Celebrating Holy Week

Vincent Sherlock

• Publisher: Messenger Publications
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781788123761
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Rituals & Practice

In Celebrating Holy Week, Vincent Sherlock reflects on each day of the Easter Triduum. Opening up his own experience of the Triduum to the reader, Sherlock offers a detailed account of the significance and meaning of each day of the Triduum.He makes church and vestments speak, lingers on fonts that go empty and are then full again and turns the absence of song into a lyric of reflection. Urging us always to notice what is going on around us during this high point of the Christian year, Sherlock leaves no one out of the experience of the Triduum. In Celebrating Holy Week, Sherlock reminds us that we are all like the man with the pitcher of water who unknowingly guided the disciples to the place of the Last Supper, we are all a part of Easter too.

GOOD FRIDAY

Did you ever read the obituaries, maybe online or in the newspaper, or hear them on your local radio station? You learn of the death of someone you knew or had some connection with in the past. You begin to wonder should you go to the funeral. Then the questions begin. ‘Do I need to go?’ ‘Would I be missed?’ The mind is leaning towards ‘no’ but the heart is still tugging. There are many good reasons not to attend and yet, somewhere within, there is a feeling that it is the right thing to do.

Good Friday sometimes seems like that. There was a time when everything closed, even the television just displayed a test card or maybe a religious image and played music, but the regular programming was suspended for the day. Shops too and businesses all closed or at least closed in the afternoon to allow for attending at religious ceremonies. Of course, that has all changed but the reality of the day remains. This is the day Jesus died. This is the day he gave everything he had for us and somewhere there is a call going out to respect and respond to this hour.

So, do we decide to attend that funeral? Chances are we do and, even if it means changing plans, usually the feeling is of having done the right thing in attending. Maybe a family member looked at us or held our hand in a way that said; ‘It means so much that you’re here, thanks for coming’.

Make the decision then! Decide to attend the ceremonies in your parish on Good Friday or maybe to attend later in the day if work commitments won’t allow for being there at 3pm. It is the decision to be there that matters, and what happens when you go is, in many ways, out of your hands. It is your gift to the ones being supported. Today it is your gift to the Lord. Rest assured, it is a gift that will be received with open arms – the outstretched arms on Calvary’s cross.

It is a liturgically rich day. On entering the church, you may well stretch out your hand to the Holy Water font, only to find it empty. Waters will be blessed again at the Easter Vigil but, until then, the font is dry – a reminder that something very different is happening. You will notice the open and empty tabernacle (where space allows for reserving the Blessed Sacrament elsewhere) and again this is a reminder that Jesus’ passion and death is being recalled and, without him, there is no Eucharistic celebration. The church will be sparse in it décor – no flowers, bright banners or sanctuary lamp. All pointing towards a sombre mood and the sharing of grief.

Today no music will be heard as the priest and ministers enter the church. In silence, the procession will go to the foot of the altar where the priest (dressed in red vestments) will prostrate – lie face down at that same hour Jesus ‘gave up the Spirit’ and died on the cross. On his ordination day too, the priest, lay flat like this while the church prayed for him in the Litany of The Saints. It is a sign of submission and of acknowledging the power of God’s hand for us to find our feet and direction.

Today’s Liturgy has three distinct parts:

(i) The Liturgy of the Word: this takes us through readings from the Old and New Testament that point to the why of our gathering today and to the proclamation of the account of the passion given in John’s Gospel. You may well have the text in your hand but, in many ways, the words you read and hear today are words that are very familiar to you. Maybe listen and leave the reading until later. Listen for a phrase that you’d not noticed before – maybe Jesus’ early question to the approaching guards, ‘Who are you looking for?’ (Jn 18:4). Peter’s threefold denial (Jn 18:15–26) and with that, some thought around how we might do likewise. Hear the crowd chant ‘Crucify him’ (Jn 19:15) and reflect on how easy it is to get caught up in a mob culture. Left to ourselves, we would hardly shout for a man’s death but when lost in the hostile crowd, the negative word can all too easily be found and heard from our lips. Keep an ear out for Pilate’s ‘Truth, what is that?’ (Jn 18:38) or Jesus saying, ‘I am thirsty’ (Jn 19:28). If you can hear some of these lines today, rather than feel you must read them, it is likely they will sit more deeply with you. A lot will be said and there is a lot to listen to but maybe there is just a line, even a word, that is intended for you today. Just be open to it.

Alongside the reading of the Scriptures, this part of today’s Liturgy includes some prayers for the world and its many needs. Prayers will be offered for religious and civil leaders, for those who have no faith, those who share other faiths, the Jewish people, those preparing for baptism and others. There is much emphasis placed on these prayers but, from your point of view, you are here to be part of the praying community. This is, in many ways, what you are bringing to this afternoon – a willingness to engage with faith and to be a key part of it through the sharing of prayer.

(ii) The Veneration of The Cross: a few years ago, a woman told me that she was going to the church on Good Friday and her young daughter asked her, ‘Mammy, do you think I’ll be able to reach the cross this year?’ The mother was amazed by the question and then realised that her daughter had been by her side the year before but was not tall enough to kiss the cross. Reaching the cross has, I think, something to do with an awareness of its meaning in our lives. Chances are we are all reaching for it in some way or another – trying to understand more of it – some, sadly from the vantage point of the cross itself as they struggle with personal illness or the illness of a family member. The answer, we are called to believe, lies in some understanding of the cros...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Palm Sunday
• The Triduum
• Holy Thursday
• Good Friday
• Holy Saturday
• The Easter Vigil
• An Easter Sunday Story
• Conclusion
• They Wondered