Destinations

As winter exhales its final blustery breath, we look forward with anticipation to the changes just ahead.  But be careful!  Our longing for the freshness and color and life that these days will inevitably bring can block our view of the most amazing renewal of all: our own transformation as people of faith walking the journey of Holy Week.

The holiest of weeks invites us into deep companionship with Jesus - and into the incredible gift of his Divine Mercy.  Don't miss it!  I know that many of you will be hitting the road or the skies for wonderful family adventures during our Easter break.  As you make your final travel checklists, be sure to include the most fulfilling experience of the year on your itinerary.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday this weekend.  Lent ends on Wednesday, and on Thursday, we enter into the Triduum, or "Three Days" that recall Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection.  We are so blessed that we can join Christians anywhere in the free world for these very same rituals: The Mass of the Last Supper on Thursday night; remembrance of Jesus' suffering and death in the early afternoon of Good Friday; and our celebration of the resurrection at the Easter Vigil after sundown on Holy Saturday - a high liturgy complete with the blessing of fire and water, the story of salvation history, and the first, grand A*******s of the season!

This morning, an unknown visitor rang our school bell looking for assistance finding a church with a sunrise service on Easter - so she would be able to implement her Sunday morning travel plans.  Even in a Catholic community, it seems that this confident prioritization of lived faith is too rare.  So here's your challenge:  Don't be shy about joining with a church community wherever you find yourself during these high holy days.  It's your faith.  It's your destination.  Live it - and pass it on.

Wishing you safe travels and a deeply fulfilling Easter season.