Holy Week starts this Sunday with Palm Sunday, and continues on until next Sunday, Easter. I want to share and break down with you what will happen and where we get our traditions from. This will look a lot different this year as you will be watching this from home and the traditional beautiful rituals will not be added, which I am SO sad about, but I want you to know the history behind everything.
First,
Palm Sunday...Palm Sunday is from the
Bible when Jesus entered into Jerusalem on the donkey, and the people were putting palms down and singing
Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest...Typically, Palm Sunday Mass is one of the longer Masses. Most Masses will be in the Church, but typically one Mass begins outside with the procession. St. Austin’s typically is the 11:30 Mass where we will gather with the UCC and begin Mass outside with our Palms. We start Mass with a Gospel reading, the telling of the Passion, and several people narrate the Passion of Jesus. It is a solemn Mass where we acknowledge the events to come in the coming days.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are 'regular' days of Lent. Tuesday in our Diocese is the
Chrism Mass where the Bishop, all the priests, deacons, and people from all over the
Austin Diocese come together in Liturgy and song to bless the oils that will be presented at Holy Thursday and will be used at the Easter Vigil and continued to be used at every Sacrament of Baptism, Confirmation, and Anointing of the Sick.
Then we have
Holy Thursday...Holy Thursday is the night where the
Eucharist and the
Priesthood are initiated. Jesus breaks bread with the Apostles and tells them to take and eat and take drink for it is His body and blood. When he does this, he is preparing the final covenant for you and me. Jesus knows that his time has come, and through the Eucharistic covenant he is able to enter into the final bond with God and die for our sins. Before he broke bread with the Apostles, Jesus went to each man and washed his feet. This is the initiation of the Priesthood. Jesus humbled himself to his Apostles and taught them how to humble themselves to the people they will be serving. Typically you will see 12 members of the parish selected to have their feet wash by the Priests and Deacons. I think it is a beautiful thing that St. Austin and the UCC invite everyone up to have their feet/foot washed. It humbles yourself to the person washing your foot, and it humbles the person washing the feet.
The other part of Holy Thursday is the emptying of the Tabernacle. At the end of the service, the tabernacle is left opened as this is the night before Jesus dies. Typically you will have all night Adoration that reminds us of the Apostles staying vigilant for Christ to return. The candle is extinguished and the tabernacle or tomb is left empty until Easter Vigil/Easter morning.
Then we have
Good Friday...Good Friday is not really a good day. We fast on Good Friday, we are solemn, and we venerate the cross at 3pm when Jesus was thought to have died on the cross. There is no Mass, but rather Liturgy of the Word, and when we venerate the cross, you may come up and touch it or kiss it. We are reminded of the day that Jesus died. We enter solemn and we leave solemn.
Finally we have
Easter Vigil and
Easter Sunday...Easter Vigil is such a cool and amazing thing to experience. I am very sad that we will not be able to experience it. It starts dark, as we are still mourning the loss of Jesus, and slowly as Mass progresses the lights come full on and we enter into the light of the Easter Season. It is a little longer because the Sacraments are being celebrated, but it is fully worth it. I won't give too much away, but both Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday are days that we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead and coming back to us. We renew our Baptismal promises and start fresh. We come out of the Lenten season growing closer to God because of what we abstained from, and we are fully ready in prayer and self to journey into the Easter season before we celebrate Pentecost.
This is a busy week of preparing, waiting, watching, and experiencing, and what's neat about it, is it is all for you. This is a time where the Church is renewed by your energy and we discover our faith all over again. I am excited to walk this journey with each of you as we near the end of the yellow brick road. If you have any questions please let me know, but I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!