Renew Your Faith- Experience Holy Week, Part I: Holy Thursday

In our family, birthdays are never "one" day. Rather, they tend to stretch over two or more days for various reasons: work schedules, out-of-town children, and/or the general busy-ness of 21st century life. Just this weekend, we celebrated GG's 94th birthday on Saturday...and Sunday. You just can't get too much of a good thing.

Our Catholic faith gives us a good example of this. Christmas lasts for three weeks (or longer, depending on the way the days fall). The first Sunday after Christmas is the feast of the Holy Family. The second Sunday after Christmas is the Epiphany, and the third Sunday after Christmas is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, formally ending the Christmas Season. Advent- the four Sundays prior to Christmas - are not part of Christmas, despite what society tells us with all the decor appearing around the middle of October. (Click HERE for my blog post about Advent!)

Our celebration of Easter is the same way. Despite all the bunnies and eggs and pastel-colored Peeps surrounding us in retail outlets, we are not in the Easter season, it is still Lent. And today begins the end of our Lenten season: the Triduum. Latin for "three days," it marks our remembrance of Jesus Christ's passion and death...leading up to his glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The final week of Lent is a time for the most amazing liturgical celebrations of the entire year ( at least they should be!). Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, ( if you are lucky, you'll get a Tenebrae service) Holy Saturday....all leading up to the holiest season for Christians: Easter. And- since it is so holy- we can't have Easter be just ONE day, or one week. Nope. We get FIFTY days of Easter!!! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Log on to your local parish's web page. If the parish staff is worth their salt, they should have the homepage-(not the link for the bulletin, the actual HOME PAGE) updated with all the Holy Week Liturgies. The Facebook page and Twitter should be sending out the info every day this week. 

This is what you have to look forward to!

Holy Thursday: Mass of the Lord's Supper.... Probably my favorite Mass of the entire year, because it celebrates the institution of not ONE, but TWO sacraments. That in itself is pretty cool. One of the most moving parts of the Mass is when the priest removes his chasuble and stole and washes the feet of twelve MEN ( YES, only MEN are supposed to take part in this. The ritual specifies VIROS, which is Latin for "men"). If you see women and children up there, it is because the person who made the phone calls deliberately overlooks the sign value of the 12 being men, or simply does not know any better. Anymore, it's probably a little of both- that and the ridiculous press for so-called inclusivity. But the fact is: Jesus washed the feet of twelve MEN, and in doing so instituted the sacramental priesthood by demonstrating the servant nature of the priesthood.

By the way- if you are a man and get a phone call asking you to be one of those twelve, the proper answer is, "I would be honored. Thank you for asking me." NOT, "Oh, I could never do that!"  Remember- Peter did not want Jesus to wash his feet!

As an aside, Pope Francis going to the juvenile prison for the Holy Thursday Mass is so beautiful. His servant heart will be denounced by many.... we are already hearing it.... and others will use his compassion and humility to pass judgment on the Church as a whole and the papacy in particular.... but keep watching him. I have a feeling Pope Francis will set our hearts on fire!

The second sacrament whose institution we celebrate on Holy Thursday is the Eucharist. In this Mass, we recall the first Mass. Imagine, shortly after the multiplication of the loaves and fish, shortly after the Bread of Life discourse in  John 6... being present as Jesus Christ reaches 18 hours into the future and makes clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that the bread and wine become his Body and Blood. It happens at every Mass, and Holy Thursday, we celebrate it in a special way. After Communion should be a Eucharistic procession, taking the remaining hosts to an altar of repose outside the sanctuary. The altar is then stripped of all linens and all plants/flowers should be removed from the sanctuary. Adoration at the altar of repose for at least part of the night should be available. The tabernacle doors are left open to show that it is empty.

Why is it empty?

As a stark reminder of the events that have now been set in place... the last Supper is over. Jesus has gone out to pray- and will soon be arrested- and worse. 

So... open a new window and go to your parish website ( unless your parish actually sent out Holy Week info, ours didn't this year :-(   )   and get that schedule for the rest of Holy Week.

And BOOKMARK this blog or sign up below for updates for the rest of Holy Week and into the East Season!

Enter into the Paschal Mystery, experience the events of this Triduum in a way new to you. 

Jesus Christ Lives in Key West- A Palm Sunday Lesson

     Jesus Christ lives in Key West, Florida. Really- I know because I met him there. 

