The Easter Vigil, which takes place on the evening of Holy Saturday, April 15, is the high point of the passion and resurrection of Jesus. With a rich display of symbols, rites and readings, the church in worship expresses her faith in the mystery that brings her into being.
As Kevin and Rebecca Gitzen look forward to becoming Catholics at the Easter vigil, a unique part of their journey was the recent baptisms of their infant sons.
During the veneration, a priest or deacon holds a wooden crucifix while the faithful process to him at the foot of the sanctuary, as if to receive communion. There each person reverences the crucifix with a kiss or a bow.
Hundreds of faithful will take part in the annual Good Friday Faith Walk on April 14. The outdoor devotion will begin at various points across Anchorage with groups walking and praying the 14 Stations of the Cross. As they wind through city streets, the participants will meditate on the steps Jesus Christ took through his Passion and death on the very first Good Friday.
Except for the resurrection on Easter, Holy Thursday is possibly one of the most important, complex, and profound days of celebration in the Catholic Church. Holy Thursday celebrates the institution of the Eucharist as the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and the institution of the sacrament of the priesthood.
Under the guise of compassion, a physician assisted suicide bill (House Bill 54) has been filed by Representative Harriet Drummond in the Alaska Legislature. This so-called “Right to Die” bill is nothing less than state sponsored homicide. Homicide is the killing of one human being by another.
Anchorage Archbishop Paul Etienne has a very active blog. This week he is sharing his Holy Week reflections and homilies as the Catholic Church begins the high holy days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter vigil Mass on Saturday night.
Palm Sunday is April 9, the last Sunday in Lent. This day marks the beginning of Holy Week and a time when Catholics commemorate the triumphant arrival of Christ into Jerusalem, just days before his crucifixion.
I pray that your Lenten journey has been fruitful, and that you join us this Holy Week and Easter in celebrating these great moments in the life, ministry, Passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus. He still walks among us. Keep following him!
The grittiness of Catholicism, in which Lent began with priests etching black ashen crosses on the foreheads of a billion or so men, women and children, will culminate in the holiest week and the grandest liturgy of the year — the Easter Vigil Mass.