Holy Week

So this Lent I decided to do something different.

I decided to try.

What does that mean exactly? Well it’s easy to not care.  Catholics are notorious for not being 100% about their faith, which is really too bad.  I admit I’m guilty of passing Lent and Easter without giving it much thought.  Sure, I said I would give things up for Lent like any good Catholic, but it didn’t mean much.  This time, I wanted to really challenge myself.  My commitment for this Lent was to go to mass more.

This Lenten resolution had a few effects.  First, it gave me time to think.  Think about things that matter.  Like my life.  My happiness.  Where I’m going.  Love.  And I had the opportunity to connect this back to the Scripture, to the message of Christ and the Church. 

My friend has been struggling with similar questions in her own life and I feel like my meditations have helped us piece together our ideas.

Second, my time in mass has given me the opportunity to spend time with quality people.  Even though mass isn’t a particularly social affair, sitting next a friend and celebrating liturgy together is really special.  You find out something about their character.  I thank each and every person who went to mass with me this Lent.

I also enjoyed going to several different masses on campus.  Seeing students celebrate mass in their own way inspires me to appreciate the service even more.  Log chapel mass was so charming and intimate; I will certainly go again in the future.  And the Basilica was beyond incredible.

The Basilica was the stage for the third gift I received this Lent.  I really felt my spirit come alive this Lent, especially as I attended Holy Week at the Basilica.  In total, I attended Palm Sunday, Stations, Holy Thursday, Tenebrae, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil mass.  It has truly been a special week.  I feel like I didn’t really understand the truth about Catholicism until this week.  Like perhaps I had missed some secret about our Church.  You see, I have an obsession with symbols and rituals.  I have an active imagination and I like to pretend magic exists and we can master it.  Well you can imagine my surprise when I found out magic occurs during Holy Week.  Of course, magic would be a poor description; it’s more like a miracle.  A miracle of faith. 

My personal miracle began during Tenebrae.  I managed to feel frightened.  The candles were disappearing.  Until there were none.  And it was lonely!  Not to mention how unsettling it was during strepitus.  I left the Basilica relieved that at least one candle was burning.

Good Friday managed to continue the suspense as I imagined a world without Christ.  I can understand how the apostles could have been scared out of their mind when the crucifixion happened.  It certainly didn’t help that all of us are at least a little responsible for Christ’s death.

I was grateful when Easter vigil arrived.  The gradual lighting of the candles was awesome and I was glad to be with such a great community.  The happiness of the ceremony was a wonderful contrast to the solemnity of the previous week.  I left the mass feeling elated.

It’s true when they say you have to die a little to be reborn.  I finally feel ready for Easter tomorrow.

I think what really made this Lent special is that I decided to stop fighting God.  I have always struggled with faith and believing in God.  But now I can’t even imagine a world without God.

Even if I do end up forgetting God, the good news is that Lent comes around every year to remind us.

In the mean time, I have this blog to remember all the little gifts from God.