A REFLECTION FOR THE WEEK THAT’S IN IT

Holy Week Reflection

One of the most evocative aspects of Holy Week for me, is the period of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the altar of repose following the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. In the darkness of evening in a Church lit by flickering candles and attended by a few faithful souls, one has a sense of being with Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. It always touches my heart.

Once that period of prayer is ended the Blessed Sacrament is taken away to a safe place and the usual residence of Christ in the tabernacle temporarily ceases. From the night of Holy Thursday until the Easter vigil, the door of the tabernacle lies open. There is something about that open door. Is it an empty openness or an expectant openness?

Empty, in the sense, that the Lord has left his Temple, the place where his glory abides. Something seems not right. Even the sanctuary lamp is quenched. Or is it expectation, we are waiting with hope for the Lord to return, to take his place again, and the door lies open to welcome him home?

Holy Week does that to us. It raises unsettling, contradictory, paradoxical questions. It also elicits in us emotions and feelings that pull us in different directions

It is a graced time, a time to let go and let God guide and lead us through these high holy days as we follow Christ through his passion, death and resurrection. We at the Pastoral Centre wish you a blessed Holy Week and a joyful Easter!

Fr. Ultan McGoohan, Diocesan Director of Pastoral Services