Home for Holy Week

Today is Palm Sunday -
and Holy Week, the most important week of the year for me, is just ahead.

 I am glad to be at home for this week - I've always tried to arrange my schedule to be in my home parish for the Triduum - the "three days" that, together, are the movement toward Easter: Holy Thursday when we celebrate the institution of the Lord's Supper or Eucharist, Good Friday when we mark the crucifixion of our Lord, and the Mass of the New Fire at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night.

Holy Week has been a time of special events in my life. I came into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil of 1974.  The deaths of several dear friends - Carol, Dirk, and Liz -occurred during Holy Weeks. I buried my husband Don on Tuesday of Holy Week in 2009. So I always walk from Palm Sunday to Easter with a lot of significant memories in my heart.

I've always thought we did the Triduum very well at St. Anne's in Forks. We have a great fondness for our particular rituals. I don't know where I will be in subsequent Holy Weeks, but I'm glad to be home this year.

I am particularly looking forward to the Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday when the great cross Dirk built will be uncovered as the choir sings: Behold the Wood of the Cross;  two of his daughters will come up through the darkened church to hammer in the great spikes while Sally sings Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?  Every time we do this, I'm again caught up in the mystery.

I'm glad to be a Catholic. I need these signs and symbols and profound re-enactments to help me be present to the most important realities.