2024-03-22-eEdition

MARCH 22, 2024 THE CATHOLIC WEEK PAGE 5 nThursday of Holy Week we enter into a very significant three days called the Triduum (Latin for three days). It is a celebration of the priesthood because it was this night that our Lord instituted the Eucharist and gave of His own body and blood to nourish us.We are also reminded of the fact that the Lord came to serve, not to be served. Jesus washed the feet of His apostles at the Last Supper as a reminder that if we want to be spiritual leaders, we must serve our neighbor. At the Mass on HolyThursday evening, the celebrant washes the feet of 12 members of the congregation. Toward the end of Mass, the main tabernacle is emptied and there is a procession.The Eucharist from the procession is reposed at a different altar. One of the most striking things about the Mass is that it does not end that night.There is no blessing and dismissal.This is to help us remember that the Last Supper, the death and the Resurrection are all moments of the same action of salvation. This Mass concludes at the end of the Easter Vigil, making it clear that the Last Supper, Good Friday and Easter are all part of the same work of our salvation. It is sobering when we leave the church on HolyThursday. It is quiet and people really don’t talk as they leave.We trickle out of church as opposed to moving quickly to the doors. Good Friday is a day of fast- ing and abstinence. Adults un- der the age of 60 are required to eat no more than 1 regular meal and 2 smaller meals during the day which are meatless. Good Friday is the only day of the year that Mass is not celebrated. You will find a service that includes venerating the cross and reflecting on the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Some parishes will offer Stations of the Cross. Often there will also be communion within one of those services where Eucharist that was consecrated on Holy Thursday is distributed to the faithful. This brings us to the Easter Vigil. It is an ancient tradition to begin Mass in the evening and keep vigil awaiting the Resurrection.We don’t really keep vigil all night anymore, but the Easter Vigil Mass is an absolutely beautiful liturgy that begins after sunset. It begins outside with a new fire.The Paschal Candle is lit from that fire and is then shared from person to person. The church becomes bathed in soft candlelight as the con- gregation processes into the church with their lit candles. A soloist, often a priest or dea- con, sings a hymn of exaltation which recaps salvation history and reminds us of the sin of Adam and Eve which precipi- tated the Incarnation. O Happy Fault! It is at this Mass that we sing the “Gloria” for the first time after the season of Lent. As the Gloria begins, all of the lights are turned on and all of the candles are lit, it is truly glorious. It is very uplifting to see the new Catholics come fully into communion with Christ and His Church. If there are any people to be baptized that occurs during this Mass. It is also a time for those who were baptized in another Christian denomination to enter the Church. The rich symbolism at the Easter Vigil is very moving. It is a bit longer than a typical Sunday Mass. If you have never been to the Easter Vigil or any of the other liturgies during the Triduum, I strongly encourage you to attend. I think you will find it spiritually enriching. Happy Easter and may the peace and joy of the Risen Lord reign in all our hearts. — Pat Arensberg is the Direc- tor of the Office for Evangeliza- tion and Family Life. Email him at parensberg@mobarch.org Pat Arensberg O Attending EasterTriduum liturgies can be enriching DidMary suffer from loneliness and anxiety? LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR BEST OF THE BLOG ope Francis has focused our attention on one of his familiar themes — the problem of loneliness in our contempo- rary culture. The pope has written about this issue in his messages for the World Day of the Sick, for Lent and for this year’s World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, to be celebrated on July 28, in conjunction with the feast day of Jesus’ grandparents, Ss. Joachim and Anne. “It is not good that man should be alone,” he wrote for the World Day of the Sick, citing the Book of Genesis. “From the beginning, God, who is love, created us for communion and endowed us with an innate capacity to enter into relationship with others. Our lives, reflecting in the image of the Trinity, are meant to attain fulfilment through a network of relation- ships, friendships and love, both given and received. We were created to be together, not alone.” Precisely because com- munion is so deeply rooted in the human heart, he wrote, the experience of abandonment, solitude, vulnerability and insecurity associated with seri- ous illness can be frightening, painful and even inhuman. In his Lenten message Pope Francis spoke of Lent as a time to pause in prayer and in the presence of a wounded brother or sister. “Love of God and love of neighbor are one love,” he wrote. “Not to have other gods is to pause in the presence of God beside the flesh of our neighbor.” Prayer, almsgiving and fast- ing are not three unrelated acts, he said, but a single movement of openness and self-emptying, in which we cast out the idols and attachments that imprison us, enabling our atrophied and isolated hearts to be revived. “In the presence of God, we become brothers and sisters, more sensitive to one another: in place of threats and enemies, we discover companions and fellow travelers.This is God’s dream, the promised land to which we journey once we have left our slavery behind.” On the second day of Lent, the Vatican announced the theme for this year’s celebra- tion of Grandparents and the Elderly. Drawn from Psalm 71, the theme is “Do Not Cast Me Off in My Old Age.” The Holy See Press Office announcement noted that in choosing this verse it was the Holy Father’s desire “to call attention to the fact that, sadly, loneliness is the bitter lot in life of many elderly persons, so often the victims of the throw- away culture.” “By cherishing the charisms of grandparents and the elder- ly,” the press release reads, “and the contribution they make to the life of the church, the World Day seeks to support the efforts of every ecclesial com- munity to forge bonds between the generations and to combat loneliness.” During first days of Lent, I’ve been following the tradi- tional devotion of the seven sorrows of Mary and I’ve been struck by how alone Mary must have felt in her sufferings. Her vocation was so singular, and her life so unique, that no one with whom she shared her earthly journey could have fully understood her life experiences, no matter how empathetic they strove to be. Consider how alone Mary must have felt after the angel’s announcement that she had been chosen from among all women to bear the Savior. Or, how fearful she must have been as she and Joseph hastily packed up their belong- ings and their newborn baby to flee to Egypt. Imagine Mary’s anxiety when her son was suddenly missing during their journey home from Jerusalem, how confused she must have been when her neighbors in Naza- reth chased Jesus out of the synagogue and tried to throw him off a cliff, how sorrowful and lonely she must have felt after the death of her husband, Joseph, and then how lonely she must have been when her Son had left home to pursue his mission. Finally — although there are many other examples that could be cited — imagine Mary’s heart-wrenching sorrow and her sense of abandonment as her Son suffered a hideous death on a cross. During this Lenten sea- son, pause, as our Holy Father suggests, to reflect on Mary’s sorrows as they are portrayed in Scripture. If you are experiencing loneli- ness or feel abandoned — no matter the cause — ask Our Lady to help you use your suf- fering to draw you closer to her Son, who suffered for love of us. And if someone you know is experiencing pain or isolation, ask for the grace to know how to pause in the presence of this wounded brother or sister and to offer them the consolation of Christ who is always with us. Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us. — Sister Constance Veit is the communications director for the Little Sisters of the Poor in the United States and an occupational therapist. P Sr. Constance Veit, l.s.p. "Mary’s vocation was so singular, and her life so unique, that no one with whom she shared her earthly journey could have fully understood her life experiences." - Sister Constance Veit, l.s.p.