In place of the weekly Wednesday cultural conference at Maryknoll, we will celebrate the Eucharist with Fr. Juan Zuñiga, one of the priests in residence at the mission center. Father Juan has given us a preview of his homily for tomorrow. We have reached the end of the forty days of Lent, during which Christians fast, pray, and give of themselves to prepare for the Church’s commemoration of the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Father Juan invites disciples to begin the Easter season giving thanks to God for being present in our daily lives, en la vida cotidiana. He hopes we have drawn near to God through the Word revealed through Scripture and through our sharing of life with our sisters and brothers, especially the needy.
We hear in the Gospels how the disciples of Jesus prepared to celebrate the great feast of Passover. They were keeping the great feast that commemorates the salvation of God that liberated the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Imagine, then, how surprising Jesus’ words must have been to them as they were gathered in anticipation of a new liberation from oppression: “One of you will betray me.”
Father Juan believes we can say that human betrayal sets the events of Holy Week in motion. However, the good news of Holy Week is that betrayal is not the last word about the human condition. Rather, the last word is the mercy of God and the love of God that we receive every day of our lives. This is the same love that pours forth from Jesus to the point of death on the cross. So, especially in these next few days, we who follow Jesus return, one more time, with a grateful heart to the loving work of God in our lives. It is the same work and the same love without limits that is fully revealed for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. May it be so, he concludes.
The brothers at Convento San Francisco have been keeping busy with Holy Week activities and preparations. All classes have been canceled for the student friars. On Palm Sunday, preceding the 6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Masses, they held processions with palm branches, beginning at the corner of Calle 25 de Mayo and Avenida Heroinas and moving into the church. Today the brothers were visiting the retreat house in Tarata and leading prayers with the people of God. Tomorrow there will be no 7 p.m. Mass, as there will be a reconciliation service and priests available to hear confessions through the evening. On Holy Thursday we begin the Easter Triduum with the Lord’s Supper, the commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist and Jesus’ command to love one another as signified by the washing of feet. There will be one Mass at 5 p.m. For the remainder of the night, Templo San Francisco will be open for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, with the friars keeping vigil until midnight. On Good Friday a solemn Way of the Cross will begin at 4 a.m. through the streets of the city. Yes, four in the morning. Insomniacs unite! The celebration of the Passion of Jesus is at 3 p.m. Then all is quiet through Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil begins at 7 p.m. There are no catechumens receiving the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist this year, but the great vigil is sure to be no less solemn and beautiful. Then we have the regular Mass schedule at Templo San Francisco on Sunday: 6:30 a.m., 8 a.m., and 7 p.m.
During these holy days, I keep all my Christian sisters and brothers who walk humbly with God in the footsteps of Jesus in prayer. I remember prayerfully my Jewish friends who observe the Passover feast and keep the memory of the living God’s power to rescue us from slavery and sin. To all people everywhere, I wish peace and good things in the name of the Holy One who made us, who knows us, who loves us, and who wishes to be glorified in our lives of lived faith, hope, and charity.
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