     In 2006, our entire family- all nine of us- drove to Key West for a week’s vacation right after Thanksgiving. We stayed at a property across the street from the beach and the master suite had an ocean view. It was amazing. 

     Since we had the luxury of children old enough to stay by themselves (this is a real treat for us!), Tim and I decided to have a grown-ups’ night. We ordered a movie for the offspring and pizza for their bellies and headed to downtown Key West. We dined at Margaritaville (of course), where Tim ordered the Cheeseburger in Paradise (of course). When his plate arrived, the ketchup was in reach, but Tim had to go looking for…. Yep. His lost shaker of salt. It was two tables over. We looked at each other and laughed.

     After dinner, we took a stroll. We passed a lady who was selling items she had made from palm fronds: hats, mats, stuff like that. She was very nicely dressed and sitting in one of those nice canvas folding chairs you bring to watch your kids play soccer. I admired her wares and we continued walking.

     Ahead and to our tight was an old man. He was white (just so you can draw the picture) and had salt and pepper dreadlocks. Yes. Dreadlocks on a white guy. He sat on a small campstool and wore dirty, ripped jeans and a ratty shirt. From a distance you could tell- he was not clean. He was the kind of person you knew before you got anywhere close to him—he smelled. Badly. The kind of person you don’t make eye contact with as you pass. So I cast my eyes downward as we got close.

     Then I saw it.

     Sitting on the ground in front of him was a glass coke bottle- the smaller kind that we used to get from vending machines…and in it was a rose made from a palm branch!

I fell on my knees in front of him, a sheet spread there showing his woven-palm wares, I looked in those eyes which only moments before I was determined to avoid at all costs, and asked: “How did you make that?”

     He smiled- his eyes were the most amazing shade of blue, like the most beautiful blue sky you could imagine. Before I saw them, I would have guessed that they would be clouded with cataracts, or glassy from medication- or alcohol. But they were crystal clear. And oh, so blue.

     “Would you like me to show you?”

     “Yes! Please!” And so he took me through, step by step. I told him how I liked showing my religious ed students how to make things with the Palm Sunday palms, but I wasn’t very good at it. I had directions for fancy crosses, fish and even a rose, but I could never figure out the rose from the drawings.

     “Are you going to remember how to do this on Palm Sunday?”

     “Yes. I learn best by watching. I’ll remember.” I memorized every movement of his weathered hands, took a mental picture of each step. When he finished, he handed it to me with a smile. I set it down and folded a cross from a palm that was nearby. As I handed it to him I said, “This is the only thing I know how to make without directions in front of me.” 

     We stood up and I gave him a hug and thanked him for sharing how to make the rose. My husband had been standing with a young man (who was dressed very nicely in khakis and a polo) who seemed to be there with the old man. Tim threw a few dollars in a hat that was sitting there.

     Tim and I walked away. We started crossing the street and I felt a tug on my arm. It was the old man. He looked into my soul- that’s the only way I can describe it- and told me, “Always remember- every person you meet, you could be meeting Jesus Christ.” I nodded my head and said, “I promise, I’ll remember.”

     And I always have. 

      The encounter stayed with me. Several weeks later I was with a priest friend and asked him, "Have you ever met someone and then later realize you had met Christ?" He stopped what he was doing, "Tell me what happened."

     The following Palm Sunday, I had everything ready for the children (pre-K through 8). Palms, photocopies of instructions. We talked about Palm Sunday and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, surrounded by throngs of people hailing him as their King and Savior…the same people who just a few days later would call for his death. And I told them the story of the old man in Key West. How he had shown me how to make the palm roses---and what he had said to me.

    But I was having trouble with the rose. I was getting very frustrated, nearly to the point of tears. I recall saying something like, “I promised him. I promised him I would remember.” I felt as if I would be letting him down if I couldn’t do it. Caleb Good (8^th grade) stood by me and encouraged me-“ You can do it, take your time- you’ll remember.” Eventually, I did- and every year since, there have been as many roses as crosses on Palm Sunday around here. The palm rose the old man made me is on my night stand. Joey is really good at the roses- and makes a neat rose/ cross combination. He's a popular guy on Palm Sunday!

     So, you see? This really is a Palm Sunday story. The lesson is exactly what the old man told me- and every Palm Sunday it is renewed in my heart.  “Always remember- every person you meet, you could be meeting Jesus Christ.” 

     Even in Key West.