(Presented for our retired Sisters)
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, profession,
Jubilee
processions and consider our own funeral procession.
Then
you may also want to reflect on the many individual processions
you
make daily in this setting . . . from your room to the chapel,
or
to the dining room, to the beauty salon, or to the clinic or
hospital,
or over to St. Francis home, and to the many other places you
journey
throughout your day.
So 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 each process on our journey of faith.
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