Fr. Simon's Letter - April 13, 2025

Today we enter the most sacred week in the Church’s liturgical calendar. This week we celebrate the mystery of a divinely extravagant love that lies at the heart of our faith. We begin today with the liturgy of Palm Sunday, when we gather together and reenact the scene of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, to the cheers of the crowd. We then enter the three most sacred days – the Triduum – Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. During these three days we celebrate not history, but rather, mystery. We celebrate not what once happened to Jesus but what is now happening to us as a people called to conversion, gathered in faith and gifted with the Spirit of holiness. 

The Triduum begins on Holy Thursday with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, recalling what Jesus did with his disciples on the night before he died. On this day the only other Mass that can be celebrated is the Chrism Mass, during which the bishop of a diocese, together with the priests, bless the oils used in the sacraments, and the priests renew their vows. (The Chrism Mass in Chicago is celebrated on Tuesday of Holy Week, to make it convenient for all to focus on the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.) At our liturgy we will have the washing of the feet, reminding ourselves of the great commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Together we will acknowledge our gratitude for the gift of the Eucharist and have a solemn procession in the basilica with the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose. Following the Holy Thursday liturgy, we are dismissed in silence into the darkness to contemplate what we just celebrated will celebrate in the days to come. The basilica, and will remain open until midnight on Thursday evening for silent prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Good Friday is a day of fasting and abstinence. The Stations of the Cross will be prayed at 3 pm in the basilica. In the evening we will begin the celebration of the Lord’s Passion in silence, reminding ourselves of our sin and the saving death of Christ. During the service, we will listen to the reading of the passion, lift up our voices in solemn prayer, venerate the cross and receive Holy Communion. Since we cannot celebrate a Mass on this day, the hosts consecrated at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be used at this service. The service will end in silence, and the basilica will be open until 10 pm for veneration of the cross and private prayer. 

Holy Saturday is a day of silence and waiting in the Church. There will be the blessing of the Easter baskets at noon on Holy Saturday. We will await the celebration of the Vigil in the evening. We will begin in darkness, outside the Church, with the blessing of the fire from which the paschal candle will be lit and will lead us into the Church. We will listen to a selection of readings from the Old Testament that recount God’s saving acts in our history. On this evening we will sing the Gloria and Alleluia, which have not been part of the Mass during the season of Lent. During this Mass, we will also welcome Joshua Ake, Erin Gard, Larry Gard, Dana Hasan, Chris Lane, Lindsay Sands, Gisela Santiago and Gail Shaw, new members to the Church. They have been preparing for the sacraments these past seven months, learning the truths of the Catholic faith through our RCIA program. We will then celebrate Mass once again, basking in Easter Joy! 
These three evening services will begin at 7:30 pm each day. Since we cannot have any other sacraments, except the anointing of the sick, during these three days, there will be no morning Masses. Instead, we will pray the Morning Prayer of the Church on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 9 am. Confessions will be heard on Monday evening, April 14, from 7pm to 8pm. There will be no confessions on Saturday morning, April 19. These three days are so sacred that not even a funeral Mass is permitted on these three days. The Church’s entire focus is on the celebrations of the core beliefs of our faith. In fact, these should not be seen as three separate celebrations but as ONE. What we begin on Holy Thursday with the sign of the cross, ends with the blessing at the end of the Easter Vigil celebrations. On Thursday and Friday, we are dismissed in silence with an invitation to continue this ONE celebration.

I hope you will be able to join the parish community for these important celebrations as we joyfully look forward to entering into these mysteries in a deeper way through the Easter season.

Blessings!!

- Fr. Simon