"Reflections on Holy Week"

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday: The Lord's descent into Hell - https://share.google/0uBjBZ5y5ujQ7Ril9

Music Copyright: https://artlist.io/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Whenever it is, welcome back to another episode of Unveiling Christianity. I'm Father David.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

And I'm Mark Turnus. I have a question for you. When you say hello, sometimes you say it three times. Does that mean the podcast is actually gonna be better? The more times you say hello. I don't know what I do. You said you said hello only once once today. We can I did. I changed it.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

You know, you gotta keep people on their toes. That's right. Right? You can't know the same way every time, right? Right? So I don't know. I don't I haven't really thought of a canned kind of intro for this. I'm glad you didn't, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:55

But yeah. It it it does vary.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

I don't know. Maybe I should have a canned one. Maybe not. I mean, just kind of just whatever you feel. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

That's that's the way you roll. That's good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

I like it. Well, you you noticed though.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

So I oh I did, I did. I'm very observational. I I noticed, yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Okay. Well, either way, here we are.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Here we are.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Another exciting day, another beautiful morning, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:17

It is a little chilly, but it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Yeah, the snow's back. Yeah. The snow's back. Although I did get out for a uh a cycle on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Oh, I'm a little jealous. I I disc golfed on Saturday. Where did you ride?

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Uh just around. I do the the loop. Okay. So I go down York Road to the parkway, and then the parkway back up to past Strongsville. Sometimes I've gone to Berea. So I think it's, I don't know, between 15 or 18 miles. Wow. That's good. Yeah, but the park was nice. And I'm really glad they they uh repave some of the sections.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Yes, and I know exactly where you're talking about. It was really junky.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

And they yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

So we ri I read that a lot. Kudos to our local um metro parks. Really great.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

You gotta love the Metro Park system. Yep. Absolutely. I I got out to disc golf with my brother-in-law. Oh, yeah. And uh first one of the year? It was the first the first one for quite a while. Yeah, I think we went in December, but it was yeah, it would be the first one in the year. Um it was good. There's there's there's good truth and beauty to disc golf. Wow. There really is. There you go. There it is.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

There is what what's um the best disc or the best which one do you most use?

SPEAKER_01 2:25

No, no, it's interesting. It's like I when I when I I use the word stick golf when I golfed, I I could never hit a driver. So I I would tee off with the with a three three wood. So um I can't throw anything more than a 10 because my my arms, my upper body arm strength isn't strong enough. So but I got this 110 that flies really well for me. And uh, I'm not gonna get into the numbers because it's incredibly boring, but I throw this one disc that uh probably does the best for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Nice. Well, maybe you'll you'll have to show me the ways of the code.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

I wouldn't I wouldn't mind just taking you and just showing you the different. I mean, one of the what the truth of disc golf is it's it's difficult, but anyone can do it. So it's kind of kind of cool about it. But it it's it's very it's an interesting game. I I would show you at least the different discs. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Well, summer's coming, so yes, yes, it is. We'll do it. Yep. Otherwise, uh, yeah, it was a good weekend. We had our confirmation retreat at St. Bartholomew on Saturday.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

So I'm involved in the program and I missed it, and I was very sad about that. But uh you can tell us a little bit about it. If you opt out, you miss out. I I opted out and I missed uh you did. So I'm crying now. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Well, it was it was a lot of fun. So uh yeah, our parish and St. Bartholomew have had a relationship uh in different areas, but with confirmation, uh formation for our eighth graders the past kind of number of years. And yeah, we did a combined uh retreat. So Father Patrick Schultz, who's the pastor over, well, administrator that is, over at St. Bartholomew. Uh I know him real well. We were in seminary together, uh, different things, and it's kind of awesome to be uh kind of neighboring parishes now. And uh yeah, so we wanted to do a retreat day for our kids. So uh I gave a talk on who is the Holy Spirit, not what is the Holy Spirit, who is the Holy Spirit. And then he gave uh a talk on life in the spirit uh and everything. And yeah, I've had had uh had some games, some breakouts, some adorations, some mass and everything. Some sponsors show up and yeah, we had the so the kids and their sponsors. So it was it was pretty cool. So yeah, so keep uh keep our eighth graders and the ones at St. Bartholomew and uh we had some actually some kids from St. Albert the Great as well uh join us. So is there uh yeah, getting ready for this increased uh relationship, this increased giftedness of the Holy Spirit in their lives, you know, keep them in your in your in your prayers.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

