Well, the crazy days of Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum, and the Octave of Easter are over! They seemed to have flown by. This is just a little recap and reflection of this year's "insane, crazy, blessed, holy time".
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion: The celebrations of the Mass this weekend went really well. I think that a good tone was set throughout the celebration of the anxiety (spiritual and physical) that comes every year with the observance of this most sacred time of the Church's calendar. Our youth ministry program had a great meeting that night giving an overview of Holy Week and the Triduum, concluding the night with some Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
Monday - Wednesday of Holy Week: Nothing too exciting. Final preparations were made for the celebration of the Triduum - including me trying to make sure that I had the flow of the Vigil down. It wouldn't be a normal week here at the parish if we didn't have a funeral, which, of course, we did on Wednesday.
Holy Thursday: A good beginning to the day was the Chrism Mass at Saint Paul Cathedral. The Mass always seems to set the inner tone to help me enter into the great Paschal Mystery that we'll be intensely entering and celebrating over the course of the Three Days. Returning back to the parish, we made final preparations for the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. And following a quick moment of rest and for a pre-Mass snack, we were off. The pastor was the principal celebrant for this Mass, which allowed me to sit back and enjoy everything - which I was more than happy to do. Following Mass, I grabbed a quick bite (post-Mass snack), and headed down to sit for my "shift" as pilgrims visited the church for some quiet time before the Blessed Sacrament. It is during this time, of course, where I received my banana.
Good Friday: A wonderful day of reflection. At noon, we had Stations of the Cross. I presided at the Service of the Passion, Veneration and Communion, though I did not preach. My parents came up for our Fish Fry, and stayed for Tenebrae, which was one of the better reflections of "entering the darkness" that I had been a part of. The rest of the evening / night was relatively quiet. Which was a good thing.
Holy Saturday: A crazy day, to say the least. RCIA rehearsal at 9:00 AM, which I needed to be present at, since I was scheduled to preside at the Vigil (for the first time!). We had two good guys entering into the Church, so I wasn't too worried about them at the rehearsal -- I was worried that I would be messing something up! But it went well. That was followed (although somewhat begun during the end of the RCIA rehearsal) by the decorating of the church for Easter. Our volunteers did a wonderful job, and the church looked beautiful! The decorating was immediately followed by the rehearsal for the Vigil with our altar servers, trying to walk through and work through how everything was going to flow later that evening. Blessing of the Easter Baskets, which the pastor graciously performed, happened at noon - and the church had a nice crowd for this tradition. The rest of the day was spent in preparation for the Vigil - at least by me. I grabbed a small, quick dinner before heading down to the church for the final preparations and to begin the Vigil itself. The Vigil went very well! When I announced for people to please come outside for the lighting of the fire and the blessing of the candle, almost the whole church came out! The pastor commented, "We've never had a group this big in size before." (That's a good thing, I think.) *** When I had finished confirming our two men, I headed back up to the chair to introduce the Universal Prayer (intercessions), when I noticed that the ushers were beginning to "pass the basket". I politely asked them to wait until we had finished praying, which some people chuckled at. *** At the end of the evening, everyone seemed happy and please with how the liturgy was celebrated, and had a true sense of Easter joy in them. My sister, who came up for the Mass, seemed to have enjoyed herself. There was a small reception for those who entered the Church following the Mass, and then the evening (well, night at this point) ended.
The Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord / "Easter Sunday": I had the chance to sleep in a little. The pastor took the two earlier Masses, and let me celebrate the two later Masses. At both Masses, after the Sign of the Cross, I exclaimed, "Christ is risen!", to which the people responded, "Alleluia!" "Wrong answer!", I replied. I taught them how in the Eastern Churches the correct response is, "Indeed He is risen!" The Masses went well - again, Easter joy was present. Following the Masses, I locked up the church, and sat down in my room. And fell asleep for a bit. After I woke up, I headed over to my aunt's for a bit to visit with family. That was a good time.
The Octave of Easter: Back to the grind and normality in a lot of ways. The parish had three funeral Masses and one blessing service. Monday saw our continuation of the showing of Father Robert Barron's "Catholicism" series, which I was scheduled to lead that evening. I had confessions with the sisters on Tuesday, and tried to get caught up on some other things that slipped through the Holy Week cracks. I was also preparing for the Baptism of my second Godson on Saturday, with my family coming in from all parts of the country. The baptism went well, and I celebrated our parish's first Saturday evening Mass with them in attendance. The reception was a good time, though the family of my Godson took a wrong turn, and it took them an hour to get to reception - but all was well in the end. Sunday was a good day overall, and had a great time with the Youth Ministry in the evening.
The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Transferred to Monday, 8 April): Since 25 March fell in Holy Week this year, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord was transferred to the earliest date possible, which was Monday, 8 April. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to celebrate this great feast the way I would have liked, since I had a funeral (again!). Though I did mention and tie in the solemnity with the celebration of the funeral at the end of the Mass. When I returned home from the cemetery, I grabbed a quick lunch, met with my 1:00 appointment, breathed for a moment, and headed to the hospital, since I was on duty. After visiting and anointing the people Sister asked me to visit, I returned back to the parish, grabbed a quick dinner, and prepped for this week's viewing of "Catholicism". Afterwards, I tried to relax a little, but stay alert, just in case the hospital was to call. Around 11:30 PM, I figured that I was okay to go to bed, and I did. And a good sleep was had.
When I awoke this morning for the 7:00 AM Mass, I felt completely spent from the last few weeks. I decided not to preach this morning, simply allowing a minute or two for the assembly and myself to sit in the silence with the Word. I returned a few phone calls and e-mails that needed responded to, and was called out to anoint a woman who seemed to be on the cusp of leaving this world for the next. And now, I'm just finishing this entry, and will be taking the rest of the day pretty easy. My schedule is pretty regular with activities over the course of the next few weeks, so I'm trying to simply "be" when I can.
The last few weeks were a lot of going, going, going. But I enjoyed it.
It truly was an insane, crazy, blessed, holy time.
Blessed and Joyous Easter Season!
Enjoy the journey . . .
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