from meat throughout the whole of Holy week as do the Mediterranean and Slavic nations. These traditions call for simple meal preparation in order that the whole family can enter fully into the rituals celebrated throughout the week in all the Catholic communities throughout the world.
How are you planning on making Holy Week a time for your personal spiritual growth? How are you planning on making Holy Week more than just an ordinary week in your life? How are you planning on making Holy Week, Holy?
Have you ever attended the Seder Supper? Have you ever attended Tenebrae? Have you had your feet washed on Holy Thursday, or spent time at the altar of repose Holy Thursday evening? Have you prayed with the universal church on Good Friday Evening, thanking God for the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and reverenced the cross with the assembled community? Have you celebrated our salvation story at the Easter Vigil and welcomed our new Catholics joining us on the journey of faith receiving the sacraments of Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation?
If not, why not? Don’t let another Holy Week pass as just another “ordinary week.” Make the time to enter the beautiful rituals that put flesh on our spiritual journey. If you do, you will never be the same.
Fr. Bill