So they're a great, great group of kids. I'm I'm very glad I'm involved with them. They're a great, great group.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

That's right. So that and then we had our parish mission over the weekend. Deacon Deacon John Green and his wife Carolyn uh visited us, and uh I think it was uh I think it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

It was very, very nice. I'm I'm uh glad I went. I'm uh there was a good good crowd there. It was it was just really, really enjoyable, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Yeah, yeah. So we'll uh for the podcast today we were thinking about reflecting on the mission, kind of sharing some of the thoughts on uh on what they shared with us. Uh I think we are gonna do that. We're gonna do that maybe for a later podcast because we'd like to uh reflect on Holy Week this time, considering this podcast will come out on uh the weekend of uh Palm Sunday and everything. But but so no, it was a good talk. He he talked to us. The title was uh Living Deeply in a in a shallow world. And I think he gave us you know some really deep uh insights and reflections, but also kind of practical elements of uh how exactly how to do that. So but we'll get to that at a later time. So but with that, we want to jump into Holy Week, uh, which is a really beautiful uh week and the the the life of the church and everything, and just to reflect upon, you know, what is the meaning of Holy Week, what are the days of Holy Week, what are some of the elements of really what we enter into, and I think it's the reality of it's not just um events that we're kind of celebrating, but it's mysteries we're entering into. You know, we talk about the the mysteries of faith. Uh, you know, when when the the priest uh will open mass, right, after before the closing prayer, or for before the closing prayer, before the opening prayer, right? Uh we talk about you know preparing our hearts to enter into these sacred mysteries. You know, those sacred mysteries is what, you know, ultimately uh the Eucharist and the Last Supper and and and whatever events the the readings are bringing up, the scriptures bring up, you know, that it's about these mysteries and we proclaim the mysteries in the consecration. Right, right. And I don't know if we've talked about this formally on the podcast, but you know, what is the sense of mystery? It's not a sense of you know something that's like a murder mystery.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

No, to my knowledge, we have not talked about mysteries, the mysteries, and we probably should sometime.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Yeah, but even uh uh in a de in a sense like just how Christians approach mystery, it's just it's this the react if this is a reality that goes beyond my understanding. You know, it's not like just an unsolvable, unsolvable puzzle, right? But it's uh this is a reality that goes beyond my understanding, and but I I open myself to it and I enter into it. So so Holy Week is about celebrating and entering into the mystery. So so yeah, well first maybe initial thoughts on on the Holy Week.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

I I think uh uh I'm gonna take us back a little bit when we when we did the podcast on uh Christmas, the second, the second we did a two-part on Christmas, I quoted Bishop Malesic, uh, and he he basically said, and we did the podcast on Christmas Eve. So it was a quote he made on Christmas Eve, and he said, We're standing on the cusp of a most epic celebration, which obviously is is Christmas. Um, and I view uh Holy Week as uh in a very, very similar way, but we're we're standing on the cusp of uh incredible transition between two different states, between two different worlds almost. Uh, and I think uh Holy Week plays out that transition very, very uh beautifully if you participate in it.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Right, right. Yeah, it's really in the sense of yeah, Easter, it's not just like simply a day on the calendar, right? It's not just a uh it's not just a holiday for Christians, it's it's something deeper than that. It's again about this deeper mystery of what God did insofar as he entered into life and death and and resurrection. And so the days of Holy Week help us to really prepare to celebrate that celebration. And the reality is that's kind of what we talked about with Lent. You know, why do we have Lent? It's really we need time to prepare our hearts for what this reality and celebration is. So so if Lent is, you know, this 40 days 40-day celebration, you know, Holy Week is like uh this uh uh this eight-day super Lent, you know, where we we really kind of double down on our prayer, our fasting, our almsgiving, our reflection, and everything.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

