+JMJ+ Though this was originally written a few years ago, I’m including it as a re-share in our current Catholic Christianity 101 or What is Christianity series. No other Holy Thursday has affected me as deeply as that first one just two nights before I was to be received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. And so I will share with you again, and for those who have not read it, for the first time, my account, lightly edited, of that evening.
Continue reading “My First Holy Thursday Experience”
+JMJ+ I can’t believe it’s already here but it is. Holy Week, and Monday almost gone as I write this. I want to go back, I want to do a better job of preparing. But the days of the calendar keep pressing forward and so I must, too. Here are some things that I think will help me—and you—enter more fully into this Holy Week, and even beyond into the rest of the year.
Continue reading “Praying Through Holy Week”
+JMJ+ Have a blessed Holy Week, y’all.
Come, and as we make our way up to the Mount of Olives, let us go out to meet Christ, who is returning today from Bethany, and of his own will makes haste towards his most venerable and revered passion, whereby he will bring to fulfillment the mystery of the salvation of mankind.
Continue reading “Holy Week is here, y’all!”
+JMJ+ Holy Week will soon be here but there is still time to prepare. Even if you are not being received into Holy Church at this time, you can still take part in the vigil and you can make it even more meaningful this time around by taking time to meditate and reflect on what our brothers and sisters experienced in the Early Church and down through the centuries. One way to do that is to listen to Mike Aquilina’s podcast, Way of the Fathers, the episode The Mother of All Vigils. YouTube link below.
Continue reading “Getting Ready for the Mother of All Vigils “
+JMJ+ Last year I began writing a scene for Holy Week, for Palm Sunday, but it turned into more than one or two scenes, into a rough draft for a novel, really. No one was more surprised than I was. I wrote the scenes twice a week, on my regular posting schedule, and, with the most cursory proofreading and editing, uploaded them. There is no denying that the results put the rough into rough draft. But this little experiment got me writing fiction again and kept me writing and I am glad I tried it. Working on a revision now. Tonight I’m sharing an early part of the story. (I edited a couple of things while I got this ready to share tonight, but not much. I’m re-writing the whole thing, anyway.)
Continue reading “For Holy Week”
After the Holy Thursday liturgy I usually remain in the pew until the doors are being locked and someone chases me out. So it was on my first Holy Thursday in 1996 (before my reception into the Church at the Easter Vigil) that I experienced something I had not expected and that I have never forgotten. What follows is a re-telling of the events of that night in the form of a post originally written in 2019 and edited in 2020. I’m posting it here again for this Holy Thursday 2021.
Continue reading “Holy Thursday 2021”
Most of us probably won’t (can’t) attend Holy Week liturgies this year. My heart goes out to all the catechumens and candidates who would be experiencing their first Holy Thursday liturgy tonight. My first one back twenty-four years ago, all the way back in 1996, made an indelible impression on me and tears still well up in my eyes as I look back on it. Wrote about it last year. The following is a re-post of that one, with some slight edits. (The weekly series on the soul will return next week.)
Continue reading “A hole where Holy Thursday should be”
Twenty-three years ago I experienced my first Holy Thursday liturgy. I remember parts of it, other parts are beginning to fade. I decided to record what I still remember and post it here tonight on this Holy Thursday. Technically, it’s Good Friday now but only by five minutes.
After the Holy Thursday liturgy a few people stayed in the pews to watch with Him. Fr. — had stripped the altar, had set up the tabernacle, palm fronds around it in the dimly lit, darkened nave. Hushed voices became softer and softer until they fell silent as the last stragglers left, leaving just three of us there. In the tabernacle the Lord was preparing to face the ordeal of ordeals. In the pews were His three disciples, fighting to stay awake, nodding off, not understanding what was taking place then, having no idea what would be taking place in a matter of hours.
I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to take in everything, everything I saw or heard or felt. I wanted to hold onto it, to remember. I heard snores behind me. I grew more determined to stay awake and watch.
At nearly midnight, the priest entered the sanctuary with two altar servers, one on either side of him, holding long-handled candle lighters which, in the dimlit darkness, looked exactly like spears. They’ve come to arrest Him! I watched, unable to stop them. I looked around to see if anyone else saw what I did, but they were sound asleep. I was alone, beholding the unfolding scene.
The altar servers stood holding their spear-candlelighters while the priest stepped forward and bent down to open the tabernacle door and lifted the Lord from His place of repose. Then he walked slowly away, the two trailing behind with their spears. They left through the sacristy door. The tabernacle door was left open, exposing the emptiness within. All was silent—except for the snores behind me. I wanted to turn and shake them awake. They arrested Him! They took Him away! Did you not see? Why didn’t you help me? Why didn’t we stop them, why didn’t we help Him?
Ah, get behind me, Satan! “Christ was obedient unto death.” And so must we all be.
I’ve been Catholic now since April 1996 and all I can say is thanks be to God and praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ! Lord, have mercy on us. Make our hearts like unto Thine. Amen!
Image credits: The Agony in the Garden, Luca Giordano; The Taking of Christ, Caravaggio, c. 1602. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Tonight just stats and a video. I hope your Holy Week has been a blessed one. Thank you for reading. God bless you!
Word count goal for the month: 50K. Nightly: 1,667. Tonight: Under 2K. Total: 44,650. Woohoo!
Catholic Heart and Mind 