05 April 2020
From the Desk of Father Raaser
 
Welcome to Holy Week 2020.  It may be the strangest of weeks, which we will ever live through.  Palm Sunday without palms; the Archdiocese has requested that we not distribute palms at this time, because of the spreading of the virus and there is no safe and secure way of giving out the palms.
 
What will Holy Thursday be like without the Mass, the Eucharistic procession and the beauty of the Repository, and the visiting of the 5 or 7 Churches?
 
What will Good Friday be like without the Stations of the Cross prayed through our town, or the veneration of the Cross, or hearing the Passion of Saint John, or seeing our teenagers in the Passion Play at night?
 
What will Holy Saturday be like without the Great Vigil of Easter?  The blessing of the new fire, the candles with the new Paschal candle, the singing of the Exsultet, the beautiful readings of Scripture showing the love of God through the centuries, waiting, the Solemn chanting and return of the Alleluia?  The renewal of our baptismal promises and the new water? What about those who have been preparing to be baptized or welcomed into the fullness of the Faith?  
 
What will Easter be like without, the Easter flowers, the family dinner, new clothes?  Not to mention the Easter Bunny?
 
Welcome to Holy Week 2020, the strangest, but I have a feeling that it may be the holiest of weeks.
 
Today begins the most dramatic week, which Christians started to celebrate since the second century. By the fourth century all the days of Holy Week were established.
 
In German, this week is called  Karwoche from the Old High German,  kara, which means “worry”, “trouble.”  Our English word ‘care’ comes from this word.  Full of trouble and worry are the events of this week.  But this week started out in triumph and so promising, and how quickly it turned.  In just five day’s time, the ecstasy of welcoming the “Son of David, He who comes in the Name of the Lord” turns to a sense of dread with shouts of “crucify him”.  On that troubled Friday (karfeitag) He is hanging on the wood of the cross, three hours later is dead and then buried. If that were the end of the story, it would be the greatest tragedy ever told.  But we know that it was not the end of the story, there was something about to happen where hopelessness is broken, fear and dread are no more, and darkness gives way to the light of a new day—Easter Sunday-the greatest story ever told.
 
Certainly, for many of our family members, our neighbors, our world, these times are really a karwoche.  It has been a troubled few months, with more to come.  
 

Nothing can or ever will replace the solemnity, the beauty, and the richness of the Holy Week ceremonies. The Masses and ceremonies, which took centuries and saints to create will be so different this year.  The lack of us gathering, as a family, to worship and to recall the moments of our salvation will be moments of pain and true suffering. 

   
So what can we do?  
 

• Go to Confession.  Confessions will be held on Holy Saturday morning, 10:00-11:30—no face-to-face confession; please stay behind the screen and keep a safe distance waiting on line.
• Watch the live streaming of our Holy Week Services:

 
You can find the live stream on our Facebook page, (The Church of St Margaret of Antioch) or on our website, smparish.com, click the “F” on the upper right, which will take you to Facebook page. If you wear ear phones or ear pods, the audio is better.

Even though you are not able to be physically present at the liturgies of Holy Week —the Church is still publicly at prayer and God is still being worshipped. All the baptized share in the spiritual fruits and graces of each and every Mass.  You should unite yourself and your personal sacrifices to the sacrifice of Christ.  Each Mass is an act of worship with Christ the High Priest, who offers Himself again in a bloodless manner to the Father. A Spiritual Communion can strengthen us; we can receive all the fruits of the Mass.

• You can pray the Rosary as a family concentrating on the Sorrowful Mysteries (Agony in the Garden, Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning of Thorns, Carrying of the Cross and The Crucifixion).  Contemplating the Lord’s passion and death. 
• You can pray the Stations of the Cross: either in Church or thanks to two parishioners who years ago made our outdoor stations, you can pray them outside.  Prayer books for the Stations are in the Church on the Prayer Table.
• Spend time with Sacred Scripturethis Holy Week. Take the missalette and read and pray the readings for the day, especially the Passion of St. Matthew or Saint John, or the seven Old Testament Readings of the Easter Vigil.
• Pray together as a family; bring the children to Church to visit the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, light a candle. There are so many people to pray for: the dying and their loved ones, the health care workers, the pharmacists, the respiratory therapists, the scientists, the first responders, their families, government officials, add to the list…