So I I I don't know who said this, I just share my reflection. If if you understand Holy Week, you understand your faith. If you participate in Holy Week, you actually enter into the salvation mystery. Well, I mean, I I I don't know who told me that. I didn't come up with that. That's okay. It it kind of just sets up this week and it's a it just makes it very exciting. It's just something to really look forward to. This uh participation and salvation mystery for sure.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Yeah, and I remember I mean my first encounters with Holy Week was uh when I was a kid, I don't remember. Uh maybe maybe I was twelve or thirteen uh at the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Kid like our Confermandi. Uh yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Okay. Yeah, I might have been seventh or eighth grade. And my my mom had a habit of going to Holy Week uh and things, and I joined her, you know, on one of those years. And yeah, there was just something different about it, like going to mass in the evening, and there was all these different things. And uh I don't know. When I was a kid, there was something that just kind of it sparked a curiosity, it sparked a um yeah, I don't know, just something in me. Like this was this was cool to do. This was I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

It was it was different and it it's something struck you, yeah. Right. So and it's stuck. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Now we do it all over here. Apparently it's stuck, yeah. So all right, so Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday. So we have that coming up, right? It's so it is right around the corner. So what what event does Palm Sunday uh reflect on?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Um Jesus entering into his city, right? Jerusalem to die.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

And they write, yeah, they greet him with palms and everything.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

It's the it's kind of a crass way to say it, but he enters into Jerusalem for the purpose of dying for us.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Right. Well, that's the reality. Yep. So and they they're they greet him with palms and he's riding on a donkey, and uh that's that that ties into the uh the Old Testament prophecies of you know of this being fulfilled and everything. And so at the Mass we know we start differently. We start at the back of the church or the gathering area of the church where all the palms are, and we bless the palms, and we uh read the gospel. Uh there's a there's the first gospel of uh Jesus riding in to Jerusalem uh and everything. And so we begin in a different way, and then you know the mass goes on, and then we eventually have the the passion narrative. And this is really, again, to emphasize the point of Holy Week is this entering into the into the mystery, entering into the story, really preparing our hearts for what will happen the next Sunday, which is the resurrection. You know, we have this entire reading of uh of the passion narrative.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

So the introduction of that mass is is interesting because we process into every mass. All creation is processing to the altar to worship God. But this procession on Palm Sunday is different, it's a little special and it's so much like that actual Sunday, because we're carrying palms and we're kind of profess processing in in a different way. I always love it.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Yeah, yeah. There's something different about this this mass in this week, right? Yes, very much so. So from there, then we uh have Monday and then we have Tuesday, uh, which in our diocese we celebrate uh the Chris Mass on Tuesday. So the Chris Mass is when uh the priests of the diocese gather with the bishop, uh, and then there's you know others, you know, uh, you know, lay people and you know people from parishes and and everything will gather with the bishop. I think traditionally it's it's had been done on the morning of of Holy Thursday, but in our diocese we moved it to Tuesday.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Is that that mass is open to the public, right? I mean it's just a regular it you can go to it if you'd like. I've never been to it. I think I might go. Yeah, it's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Uh well, disclaimer, uh, usually it's always at the cathedral. Okay. I yeah, it's somewhere else. Makes obvious sense, right? Because the connection to the bishop and the diocese and everything. So it's always at the cathedral. Okay. Unfortunately, uh this year they had some structural issues with the uh the parking garage at the cathedral. Uh so it's been kind of a uh kind of a situation to deal with. So, but because it's usually well the day starts with um uh us priests get together and we have like a a reflection and things. We get together for it's called the the presbyteral day of sanctification, if you will. That's a big word. Presbyteral means according to priests, uh and then day of sanctification. It's like a little retreat day. Always learning something. There you go. It's like a little retreat day for us to to gather together, and it's really cool because you you know, all the priests are together at the same time, and uh you get to see everyone uh that you don't know, you know, a lot of guys you don't get to see throughout the year. And so where is it gonna be? So this year is not at the at the cathedral, it's actually down at St. Sebastian's Parish uh in West Akron. So yeah, moving down to Akron.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Wow, good. Good for all those people down in Akron. Wow, that's that's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yeah, and it's pretty cool because I spent some time uh at St. Sebastian's or over the summers as a seminarian. I did maintenance work there and trimmed trees and painted fences and all kinds of stuff. Nothing is an accident. Yeah, you know, probably not. I know the the pastor there, Father Valanchek, uh, he's a good friend, good priest, and uh it's cool. It'll be really cool to be able to celebrate that there. So uh I'm assuming and hoping next year, obviously, to be back at the cathedral. Yeah. So yeah, we have uh so we have this day where the priests get together, we have um uh we have uh a talk and a meal, and then we celebrate the mass together. Uh and at the mass, it's uh the the bishop has referred it to referred to it as uh the church's uh yearly oil change, you know. So uh at that mass, first is uh the renewal of priestly promises. So as all the priests are together with the bishop, uh we renew our vows, uh our promises uh to priesthood. And then and then with that, then it's the the blessing of all the oil for the diocese for the entire year. So there's three different oils. Uh there's the oil of the sick, which we use for the anointing of the sick, the oil of catechumen, which is an oil used uh at baptism, and then is also used in the uh the OCIA process, you know, for those who are coming into the church. And then sacred chrism, which has a smell to it. So it's all all olive oil, but then sacred chrism has balsam, which is an aromatic uh kind of scent. And uh it has a unique smell to it, and it's really beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Is that the one for confirmation or not?

