The three holiest days of the church year begin tonight at the Mass of the Lord's Supper and conclude on Easter Sunday evening. These three days are the culmination of the entire liturgical year. This year, of course, will be different because we'll be gathering in our homes rather than our churches for these precious liturgies. Will that make them "less than" or "more than" past experiences? This is how Cardinal Seán O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, answered this question at the end of his Palm Sunday homily:
"The virus is keeping us from being under one roof, but it doesn't keep us from being a
community. Our love for Christ and for one another is what makes us Christ's Body, the
Church. Together let us enter Jerusalem following Jesus, not at a safe distance, but up
close."
So, as we remember and reflect on what these days mean to us, and how we can participate fully through the gifts of technology, let these pictures of liturgies past at Holy Cross bring peace and hope to your hearts and homes. We are in community, now and always. We ARE the Body of Christ.
Beautiful pictures and memories . . . Missing the in person ritual actions of this Triduum brings tears to my eyes . . . grateful for all that is shared vitually.
The reflection Mary Jane Cope shared is a beautiful blessing and prayer about the hands. I am grateful that we don't have to walk to a well and carry buckets of precious water home in order to wash our hands. We have to turn a tap and we have hot or cold running water, a blessing indeed! Even writing this makes me pause and remember and pray for our brothers and sisters for whom this is not a reality.
A good friend Mary Jane Cope has shared a link to a lovely reflection on Holy Thursday: https://www.facebook.com/UpperRoomCenter/videos/236914510834200/?v=236914510834200
In it is a blessing for the washing of hands, offered with the suggestion that it can be printed and placed over a sink to be read as you wash your hands. On this day when we remember Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, "Do this for others as I do it for you," we can bless others as Jesus asked.
"Bless these hands, O God, the ones that feed and paint and repair and write, the ones that love and sew and draw and touch. Bless the hands that are dirty; bless the hands that are clean, the hands that…
Sylvia, I love what you posted especially Archbishop O'Malley's quote and all the lovely photos. Jim and I plan to be at tonight's Holy Thursday service (online, of course) with the rest of our community