“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mk 11:9b-10). On Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we are called to join with our Lord, Jesus Christ, as he makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and then suffers derision and mockery, scourging and finally crucifixion because he comes to offer a new way of life and claims to be who he truly is – the Son of God. This week is, indeed, what we Christians call it: Holy Week. Throughout this week, we are reminded that God, who is holy, has called us to follow his son as he leads us from a life of sin to a life of holiness. Today, we join our Lord in Jerusalem, where he goes to accomplish his paschal mystery. We hear about his triumphant entry into Jerusalem as well as his humiliating passion and death on the cross. We take home the palm that is blessed at Mass today to drape around our crucifixes, uniting us with the crowd that welcomed Jesus, proclaiming him to be the “Son of David.” The celebrant wears a red chasuble today, symbolic of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. The Gospel, ordinarily proclaimed by a priest or deacon, is today proclaimed through the active participation of the entire congregation. All of this draws us into this most important week, when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is betrayed and abandoned by his followers as he accomplishes the work that his heavenly Father has sent him to do. We, who have come to recognize our sinfulness and Jesus’ saving power during this Lenten Season, are now called to decide whether or not we want to stay with the fickle crowd that one day acclaims Jesus as their savior and king, and on another day, calls for his death, or with the Christ, who is willing to suffer humiliation, abandonment, agony and even death in obedience to the Father’s will and for the good of his people.
There are many opportunities this week to participate in this great liturgical event. On Holy Thursday, the only Masses permitted are the Chrism Mass, which is celebrated at the Cathedral of every (arch)diocese around the world, and the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Monsignor Carroll, Fr. Waters and I will join with hundreds of other priests and deacons from throughout the Archdiocese at the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul at 10:00am on Thursday to concelebrate the Chrism Mass with Archbishop Pérez. At this Eucharistic celebration, all of us priests will renew our priestly promises and Archbishop Pérez will bless the sacred oils that will be used in every parish throughout the year in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and anointing of the sick. Ordinarily, hundreds of people from throughout the Archdiocese join in this moving celebration. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, only the clergy will be invited. I ask that you keep us clergy – deacons, priests and bishops – in your prayers as we renew our ordination promises.
That evening (7:00pm), everyone is invited to join in the Mass of the Lord’s Supper here at the parish when we participate in the celebration of the institution of the Eucharist. The church will remain open until 10:00pm for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Our Knights of Columbus will, once again, lead an hour of adoration immediately following Mass. And, on Good Friday, we will not have an Ecumenical Good Friday Celebration at noon due to the pandemic but we will have the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion beginning at 3:00pm. It will include veneration of the cross – this year, with a solemn procession and bow before the cross – and holy communion.
On Holy Saturday, our Easter Vigil will be celebrated at 7:00pm. This follows Church directives that the Easter Vigil not be celebrated at the time of day that it is customary to celebrate the Sunday Vigil Mass, thus setting it apart from every other Sunday. Easter Sunday Masses will, however, follow our regular Sunday schedule: 8:00, 9:30 and 11:30am. Those who receive communion at the Vigil may also receive it at another Mass on Easter Day.
All of these liturgies provide us with the opportunity to share in this salvific event. It is important to recognize, however, that we are not just recalling what Jesus did for us in Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. We are not just spectators of his great sacrifice. These liturgies celebrate not only what once happened to Jesus but also what is happening among us now as a people called to conversion, called in faith and gifted with the Spirit of holiness. That is why it is so important that we all participate in these liturgies. We are all the people God has created through his Word and now recreates through the Word made Flesh as a community, broken like bread for the world, offered for the sins of humanity, and raised to new life in our savior, Jesus Christ. Come, let us die with Jesus so that we may also rise with him!