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Yeah. So it's with um uh baptism, yeah, confirmation and and holy orders. Okay, okay. So because there's there's an indelible mark with those sacraments, right? Indelible meaning permanent, like once it once you're anointed, you're anointed. You can't be you can't be unanointed. You can't be unbaptized. Right. So yeah, so those uh so those oils are blessed by the bishop uh at that mass, and he actually breathes onto all the uh all onto all the oils too. So there's prayers with them and he he stirs in the balsam, but he actually breathes with his own breath uh and the sign of a cross onto each of the oils. Wow. So it's pretty cool. So that's uh that's the chrism mass. Uh I think we moved with it was moved to Tuesday to give the opportunity, you know, for uh not just priests, but you know, more of the lay faithful to be able to gather you know for that mass. You know, if we did it on Thursday morning, it's hard, kind of hard for people to gather to prepare for and all, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

But the thought of having it on Thursday morning would be you know to receive the oils in the morning and then you'd take them and present them to the parish in the evening. So uh so then after that is uh Spy Wednesday. Spy Wednesday. I have not heard of that. I don't know if it's official, but okay. It's official enough.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Is this Father David or is this official?

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Uh no, it's it's kind of unofficially unofficial.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

Okay, all right. So let's let's hear it.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Spy Wednesday. So so there's different gospels for Holy Week, right? Obviously, as we have daily mass, there's the there's the different gospels. So um it's the story of Judas, you know, going off and the coins and all this. So it's been kind of named Spy Wednesday. Well, then no, that that makes a lot of sense. Okay. Yeah. So then from there we enter into uh Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So this is called uh the sacred triduum, you know, try meaning three, uh three days and everything. So yeah, what are your what what's what's the significance of kind of this this time within Holy Week?

SPEAKER_01 17:11

It starts a a three-day celebration that is in reality just one continual celebration.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

Right. Uh kind of like the Trinity, three and one. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's actually interesting. So for the Tritum, it's it's one Mass. It's one liturgy, right. So we uh because so it means that when we start on Holy Thursday, you know, we start mass in the normal way, the sign of the cross, right? But we actually the way the mass ends, we don't we don't end with a sign of the cross. We don't end with a blessing. Right. It just kind of ends and transitions. Uh so then really the celebration of Thursday, Friday, and then Saturday is one prayer. One liturgy, one prayerful act, right? So then there's not another sign of the cross until the end of the Easter Vigil Mass, right? So the end of the what would be the Easter Sunday Mass. So it's one celebration with three kind of parts, you know, the uh yeah, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

So I I say yes, but I I really have missed that. I mean, I really never focused on that until you just explained it. Oh, okay. Yeah. Especially that final blessing at the end. And it it's it's an interesting, uh, interesting concept. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

So yeah, it's this whole the whole thing we're entering into. So yeah, so with Holy Thursday, it's uh first off, it's it's uh traditionally called Mandy uh Thursday. Mandy. Mandy, yeah. Uh I look this up actually.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

