Holy Week

We who have been Catholic most of our lives tend to not expect any surprises during the week that begins with Palm Sunday. We know we’re going to do a lot of standing and kneeling, a bit of fasting, and then a lot of feasting. We know the…

1. Attend the Chrism Mass  At Mass on the morning of Holy Thursday or another day near Easter, each diocese’s bishop consecrates the Holy Chrism that will be used throughout the year. Two other oils are also blessed on this occasion; the…

Did Jesus really rise from the dead — or was it just a lovely story devised by his disciples to keep his teachings alive?  St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain” (1 Corinthians 15:17). If it…

He took a towel and tied it around his waist. (John 13:4) After my mother died we divvied up her things. One thing I wanted badly was one of her aprons. You know the kind: large bib, long strings, and at least one pocket. Now every time I…

‘Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.' Then Judas,
 his betrayer, said in reply, ‘Surely it is not I, Rabbi?’ (Matthew 26:24-25). Two awed apostles, two different…

Spanning the gap between the late medieval world and the so-called modern age, a phenomenon called the devotio moderna reshaped European religious sensibilities. A variety of pious interests characterize this loose movement, which strove to…

‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’ (John 13:27) Humans instinctively seek to preserve their lives. We marvel and give honors to persons who put their life in jeopardy to save another. Jesus steps out of the very human pattern of…

Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair. (John 12:3) Many years ago, I remember passing a florist shop and thinking, “Wouldn’t it be great to give…

'Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.' (Matthew 26:41) We are beginning the most spiritually moving and powerful week of the Church year. To me, this week has always felt different. During the rest of the year, we are fully…

With blessed palms we enter our church Sunday focused in faith on Jesus, the suffering servant of God. Sunday’s liturgy plunges us into the mystery of his sacred journey to Calvary. Listening to the reading of the Passion, we hear of Jesus’…