The mystery of Holy Week
Pope John Paul II, so fondly remembered by the entire church, and especially by us Catholics of San Antonio, said that Holy Week was the “great Sunday of the Christian year.” For our beloved Pope John Paul II, Sunday had a special meaning. It was not the sports, shopping or barbecue day that it is for so many nowadays. For him, as for the entire church, it is the “Dies Domini,” the Day of the Lord — that is, a day devoted to God. Because it is devoted to God, it is also devoted to man, to the family, and to the beauty of nature. A day devoted to everything good, noble, beautiful and just.
If Sunday was so special for him, then when he said that Holy Week was the “great Sunday of the Christian year,” we can understand that he wanted to stress the importance of Holy Week, especially the ceremonies that we know as the “Easter Triduum.”
We still recall, a little over a year after his death, the images of a weak Pope John Paul II, who did not want to miss the great moments of the last Holy Week that God granted him on this earth: he appeared on television Good Friday watching from his room, the Via Crucis at the Roman Coliseum, clinging to the cross; and then on Easter Sunday, he appeared at St. Peter’s Square greeting the crowd from the window of his apartment, without being able to speak.
This was the last image engraved in the minds of the Catholic people: Pope John Paul II concluding the Easter Triduum. Less than a week later, the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, he was called before the presence of the Father to receive his eternal reward.
My dear brothers and sisters, I have wanted to remind you of Pope John Paul II, because I believe that words are not enough to stress how important the Holy Week celebrations are, and how little importance is given to them by the world around us.
We Catholics need to get back the sense of this great “Sunday” that is the Triduum; and there is no better way to do so than by actively sharing in the church liturgy, so rich in meaning; and trying to have it guide us, step by step, through the mysteries that are central to our faith: the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord.
On Holy Thursday we celebrate the Mass of the Supper of the Lord, in which we commemorate the Last Supper and the institution of that great gift that is the Eucharist.
On Good Friday we gather for the adoration of the cross, to commemorate the tragic moment of the death of the Lord for our sins. This is a day to intensely live the meaning of the Passion of the Lord. It is a day to be recollected, to practice fast and abstinence, to avoid superficial distractions and to live devotions such as the Via Crucis, the “siete palabras” or the Tenebrae ser- vice, which help us to increase our piety and our love of Jesus, who gave everything for us.
Holy Saturday is the day of the painful but hopeful waiting. It is the day of our Mother Mary. We keep her company and benefit from her company. Mary, who saw her son die on the cross, and who strengthens us to be with her at the foot of the cross. And with her we wait through the night, in which the church celebrates one of the most symbolic and beautiful liturgies: the Easter Vigil, which describes the final victory of Jesus Christ with the symbols of fire, light and water.
Finally, Easter Sunday, with its own liturgy, different from that of the Easter Vigil, reaffirms the marvelous victory of Jesus Christ over death and sin; and therefore, it is the happiest day of the Christian calendar.
Words are insufficient in trying to urge you to intensely live the Triduum, dear brothers and sisters! We can only say that our lives should revolve around these mysteries always.
That is why I want to ask you to increase your participation in the liturgical life of the church during these days. Let us share in all the liturgies with punctuality, enthusiasm and love. Let us live these days as they are: days of recollection, of penance and of conversion, which will culminate in the true joy of Easter.
May the Lord Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant us a truly blessed Holy Week, and a very happy Easter.