Holy Week

I was sitting here on Good Friday evening, debating whether I should blog about movies or Holy Week.  I settled on Holy Week, which I think was the right thing to do.  I've got an excellent Top 5 movie list coming up, and a couple of movie reviews.

As of this Easter, I will have been a Catholic for 8 years.  Each year, Lent and Holy Week have become more important to me, I enjoy them more each year and I feel like I grow in my faith more each year.  This year has been especially good, and it will culminate with the Easter Vigil tomorrow night.

I was explaining the Easter Vigil to a non-denominational friend of mine.  I was going on about how beautiful it is, with the symbolism, the incense, the chanting, the transition from darkness to light that signals the Resurrection of Jesus, and this friend said that stuff just wasn't that exciting to them (or something like that).  Personally, I love the symbolism all throughout Lent, and especially now during the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil).  The holiness, symbolism and ceremony of the Catholic Holy Week helps me feel a closeness to God that grows every year.

Last night, our family went to Holy Thursday Mass, where we celebrated Jesus instituting the Eucharist (communion).  At Holy Thursday Mass, there is also foot washing, to follow Jesus' example at the Last Supper.  I didn't participate in foot washing, and neither did my wife, but both of our boys did.  In fact, my older son washed my younger son's feet...I have to admit, I got a little choked up.  I was very proud of him.

Today was the Veneration of the Cross service.  I had never been to this service before.  I definitely want to go again.  It was very new to me, so I'm sure I missed something.  I enjoyed the solemn beauty of this service, and was really able to reflect on the Christ's Passion and see that it was the ultimate act of love in a different way than I had previously experienced.  And, tomorrow night at 8:30 pm, we will go to the Easter Vigil, which I just love.

This is just such a terrific week.  It's wonderful to see so many of my fellow Parishioners attending all 3 masses of the Triduum, making the time to recognize the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and what that sacrifice really meant for all of us.  And then we wrap it all up with Easter, celebrating His Resurrection 2000 years ago.  I can't really describe what I'm feeling, and I'm not overly good at these "reflection" posts, so I'm just going to stop.  I pray that all of you are having a fulfilling Holy Week and are looking forward to celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus.