This week, we celebrate the Church’s most solemn days of the year. This is Holy Week, a special time to stop and share in the sacrifice made by the Lord on Calvary. It is a time to reflect on the history of salvation and the place that Jesus played in it.
While it is a sad observation, it also has its moments of joy, such as when we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday and finally the triumph of the Resurrection of the Lord on Easter Sunday, the Church’s most important feast day.
The week begins with Palm Sunday when we recall the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowds gathering for the Passover welcomed Jesus while waving palms, a tradition continued in all our churches on this day. It was a short-lived welcome, and the week quickly turned to tragedy as the High Priests and Roman rulers conspired to end the threat they saw in Jesus’ teaching.
We have added some other special moments to Holy Week. On Monday, the diocese, in conjunction with the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, conducts what has come to be known as Reconciliation Monday. Every church in New York City and on Long Island will offer an extended period of time to penitents wishing to go to confession and put themselves in the proper frame of mind for the rest of the week.
On Tuesday evening, the Diocese of Brooklyn will celebrate the annual Chrism Mass at St. James Cathedral-Basilica in Downtown Brooklyn when the holy oils will be blessed for sacramental use in all the parishes of Brooklyn and Queens. Traditionally held on Holy Thursday, the Chrism Mass was switched to Tuesday evening several years ago to make it accessible to more people and to avoid the busy Thursday schedule.
Holy Thursday is the day the Church celebrates the gift of the Eucharist. Jesus wants us to realize that He is constantly present to the Church, and so He left us this special presence of His own body and blood under the forms of bread and wine.
Good Friday, the commemoration of the death of the Lord, is the most solemn day of the Church year. The liturgical calendar offers us the reception of Communion, although Mass is not celebrated on this day or on Holy Saturday.
Local customs have brought the faith into the streets as various ethnic groups conduct their own processions and outdoors Stations of the Cross, the most elaborate of which is the Bensonhurst evening march which attracts several thousand people every year. The apostolic movements – Pax Christi and Communion and Liberation – conduct their own street processions that put the Christian faith in full public view.
Holy Saturday is a quiet day on the Church’s official calendar, although some parishes conduct special blessings of food in their churches.
On Easter Sunday, the liturgy begins in darkness to symbolize abyss of sin. The lights go back on in Church as we recognize the triumphal Resurrection from the dead of Our Lord and Savior. There is no more dramatic liturgy than the Easter Vigil service, which has been made even more so in recent times with the baptism of new members and reception of others into full communion with the Church.
Holy Week is a special time of grace. We urge everyone to fervently and enthusiastically participate in the week. This particular Holy Week cannot be duplicated. Each and every Holy Week brings us a unique chance to grow in grace. It is a time not to be missed.
We urge all Catholics and people of good will to enter into the spirit of these days with prayer and sacrifice and to unite with the suffering of millions around the world. The effect of a united prayer will be real – made more special during the Easter season.