We rightly call this week "Holy Week", the week dedicated to remembering most eloquently the depth of God's love for us. Spending more time in public worship, to acknowledge, as one body of Christ, that God pours out God's whole life for our salvation, is a good thing. This week can be for us a kind of retreat; an opportunity to stay in the mystery of God's love for us, to drink more deeply from the waters which flow with God's mercy, to trust the stirrings of faith which reach from our innermost soul to the heights of heaven.
I invite us to truly embrace this week as one movement of the worshiping community; carve out time each day to imagine Jesus' movements in and around Jerusalem, leading up to the Passover meal, the new covenant in Jesus' blook, and our own resurrection life. Please join us for the simple supper on Holy Thursday Evening, provided by Jim Gall in honor of his beloved Mary, followed by the Mass of the Lord's Supper in Church. Come again for praying of the Stations of the Cross at the hour of Jesus death on Good Friday and the Veneration of the Cross at 7:00 that evening. Then, gather with us on the Most Holy Night when we participate in the saving action of Christ at the Easter Vigil, beginning at 7:30 on Saturday evening.
This week is an opportunity to remember God's love in a way which brings God's love so fully present that it changes our lives; every celebration of the Eucharist is a participation in eternal life; when we gather at Easter, the truth of God's love overwhelms us into a gratitude which casts out all fear. all resentments, all doubt; only love remains.
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.