Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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Holy Week is Mercy Week

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Holy Week is Mercy Week

Mercy is the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us, (Miseicordiae Vultus 2 ) and therefore is the appropriate appellation for the events surrounding the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.

Mercy has two dimensions, Shakespeare’s double blessings, the giving and the receiving. The Incarnation, Jesus “the face of the Father’s mercy,” (MV 1) is the gift of the Father’s love, which is unconditional and is directed toward the needs of another or others. The incarnation responded to our call for deliverance, for restoration for reconciliation, “To you O Lord I call,” (Ps 28:1)

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion is the initiatory episode of Mercy Week. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, enters Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, the symbol of peace, as opposed to the horse, the symbol of war. He arrives amid the hosannas of the crowd but against the background of the high priests conspiring against him. Mercy incarnate, our substitutiary, who bore our sins, is in place. (Is 53:4-5)”… his words, his actions, and his entire person reveals the mercy of God.” (MV 1)

Later the conspiracy will be “sealed with a kiss,” but not before Jesus’ gives himself in the Eucharist, the New Covenant of Mercy. He perpetuates it to make us co-participants in His sacrament and service. He then surrenders himself to the Father and his betrayer and his accomplices.

Following blasphemous interrogations and a spurious judgment, God’s gift of mercy is rejected by the powers of darkness who cannot overcome it. It cannot be destroyed and awaits the moment when the darkness will be shattered by the Resurrection.

“We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it” (MV 2)

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

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Palm Sunday is a study in contrasts. That, of course, can be said for all of Holy Week, which begins with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey, as had the Great King Solomon before him. (Luke 19:36-38). Our journey with Jesus begins as we share in that wonderful procession when we assemble outside the church to hear the gospel story. After our palms are blessed, we move into the church as the crowd did in following Him into Jerusalem.

Then we are given a hint of things to come when the 22nd Psalm is read and we respond with the words of Jesus from the cross: “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” First, though, we are reminded of how Jesus “emptied Himself” and took on our humanity to show us how to respond totally to the Father’s love. (Phil 2:6-11)

Finally we share the story of Jesus’ Passion and crucifixion (Luke 14 — 23-26) and our shouts change from “Hosannah!” to “Crucify Him.” His Apostles and His followers, except for a few women, abandon Him. Only they, among His disciples, are there to hear Jesus surrender Himself with the words, “Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.”

And so the spiritual roller-coaster of Holy Week begins and we continue our journey of remembrance to remind us of what Jesus went through to teach us the meaning of unconditional love.

The Triduum – Holy Thursday

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In reality the Triduum is a single three-day celebration that includes Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. It begins on the evening of Holy Thursday, which is the vigil of Good Friday. For the Jewish people, the day begins at sunset of the previous day. The Triduum ends at sunset on Easter. For this reason, there is no concluding ritual on either Thursday evening or on Friday, because the observance is seen as continuing for the three days. For our purposes we will treat each of the three liturgies separately.

At the center of the Holy Thursday celebration is the Eucharist, not as it is in every liturgy, but in a special way as we remember and reflect upon the great gift of Thanksgiving that Jesus left us. In the opening prayer we are told that “He gave it to us when he was about to die and commanded us to celebrate it as the new and eternal sacrifice.”

The importance of remembering is brought out by the Passover story from Exodus which concludes with the words: “This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution.”

Interestingly the scripture recalling the institution of the Eucharist is taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. The memorial or remembrance theme is continued with Jesus’ words: “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” He repeats it with the cup when he says; “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

With these simple words the Lord not only instituted the Eucharist, but also the means of continuing it by providing a ministerial and hierarchical priesthood. We are reminded of exactly what the Eucharist is by the responsorial psalm: “our blessing-cup is communion with the Blood of Christ.” It is the Eucharist that unites with Jesus as well as one another.

In the gospel from St. John we see that Jesus commanded us not only to celebrate and remember him in worship but also in service. When Jesus began to wash the disciples’ feet, impetuous Peter shouted out “You will never wash my feet.” Not surprising since the task of washing feet was not that of a servant but of a slave.

Jesus not only took on human flesh, but the role of a slave and then commanded his disciples to do the same. “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” This theme of servant and slave will be amplified in the readings as the celebration continues on Good Friday.

During the liturgy of the Eucharist enough bread is consecrated to provide for the Friday observance. Because the bread for Friday is consecrated on Thursday evening, the Friday liturgy was at one time referred to as the Mass of the Pre-sanctified.

Finally, with no closing ceremony, the Eucharist is carried in procession to a chapel where it will be reserved until Friday. During the procession the Pange Lingua an ancient hymn that celebrates the institution of the Eucharist , is sung. The altar is stripped bare and any crosses in the church are covered.

We are left to reflect upon the unmistakable fact that worship of God is eternally linked to service to others.

Passion or Palm Sunday

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During Lent we have been led by the Sunday gospels on a mini-journey through Jesus’ public ministry and teaching. Beginning with his Baptism and his Transfiguration, we follow his journey; his rejection of illness as a punishment for sin, his giving the fig tree another chance to bear fruit, his preaching on forgiveness in the stories of the Prodigal Son and the adulteress woman as he moves toward Jerusalem.

The liturgical observance of the day of his arrival in Jerusalem is called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. It is unique in that there are two gospel readings. The first gospel reading gives us the name Palm Sunday. The reading from Luke is proclaimed outside the Church which symbolizes Jerusalem. It tells of Jesus approaching Jerusalem from Bethany, across the Mount of Olives.

His entry is delayed while his Apostles go ahead to find a mount for him to ride. Matthew tells us it was a young donkey. His entry is a joyous one with onlookers hailing his arrival and placing palm branches in his path. Here we have two important symbols, the donkey which recalls the donkey upon which Solomon entered Jerusalem after his anointing to succeed David as King, and the palms, an ancient symbol of victory and triumph.

Symbolically we join in the celebration as we follow Jesus into Jerusalem carrying our palm branches as the procession enters the church. Immediately the tenor changes with a passage from Isaiah reflecting Jesus’ determination to accept his fate. “I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” We are then reminded of what is to come by the 22nd Psalm, which Jesus will utter from the cross. “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”

Finally, we are told of the events that are to occur. The Passion is read, Luke’s story of the suffering and death of the Lord which gives this Sunday its other designation, Passion Sunday.

So, through our participating in the symbol and ritual we join with the Lord as he prepares to enter into his final hours before his betrayal and death.