April 15: Holy Week II / Semana Santa II

In what we used to call the “Great Week,” we have entered into this Holy Week with our eyes wide open, ready to encounter all that the words and the events of this week offer us.

To give us a hint about how intimately tied together all of this week is, please take note that we will begin the Mass on Holy Thursday by making the Sign of the Cross. That will come as no surprise, given that we nearly always begin our prayer (privately or communally) in such a way. But there will be no blessing at the end of the Mass, therefore no Sign of the Cross.

The Good Friday Service at 3pm will begin in silence and there will be no Sign of the Cross. The same Service will end in silence and, you guessed it, we will make no Sign of the Cross. Not even the great Vigil of Easter will begin with the Sign of the Cross.

This is one of the ways that the Church tells us that these days and the life-saving events that they celebrate are continuous, there is a beginning, but no end is reached until the final blessing, the solemn Easter Blessing, at the end of the Vigil Mass.

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Los eventos de la Semana Santa nos recuerdan de una de las experiencias más tristes en la vida, que es “ver el amor y la confianza de uno incomprendidos, negados, o incluso traicionados.” Ésta fue la suerte de Jesús. Él sufrió por ello. Sin embargo, lo aceptó voluntariamente en orden a deshacer nuestras deslealtades y traiciones. Por eso, su mismo amor y lealtad al Padre y a nosotros fueron tan lejos como se pueda imaginar: hasta la muerte. Y es así como ganó para nosotros el valor para amar sin contar el precio y para ser fieles hasta el fin. Que el Señor nos colme con su bendición.