Christ's Unconditional Love

Holy week has always been my favorite time of the church liturgical year. My own personal memories, growing up a cradle Catholic, of attending the chrism Mass (blessing of the Holy oils to be used throughout the church year), Holy Thursday (the Mass of the Last Supper), Good Friday’s Liturgy of the Word and as a family we always attended Easter Vigil. Holy week and the Easter Triddum hold in my mind and heart, the very basis and truths of the foundations of my Catholic faith. I mainly attended these days with my grandfather through my growing up years. He passed away last summer. So this Holy week, took on a more meaningful time for myself and brought to me a new sense of peace.

The beginning of Holy week starts on the sixth Sunday of Lent with Palm Sunday. This is when we commemorate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We find in the bible the account of Jesus leaving Jerusalem and returns Monday. He spent time with Gentiles in the Temple, and on Wednesday left for the Mount of Olives. Spy Wednesday is an old and uncommon name for the Wednesday of Holy Week, which commemorates Judas' agreement to betray Jesus.

The beginning of the Easter Triddum starts with Holy Thursday. Here Jesus foretold the apostles the events of the next several days, including His impending death. Jesus returned to Jerusalem on Thursday, to share the Last Supper with His apostles. Also known as the name "Maundy Thursday" and is derived from Jesus "mandate" to love one another as he loves us. This day celebrates the institution of the sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Ordination. Good Friday a day of fast and the Church commemorate Jesus' crucifixion and death. Customs include Veneration of the Cross, communion from the reserved Maundy Thursday Mass, and the reading of the Passion. Jesus was crucified at Calvary on Friday, outside the gates of Jerusalem.  Holy Saturday is a day for prayer and meditation on the tomb of Christ.  The Easter Vigil (Saturday evening) and Easter Sunday celebrations are the Celebration of Christ’s Resurrection! The Easter Triddum is ended with evening prayer on Easter Sunday evening.

I started my holy week on Palm Sunday in a very small parish in Napa Valley, California, St. Thomas Aquinas, as I was away visiting with friends. (A Mass of about 75 people.) A Dominican priest played the organ and the parish diocesan priest gave a very spirit filled homily. His main message was about the passion of Christ and how we are all called to love unconditionally as Christ did. He also asked his congregation, that even if you could not make Holy Thursday Mass or Good Friday Liturgy of the word, to stop at that time of the day to pray in union with everyone who was at church, to pray with the universal church. I thought that was a very real way to reach out to the community who may have had work or family obligations, to find a way to bring everyone together these days.  It was privileged to spend Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday at Good Shepherd last week. (Thank you to my mom and her husband who were in town to help my husband and me with our 5 children!) Holy Thursday was a beautiful celebration of the washing of the feet and Christ’s Last supper. I took in the many faces of our community as families, children and strangers washed each other’s feet. No one could deny the face of Christ, so very present in the faces of all God’s people who were there. The procession after communion of the Holy Eucharist to the chapel was also a very moving time.  The true presence, of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, was with us as we prayed through the night into Good Friday. The power and the presence of Christ for us on Good Friday, the pivotal moment in our faith, of the ultimate sacrifice of unconditional love, for us through Christ’s crucifixion.  The beautiful meaning of Christ’s love was so eloquently spoken to us by Fr. Jonathan. I embraced the Good Friday’s tradition of Veneration of the cross, in the presence again of all God’s people in our loving community. Seeing the cross being carried by those of our community, just as when Simon helped Christ carry the cross. We all carry our own crosses and the church is here to love us and help us carry our crosses. A very powerful representation of who we are as church! Easter Sunday brought for me the great joy of Christ’s Resurrection! Again the resounding theme of Christ’s unconditional love and His promise to us He would return!

Each year, I am amazed again and again, of how Christ shows Himself to me through this beautiful week long celebration. Holy week brought for me yet again a deeper love for Christ in our holy Catholic church through the witness of Christ’s love through all the people in our church. I am so grateful to have a great sense of peace in knowing that we are all given to choose freely His unconditional love, that only Jesus can show us through His ultimate sacrifice of death and Resurrection. That is what I strive to live for every day of my life…to know unconditional the love through Jesus’ death and resurrection on the cross and live that out through my Catholic faith.

Alleluia, Jesus is risen, risen indeed! Happy Easter!