April 13, 2003
Living Lent
Hi,
Today is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week. It’s ironic that Manny and I are having our most meaningful Lent yet, here in America , home of Wall Street (=greed) and Hollywood (=artifice). Here, Lent is not just Ash Wednesday, meatless Fridays, and Holy Week. It’s really 6 weeks of preparation for the Paschal Mystery. And we’ve had totally new experiences that I’d like to share with you.
Parish Mission – this ran over 4 consecutive evenings from March 30, Sunday to April 2, Wednesday, from 7:30 to 9:00. It was like a mini-retreat and the theme was on the Healing Sacraments – Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, and the Eucharist. The preacher was a Dominican, who is a very good friend of our parish priest and he had a running commentary on their exploits as seminarians and agonizing over whether to be a religious or a diocesan priest. Anyway, he preached very well, and talked about the special graces given by the three sacraments. In Reconciliation, apart from forgiveness of sins, the sacramental grace that fortifies us against a relapse to sin, a spiritual medicine that not only heals but also strengthens. In Anointing of the Sick, the grace to strengthen our relationship with God. And he defined the Eucharist as a Sacred Banquet where we partake of the Lord to celebrate His Paschal Mystery, share in His graces, and look forward to the fulfillment of the promise of the eternal glory that is to come. He referred to the Eucharist as a “spiritual tease” – each reception of the Eucharist instills in us a greater longing to receive it again and again. And even then, this pales in comparison with what we will receive in heaven.
Just as an aside. When we were attending the parish mission, I had to go to the office early so I could leave early and catch the evening schedule. So Manny and I heard mass either at noon, or in the evening if the mission schedule had a mass. But on the last day, Wednesday, Manny heard mass twice – in the morning at St. Michael’s where we usually hear mass before I go to work, and again in the evening since he said the intentions are different. So the Thursday after parish mission ended, we went back to St. Michael’s for mass. As we came in, there was an old lady in black wearing a black veil. She had just lit a votive candle, and when she saw us, she approached us and came up to me. Then she asked, “Where were you yesterday? I saw your husband and you weren’t with him. I was afraid you might be sick so I prayed for you.” Then she turned to Manny, and said, “You are a very pious man. I wanted to approach you yesterday to ask about your wife.” Then she addressed us both and said, “Please pray for my sons. They’re both in the Navy. Tony is in California, and Jorge is in Ohio.” Manny and I were so overwhelmed by her kindness. And I thought this is really Communion of Saints at work. Imagine praying for us complete strangers, and to think we never noticed her before. And strangely enough, we haven’t seen her again, though I have tried to watch out for her.
The other wonderful experience we had was the Seder Meal which was held last Wednesday. It’s a commemoration of the Passover meal of the Jews before they left Egypt. The meal consists of the following:
Unleavened bread (Matzoh) called “bread of affliction” because it recalls the unleavened bread prepared for the hasty flight by night from Egypt; in our case, these were square crackers measuring about 8 inches on each side.
Bitter herbs (Moror) is a reminder of the bitterness of slavery and suffering in Egypt; and for this we had horseradish.
Green herbs to be dipped in salt water. Salt water represents tears of sorrow shed during the captivity of the Lord’s people; we had celery.
Haroseth (or ‘haroses’) represents the mortar used by Jews in building palaces and pyramids of Egypt during their slavery. (It is a mixture of chopped apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine.) This was very good.
Wine is dipped from a common bowl. The ‘Four Cups,’ Thanksgiving, Hagadah (‘telling’), Blessing, and Melchisedek (‘righteousness’), are “four different words for redemption, spoken by God to Moses.
During the meal, the portion on the flight from Egypt was read from Exodus, and after each cup of wine, we recited verses from Scripture. After this ceremony, we had a real meal which was one of the best I’ve had in the US. It consisted of baked chicken in cream sauce, roast lamb with a delicious gravy, green salad with a great Italian dressing, yummy baked potatoes, and sweet orange slices. I asked my American friend, Peg, how they managed it with $3 contribution from each one, and she said that was just a token amount. Our pastor didn’t want to charge anything but thought that a nominal amount would increase the commitment of those who signed up to go. (It can only happen in wealthy America.)
After dinner, we had the mass where our parish priest made two points in his homily: (i) for the Passover meal which is commemorated by the Jews every year, the Scripture says that they do so as if they were also right there when it happened, that they bring it to life each time they commemorate it; which is also what is being asked of us during the Eucharist when we are asked to believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and wine; and (ii) the connection between the Passover meal and the Eucharist – the lamb offered as a sacrifice in the Passover that saved the lives of the Jews; and Christ as the Paschal Lamb in the Eucharist to save us from our sins. The whole ceremony, which lasted more than 3 hours, was such an edifying and gratifying experience.
Just as an aside. During the mass, I almost fainted. It was right before Consecration when I felt so dizzy I sat down. Fortunately, I didn’t pass out. I told Manny I felt faint. Peg immediately asked her husband Tim to get water, and her daughter, Maggie, to bring grapefruit juice. Someone brought a wet rag and wiped my forehead, nape and wrists with it. By the time Communion came, I felt strong enough to stand in line and receive it. I think it was the 4 cups of wine (actually 5 because Tim refilled our cups). The wine probably went to my head. But everyone was so kind and helpful. Complete strangers asked me later if I felt better.
Last week, I said that here in the US, God speaks to me through His wondrous works. I failed to add that He speaks to me through strangers too. So it is not only true that whatever we do to the least of our brethren, we do to Christ. Whoever does it to us is also Christ.
May you receive God’s abundant graces this Holy Week.
Love and prayers,
Aggie
And just to make this post current, here's Joaquin's Palm Sunday pic.
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