HOLY WEEK AND EASTER 2023
“Behold, your king comes to you…..”
PALM SUNDAY
The opening of this week of solemn remembrance
places us with the expectant crowds in Jerusalem,
stirred by curiosity
as to Jesus’ rumored appearance for the Passover observance.
As He is glimpsed, approaching the city,
we join with those whose eager voices welcomed
“Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee”,
and acclaimed Him
with cries of “Hosanna to the Son of David.”
That many of those voices would,
by the end of that momentous week,
be clamoring for Jesus’ death by crucifixion,
seems incredible from the scene of His arrival on Palm Sunday
—yet so it happened.
HOLY WEEK
As we enter upon
the holiest days
of the Christian calendar,
we acknowledge
the all-too-common weakness
of our own allegiance
to the One Who,
as our promised Redeemer,
we hail today as our Messiah.
SACRED TRIDUUM
In prayerful silence
and conscious awareness of our faults,
we prepare for the Sacred Triduum
that will place us
first at the Last Supper Table on Holy Thursday;
then at the foot of the Cross on Good Friday;
and finally,
having kept watch in the night,
among those astonished
to find Jesus’ Tomb empty on Easter Sunday.
EASTER SUNDAY
The heightened emotions
of this intense week
find expression
in our participation
in these beautiful liturgies,
in which we celebrate
birth to new life
in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus’ passage
through death
to glory
in His Resurrection.
Dear Parishioners and Visitors,
I invite you
to enter fully
into this annual experience
of spiritual re-awakening,
which will conclude
with our renewal of our Baptismal promises,
our commitment to be
more intentionally faithful
to our vocations as disciples of the Risen Christ.
We will have joy this year
in welcoming
a new adult member into the Church
at the Solemn Vigil of Easter:
Sebastian Isaac Maldonado will complete
his Christian initiation,
receiving the Sacraments
of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.
May he find among us
a warm embrace
in our shared life in Christ.
Msgr. Tim Shugrue