You're gonna have to tell me, you're gonna have to explain Maundi to me.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Mandy uh comes from the Latin word mandatum. Okay. So so the mandate. Okay, okay. So this is where, so at Holy Thursday, we celebrate these two most important things, the priesthood and the Eucharist, right? As they're tied together. We don't have the Eucharist without the priesthood, right? Uh and the Eucharist is how we receive Jesus and then we go forth to love, right, which is his mandate.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

And in the Holy Thursday Mass, we the gospel is the washing of the feet, right? So it's not actually the the Last Supper narrative, but it it's a part of it. It's from uh I believe John's gospel, right? It's the washing of the feet. So that's the mandate, you know, that we, as we have had our feet washed, so we are showed to wash others' feet. In this kind of in particular image of sacrificial love. So mandatum or or mandi Thursday. So does anything strike you about that holy Thursday, the Mass?

SPEAKER_01 19:39

I I think it just uh opens up to the the denseness of that evening because so much is going on right that evening that that is is uh I mean ending up in the gar garden and all, but it's uh it's a very, very moving time for me.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah. Yeah, you made the comment too about like how you know, in a sense the mass began on Holy Thursday. Or on uh well yes, but it began on at the Last Supper, right? And then really hasn't stopped since then.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

Right. I I mean you you can say it it it concludes at the Easter vigil, but no, it it's going on right now, continually in heaven, forever and ever.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Right. Yeah, so we s we enter into and celebrate the fact that God's given us these these gifts in the Eucharist of the priesthood and all that, and then the mass will yeah, again, not end in the in the typical way, but so it ends with a procession that we process and then we go in over into the chapel area, and then there's the altar of repose. So then Jesus uh remains there in the ta in a uh an a separate tabernacle for um I think we're gonna do it until about 10 30 uh in the evening this year. Okay because actually people will have a have a tradition of kind of going to different altars of repose at different parishes. Really? Yeah. Within the past couple of years, people have been been doing that. I'm just like, yeah, having that as a kind of a sacred time of like going to pray with Jesus at these different places and kind of traveling with him, and it's kind of like a pilgrimage kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 21:12

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

So uh so yeah, you have the altar of repose and everything uh where Jesus is, and then afterwards, um you know, and after Holy Thursday Mass, the altar is stripped, uh so that all the linens are taken off, the candles are taken away. So really on on Friday there's really nothing out. There's nothing there, and and then Jesus goes into uh the the safe actually in the in the sacristy. But so uh because we still could need you know Eucharist uh for people who may be sick or dying in the in the in the time, you know, on Friday, but uh but then that gets into Friday, so and then Good Friday we obviously have the the celebration of the Lord's uh passion, right? And all that. And so yeah, the Mass doesn't start with you know the typical you know prayer. And sign of the cross and all these things, the priests will come in, priests and deacons will come in and prostrate, which is uh they will lay on the ground uh if they're able to.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

No, we're we're talking about Good Friday or Thursday? Friday. Friday. There is no mass on Good Friday. Correct. Right. Right. You're so this is like the Did I say Mass? You I I I don't know. I I will have to go back, but Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

Well to clarify, so yeah, maybe to go to go back. Right. So there's no Mass on There's no Mass on Good Friday. Mark, why would why would we not have Mass on Good Friday? Wouldn't it make sense that like on the day that we how could you not have a Mass on this holiest of holy days?

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Acknowledging the fact that you know, and uh there is no Mass on Good Friday because the sacrifice is actually taking place on that day, so you don't really need to represent it.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Right. Um so we have communion, so it's uh it's a service, right? We have we have communion uh at the the liturgy, you know, but a consecration doesn't happen. So because the consecration doesn't happen, it's not actually a mass, you know. Right. It's a it's a celebration, uh liturgical celebration. Right. Uh so yeah, you didn't make that up. Actually, I googled it, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:06

And when you got it from you, you fact-checked me. I did fall. It was interesting because I had a conversation with Father, and I told him I had to go to a mass on a day we were gonna maybe do a podcast, and he said, and he was talking about doing it on Good Friday, and I'm saying, no, I'm going to this mass. And he's like, What do you mean? You there there are no masses on Good Friday? And I'm like, What are we what day are we talking about? I was a little confused. That would that no, I was confused. It was anyway, it was it was a uh comical confusion. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

