For this week’s Q & A I’m giving what is PART I of a HOLY WEEK Preview –
This Sunday as we celebrate what is called PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION we will also begin what is called “Holy Week,” considered the holiest week of the year for Catholic-Christians.
For the most part, we probably know bits and pieces about this week that we learned growing up. Palm Sunday we get palm branches and remember Jesus entering Jerusalem to crowds of people cheering for him and waving Palm Branches. Holy Thursday was the Last Supper; Good Friday Jesus died on the Cross and on Easter Sunday Jesus rose from the dead.
That’s all true, but there’s a little more to it. And if you’re able to go to Church on these days, you’ll notice a lot of very different things that take place that reflect deeper meanings.
OK , so let’s start with PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION. Why is it called that? Don’t most calendars simply call it “Palm Sunday?” The full title of the day kind of reflects the fact that this Mass can give us a feeling of “Whiplash.” This is the only Sunday Mass where there are TWO GOSPEL READINGS – The first one begins the Mass and recalls how Jesus entered into Jerusalem and how excited the people were at his coming. The crowds were so excited, they broke palm branches off the trees to wave at him and to lay down before him (a sign of respect) and broke into song singing “HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!” (Sound familiar? It should! We sing that every week at Mass as well!).
Yet very quickly, the crowds turn. Some shouting HOSANNA on Palm Sunday would be among those in the crowd a few days later shouting CRUCIFY HIM. So Jesus’ Passion and death are proclaimed in the Second Gospel reading today.
On Holy Thursday, Lent officially ends when the Church begins what is called “THE MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER”. So we’re starting a whole new liturgical season called “The Paschal Triduum” (Triduum means “three days”) This three day “season” are considered the “Holiest days of the year.” Sometimes people like to think of these days as “re-enactments” but that’s not what these Masses are about. We aren’t performing actions that simply re-enact what happened some 2,000 years ago. We believe that these events are so central to who we are as Catholic-Christians that what happened once in history becomes really present in the here and now in our liturgical celebrations today.
So at Holy Thursday’s Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we commemorate the institution of the Eucharist as well as the institution of the Priesthood. At this Mass, usually, there’s the “Washing of the Feet,” where the priest will wash the feet of several members of the community. In the Gospel we hear how Jesus washed the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper. It wasn’t something considered “attractive” to do, least of all by the Messiah, the Son of God – which is captured so beautifully in Peter’s initial refusal to having his feet washed. Again, this gesture of humility and service is not meant to be a “re-enactment” of Jesus washing the apostles’ feet, but expresses the responsibilities of those who share the Eucharist. The priest as a leader of the Eucharistic community expresses the message (and is challenged personally as well) that following Christ, receiving his Body and Blood, can only be done when we offer our humble, loving, service…
This Mass doesn’t really conclude, at least not in the formal way that we’re used to. After we have received the Body and Blood of Jesus, the Eucharist is brought in a procession to a place where people can spend time adoring Jesus. We remember his night in the Garden of Gethsemane, where in the face of the evil about to take his own life, Jesus was strengthened by His Father and Our Father in prayer.
— NEXT WEEK: Good Friday’s COMMEMORATION OF THE LORD’S PASSION and Holy Saturday’s EASTER VIGIL
