Editorial

As Holy Week approaches, let us resolve to bring Christ’s light to our world

We are approaching Holy Week, the most important time of the year in our journey with Christ.

During this week, on April 4, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson at the annual chrism Mass at SS. Peter and Cathedral Church in Indianapolis will bless holy oils to be used for the celebration of sacraments and the dedications of churches and altars throughout central and southern Indiana in the coming year. Also during the liturgy, priests serving in the archdiocese will renew the promises they made during their ordination.

On the evening of April 6, parishes across the archdiocese will celebrate the Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, marking the end of Lent and the beginning of the sacred triduum of Holy Week. We mark these as three of the holiest days on the Church’s calendar.

While Pope Francis has washed the feet of inmates at area prisons in Italy at recent Holy Thursday liturgies, some clergy in the archdiocese wash the feet of 12 parishioners—both following the example set by Christ himself.

During his pontificate, the Holy Father has never celebrated the Holy Thursday Evening Mass with the public in

St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis has opted every year to visit a prison—except during Italy’s COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, when he celebrated a scaled-down liturgy in St. Peter’s with about a dozen people in the congregation. At that liturgy, there was no foot washing nor a procession with the Eucharist.

Good Friday, which falls on April 7 this year, is the day Christians will commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. For Catholics and various other Christian traditions, there is no darker day in our lives of faith.

But starting with the Easter Vigil on the evening of Holy Saturday, we joyously celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Easter is the chief feast of the liturgical year. It’s a time when the light of Christ again shines brightly.

As we near Holy Week and Easter, now is an opportune time to reflect on our Lenten journey. Was prayer, fasting and almsgiving central to our life of faith? Did we fall more times than we’d like? And if so, were we able to get back up, forge ahead and remember that as disciples of Christ, we have an always-forgiving God who is eager to help us on our earthly pilgrimage of faith and guide us on the road to heaven?

A word that has become a staple of our current Holy Father’s pontificate is “accompaniment,” which, as Archbishop Thompson has reminded us on several occasions, “implies movement.” Our call to discipleship means we cannot stay stagnant and must grow in our lives of faith and help others—be they family, friends, yes, even strangers—to do the same.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, said as much in a talk he shared with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last November.

Archbishop Pierre shared with the bishops words that then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio spoke in a short address to the General Congregation of Cardinals before the 2013 conclave when he was elected pope: “… there are two images of the Church: either the evangelizing Church that comes out of herself, […] or the worldly Church that lives in herself, of herself, for herself.”

He said the pope reminds us again and again we need to go out and be an evangelizing Church. We must remember we are all catechists by virtue of our baptism, and that each day is an opportunity for evangelization.

Reflecting on what’s transpired in recent decades, we are learning there is a lot of brokenness in our Church, Archbishop Pierre noted. We must be a Church of mercy, he said the pope exhorts us, and need to accompany those who cross our path on their spiritual and human journeys. We need to make sure no one walks alone, and we need to be a Church that offers listening, understanding and patience.

We have learned “listening” in today’s world is a challenging concept for many, but our call to discipleship is about building relationships with all our brothers and sisters.

Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has said the mission of the Church is “to heal wounds and warm the hearts of the faithful.” He reminds us that teaching the faith is also an integral part in the call of discipleship.

It is true, sadly, there is darkness in the world. But as we approach the Easter season and beyond, please Lord, help us overcome it and shine your light on our respective journeys of faith.

—Mike Krokos