A Week Called HOLY!

 

 

We all are familiar with parades, marches, protests, demonstrations, rituals and rallies. However, through the Scriptures in this week called Holy, we are invited to observe, ponder, and participate in processions.  Today we have two Gospels, one recounting Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem, and the other with the profound story of his passion and death as he processed to Golgotha.

 At the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, we processed to receive ashes, visibly marking our willingness to enter once again into a conversion of heart, and to hear the Good News deeper within and around us.  This week, on Holy Thursday, we will experience the procession  for foot washing and also the procession moving the Blessed Sacrament  to the Altar of Repose.  

 On Good Friday, we process with the cross and remember Jesus’ procession to the hill outside the city of Jerusalem.  At the Easter Vigil, we will process with the new Easter Fire from the Easter Candle, and place it in our midst while we sing our Alleluias.

Let us also recall that every liturgy is filled with processions . . .namely, the entrance procession, the Gospel procession, offertory procession, our reception of Eucharist is a procession, and our own entrance and leave-taking are also done in procession.  We frequently experience a variety of processions throughout our lives . . .and what do they signify?

 Processions are not just a way to get people from here to there in an orderly manner. They are ritual expressions of who we are and what we are about. We are people of faith on a journey of life....(And this is not a dress rehearsal!)

This week, let us ponder the processions in our own lives . . .our Baptism and reception of the Sacraments, graduation, Jubilee or Wedding processions, and consider our own funeral procession. Then we may also want to reflect on the many individual processions we make daily in our life setting.  Some of us may even reflect on the "processions" of standing in line for bottled water, or processing by car to receive a box of food at a food distribution center.  Or processing in a line to receive a COVID test or a COVID vaccination.

 Therefore, let us ask the Spirit for the graces of insight, guidance, wisdom, forgiveness, and hope as we pray this week . . .

·       for an open mind to understand the depths of our journey of faith,

·       for an open heart to embrace the joyful and sorrowful mysteries of our personal and collective faith journey,

·       And for an open spirit to welcome, receive, and listen to the flow of life as we are invited to speak our “yes” to what is forever unfolding for us as we process on our journey of faith during these days of celebrating joyful and sorrow mysteries.