But uh, you know, but to emphasize to clarify this point, so St. Thomas Aquinas, uh, he wrote in the Summa Theologica, which is a big book of theology, he wrote the figure ceases on the advent of the reality. So the figure being, you know, our the consecration uh of the Eucharist, you know, being the figure ceases on the advent of the reality. This is the day that Christ is giving himself, uh is being sacrificed. Uh but the sacrament is a figure and a representation of our Lord's passion, and therefore on the day in which the Lord's Passion is recalled as it was really accomplished, the sacrament is not consecrated. So yeah, so it's we're we're entering into the mystery now uh and everything. So yeah, it's not a mass, but we we still have we still have communion. But the one of the main focuses of the Good Friday liturgy is the uh veneration of the cross. So that we have the cross uh in the church and people will come up to uh to either kiss or touch or uh bow to you know the cross. You know, representing certainly Jesus' own sacrifice and his own love. Uh but then I think in a real way uh reflecting on our own death, we're reflecting on our own call to sacrificial love in our lives, and I think we can identify different places uh in which you know we're we're called to do that, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Right. So then Good Friday, and I think I think of all the liturgies, actually, Good Friday is probably my favorite in some sense. It's just because it is so different. Uh there's a solemnness to it, and I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

No, it is. I think it is the differentness because uh Holy Saturday's Mass is really cool, but or I'm I'm sorry, uh Holy Thursday's Mass is really cool, but it's it's a mass, and we do masses a lot, but Friday is different.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

Yeah, yeah, just in what it is and and yeah, everything. But I mean it's all beautiful, it's all good. But so with that, we have Good Friday. So then it ends in silence, and there's again there's no there's no closing prayer, no blessing. Uh well, there's closing prayer, there's not a blessing on a sign of the cross. And then we go to Holy Saturday. And this is kind of um, I don't know, we don't really talk a lot about Holy Saturday and kind of kind of wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Holy Saturday is is kind of miss miss it's it's confused in a lot of Catholics' minds. I think we need to shed a little light on it sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yeah, so Holy Saturday, there's actually a really beautiful reading which I can attach. Uh I can attach the link to it. There's a from an ancient homily that was given. It's the it's the reading for Holy Saturday in the liturgy of the hours. So uh the bravery that priests and religious pray, but the holy church can pray. Uh there's a there's a particular reading on that morning that's really beautiful. I'll I'll I'll uh share that. But really, Holy Saturday, it's um it's uh about the harrowing of hell. You know, really in the creed, every week, you know, we we say that you know Christ descended into hell, that the power of his resurrection wasn't just known on earth, it was known everywhere, right? Right. And uh the the salvation that Christ offered uh was extended to was extended to all, right? So all those who came before this moment in time, you know, right uh that Christ's salvation was extended to them right and everything too. So Adam and Eve, right, that he he redeems them.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

Right. We we spend the day in silence, but Jesus is working. I mean, even in the darkness, redemption is is happening. You mentioned Adam and Eve, and I I heard the expression that that Jesus is pulling Adam and Eve out of their graves on Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Right. On Holy Saturday, God doesn't cease to exist, right? He doesn't cease to exist, but he Jesus does enter into death, right? The separation of body and soul, right? Yes. And so he goes to the place where all those who had gone before him entered into, and then he extends salvation to them, right? Right. So uh we can we can't really say much more on that time-wise now, but that could be a place to research, right? So as we're talking about things, we're just unveiling kind of stuff, but you know, feel free for the invitation to go deeper uh and to research more into some of these things. Right. And then uh then we have obviously Easter Sunday, uh, which is celebrated first, you know, at the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday night, uh, which is a really beautiful uh celebration, and there's lots of parts to it. It begins uh with darkness and and light and the paschal fire, you know, those who are coming into the church, you know, uh this is the this is kind of the crown jewel of their of their discernment uh and their coming into the church, and it's really kind of a beautiful moment for them uh to experience. And and then we have you know all the readings of of you know how God has worked throughout salvation history, and then we have the sacraments celebrating baptism, uh confirmation, and eucharist for those coming into the church. And it's really yeah, it's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

