For most Catholics around the world, the celebration of Holy Week is different due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many are not able to leave their homes and so cannot celebrate this high point of our Christian faith in their own parishes. Under those circumstances, the faithful are called to experience the liturgies with hope and in communion with their parish communities through a “spiritual communion” made possible through social and digital media.
Even in the midst of so many challenges, none of the celebrations will lose their beauty or their meaning. For this reason, we must live them in a profound way, as we have always done, offering to God this serious time in history that we are facing.
During the Easter Triduum, in celebrating the mystery of Christ which revealed the love of God for all humanity, every Catholic is invited to enter into the experience with devotion and recollection without leaving their home.
The Church offers us these guidelines. “The home, as a family space, was one of the prvileged places for the encounter and dialogue of Jesus and his followers with different people (cf. Mark 1: 29; 7: 24). At home, He healed and forgave sins (cf. Mark 2: 1-12), sat at table with tax collectors and sinners (cf. Mk 2: 15; 14: 3), discussed important matters, such as fasting (cf. Mk 2: 18-22), offered guidance on behavior within the community (cf. Mk 9: 33; 10: 10) and the importance of listening to the Word of God (cf. Matthew 13: 17, 43).
In this way, Chrisitans who celebrates these mysteries of Jesus in their homes will have the possibility to unite themselves with all the Church, experiencing together in faith the beauty of these days.
On Holy Thursday, through digital media, all the faithful can experience the celebration of the Last Supper, the beginning of the Easter Triduum, where Jesus explains the meaning of his life and his death, instituting the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, his eternal memorial and the life and summit of the Church. With the humble gesture of washing the feet of his apostles, he has left us an example of service to our brothers and sisters. Out of that action, two important sacraments arise: the Eucharist and Holy Orders, a synthesis of all God’s gifts, a sign of love as both surrender and service to the end.
On Good Friday, we remember the day when Jesus, after being arrested, judged and condemned, carries his own cross to Calvary where he is crucified, killed and buried. On that day, we Christians are called to practice fasting and abstinence from meat, a sign of penance as well as respect for our Lord’s death.
On Saturday, we celebrate the Easter Vigil, the apex of Holy Week where we, the People of God, celebrated the Resurrection, a sign of hope. This litrugy is considered “the mother of all vigils” because in it the Church keeps vigil, waiting for the Lord’s Resurrection.
We will welcome Easter Sunday with immense joy as we celebrate Christ’s definitive triumph over death through his Resurrection which opened, once for all, the doors of Heaven to all humanity. This should be a day of greater celebration in our homes, with our communities united in faith and in the love of Christ through social networks.
May we, with open hearts, celebrate these mysteries of Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection with great faith and hope!
Source: Based on the writings of Flavio Rogerio Lopes
