Enter the Mystery
“The Mystery of Faith.” Every Mass, we hear the priest say these words during the Eucharistic Prayer, right before we say or sing, in one way or another, “We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again.” This response of the community to the priest’s statement is the mystery of faith, and during Holy Week, we have the intimate opportunity to enter deeper into that mystery.
Fr. Mahon blesses palms on Palm Sunday
I have always loved Holy Week and Easter. I think from a young age, I found the various actions of waving palms on Palm Sunday, washing the feet on Holy Thursday, venerating the cross on Good Friday, and lighting candles at Easter Vigil as both incredibly tangible and mysterious. Perhaps my understanding of these commemorations remained limited to the anticipation of doing something different at church from the typical Mass. In any case, there is something that strikes the heart during this week and invites us to pause and look again at what we as Catholics believe.
The challenge for Holy Week, though, is to let Jesus in. We become so familiar with the story, with Judas’ betrayal and the Last Supper, the humiliation of the Crucifixion. Even the music of various services can make us feel like this week is just a familiar habit. But for the apostles, Jesus’ death was out of the ordinary. For the apostles, the cross was terrifying enough to topple the world they knew. For the apostles, the joy of the Resurrection took a little bit of convincing and time to embrace.
Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday
This week, let Jesus take you deeper. Perhaps you have never attended a Holy Week service, outside of Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, and can commit to attending Holy Thursday or Good Friday. Perhaps you have never participated in the Way of the Cross procession on Good Friday through Downtown Rochester. Or maybe you have never fasted from food on Good Friday and choose to do so this year. You are invited to make a small commitment to let Jesus take you deeper this week. What will help you hear the words of the Gospel more clearly?
A few years ago, I recall a special decision I made to enter more deeply into Holy Week. I love music and listening to music, but I decided to put a pause on my Spotify and let silence take its place. Silence holds its own mystery, because often there is external noise around us, but when you pause from intentionally filling your ears with music or podcasts, you can find an underlying sense of peace to the chaos of everyday life. In the silence I experienced, I found myself really entering the Passion of Jesus in a new and intimate way. The Garden of Gethsemane’s night of prayer became more vivid. The mystery of the crucifixion became more pronounced. And Easter’s joy brought me to happy tears.
How can you invite a deeper encounter with Jesus and the mystery of faith this week?