It's been called the greatest liturgy of the entire liturgical year. It is. And and I I would agree that because uh without it we'd not we wouldn't be Christians. It's yeah, it's it's the night when uh death dies and life explodes.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Right. And it starts uh in the evening, you know, uh at nine o'clock this year. I think the bishop uh uh gave the the rec uh the uh permission to do it after eight forty-five. So it actually does change from each year as to when you can do it. Really? Because it's when it's when the setting of the sun happens.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

Ah, and Easter is at a different time of the year. Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

So some parishes will do it at different times. Uh 845 is as when you can you can do it after that point. We're just doing it at nine to be consistent, you know. Yeah. But uh yeah, it's actually the changing of the uh it's actually the uh yeah, the changing of the day. So in the Jewish tradition, the setting of the sun was actually the beginning of the next day.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

So that's why we have vigil masses, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

That's why liturgically it's Sunday, even though it's on calendar, it's Saturday. So it has to be after the sun sets. Right. So that's why we have masses after four o'clock. You know, obviously the the sun has not set, but you know, on Saturday, I know what the on the normal Saturday drives it. Right. Right. On the normal Saturday uh and things, but uh yeah, so but it's really uh really a beautiful liturgy, and then obviously we have Sunday, which is you know Christ's resurrection.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

So any other thoughts on just Holy Week and everything? Just one I I want to share because I'm gonna do it myself. Take the time to face the cross, look at the cross during the week. I think a lot of times it's it's difficult to do that. We need to look at the cross often because uh of of what is happening that that week. Yeah. It's it's a good practice to get into. And I'll I I wear a medal and I will replace it on Palm Sunday with the cross that I'll just have for the entire week. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Yeah, doing something in Holy Week to make it different. Yeah. You know, make it like a little retreat week, you know, in some way. Maybe you know, pressing into our fasts even more intentionally, maybe going without, you know, uh technology especially and going without kind of extra things so we can actually focus on really kind of what is happening this week. What are we exactly getting ready for, you know? Yep. Uh and then with that, you know, we're not gonna read uh the the gospel for this week because it is the passion narrative uh and everything. And I would just encourage us though, you know, to obviously be at mass and and really listen to the passion narrative. There's so many powerful movements and moments, you know, kind of within that that story of, you know, from the Last Supper to uh Jesus' crucifixion. And I I I think it's really something to sit with, right? This is not just a story, but is uh speaks to us. It's God's word, right? And so we're not gonna read it here, but I would encourage us, you know, to come to to Palm Sunday Mass and to to really listen. But then maybe throughout the week, take a different section and and read it. And just kind of meditate on, you know, kind of what's happening here, what is God speaking to me. So that could be a way of entering into the week, you know, with the scriptures and with the scenes and the moments and the and the people, you know, imagining ourselves in this story. And I think that could be a maybe an interesting way to entering into Holy Week differently.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

Particularly Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before you start the the Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

So well anyway, there it is. So yeah, just uh we want to have a blessed holy week this week, and I think entering into it and talking about it, yeah, I know, it's good.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

So all right, with that any uh any prayer intentions? Of course. I always have a prayer intention to uh today. I'd like to uh pray that that God grants me and all Catholics uh his grace to to fully participate in and understand uh this week, this holy week.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

Yeah, and I'm gonna just offer prayer for anyone coming into the church, you know, this year, uh parishes all around the uh around the diocese. I think we had like uh a thousand people uh that gathered with the bishop a couple weeks ago for the rite of election. That is good news. And everything. So yeah, God is working. It's pretty cool. Uh but we have a lot of a lot of Catholics, you know, a lot of lot of people coming into the church and discerning God's uh God's call there. So just prayers for them that this time may be fruitful uh and safe and kind of all those things as they prepare their hearts for this um this great move in their life. So all right, let's pray. Father, son, and holy spirit. Amen. Amen. Good and gracious God, we give we just give you thanks and praise for the gift of this day uh of our lives, of your presence, of this holy week that we are entering into. May you be with us and open our minds and our hearts to your presence uh in the mysteries of this week. And we just give you thanks and praise uh for the gift of your church and the gift of these liturgies and being with us. We ask this all in your name. Amen. Amen. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. All right, everyone. Have a good uh have a good day, have a do have a good week, happy holy week, uh, and we'll see you on Easter.