Hi. My name is Fr. Mike Schmitz.
This is Ascension Presents.
Holy Week is the holiest time of the year.
The Triduum, the last three days of Holy Week are the most sacred, the most holy time.
And yet, I think a lot of us don't necessarily know, like, "How do I pray in an unique way during Holy Week?"
Well, in my town here, in Duluth, Minnesota,
we have some phenomenal religious sisters, called the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist.
And how they observe the Holy Week just blows my mind.
I want to share with you what they've shared with me about how they observe Holy Week.
Every day has another intention. Every day has another focus.
So they actually start, not on Palm Sunday,
they start on the Saturday before Palm Sunday.
And they call it ... It's called Commitment Sunday.
The day before Palm Sunday that Jesus knowing that he was going into Jerusalem,
and he was going to suffer, he's going to die and rise from the dead.
That he had to reaffirm that commitment.
His face was set like flint, and he was going to go after the Father's will.
So Commitment Saturday!
To be able to say how committed do I experience my pursuing the Lord
like he was committed to pursing me in his march to Calvary.
#2. Palm Sunday, of course called Procession Sunday.
This public witness: Will I walk with him as he goes into Jerusalem?
Will I walk with Jesus as he publicly walks into Jerusalem?
So Commitment Saturday. Procession Sunday.
Extravagance Monday.
This is the day that the woman who took the aromatic nard. Right? The ointment and cracked open that flask,
and poured it all out on the Lord.
Just kind of an abundance.
An abundance of gifts to the Lord who gives us an abundance of grace.
So... (1) Commitment Saturday. (2) Procession Sunday. (3) Extravagance Monday.
Compulsion to Completion is Tuesday.
Here's Jesus who's kind of in the midst of this time in Jerusalem.
And he's ... he's ... There's a fire in him.
That he's impelled. He must continue to do the Father's Will.
He's committed to this. He's following through with this.
He has compulsion to completion.
Wednesday is what's called the Day of Aloneness.
This is one of the ones that touches my heart.
Wednesday, the day before Holy Thursday. The Day of Aloneness.
The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist will talk about this is not just Jesus' aloneness.
Knowing that the next day he's going to give everything in the Eucharist.
The next day he's going to give everything as he's arrested.
But also, Judas' day of aloneness.
This is worth reflecting on.
Judas, knowing what he was going to do on this day, in the middle of the week
experienced an aloneness.
There's an aloneness that sin brings to us.
The Day of Aloneness.
Either walking that with Jesus, or even walking that and observing that—hopefully, observing that—with Judas.
Wednesday. A Day of Aloneness.
Thursday is called the Body Given.
Not just that Jesus' body was given to the guards in Gethsemane.
But above all, of course, the Eucharist given to us at the Holy Thursday, Passover meal, that first Last Supper.
That Jesus' body given to commemorate the fact that we've been given the Eucharist,
Body, Blood, Soul, & Divinity of Jesus.
To reflect on that all day. Holy Thursday.
Friday is ... both ... two things.
One is impotence, meaning here is God, the all-powerful God
who's made himself powerless to be a sacrifice for us.
The impotence on Friday. The all powerful God who has made himself powerless to give himself to us,
but also that same Friday is called this: "There is No Law"
There is no law!
On Friday, on Friday of Holy Week, there is no law.
Why?
Because there is no law if you can kill your God.
There is no law. If you can kill your God,
there is no law. There is no right. There is no wrong. If you can kill God.
Saturday is Night.
Just darkness of the tomb.
That coldness of death.
Saturday. To live all day Saturday as the night.
And then Sunday.
is Miracles Sunday.
Is to realize that all of Christ's miracles, the incredible things that he did,
all point to this thing. That he conquers death.
All the way from Commitment Saturday, to Procession Sunday, to Extravagance Monday,
to Compulsion to Completion on Tuesday, to Day of Aloneness on Wednesday,
Body Given on Thursday. There is no law if you can kill your God on Friday.
This night experience on Saturday.
All leads to Miracles on Sunday.
To recognize that here is our God.
Yes. He made himself powerless
to become a sacrifice for us.
But then he conquers death
and he transforms suffering
and he redeems the world.
This Holy Week, I just invite you. Walk each day with the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist.
In this way of praying, entering in, and walking with Jesus.
From all of us here at Ascension Presents,
my name is Father Mike. God bless.
ascensionpresents.com
Isn't that cool?
It blows my mind. It's just the coolest thing in the world.
I ...
I'm totally going to pray with that this Holy Week.
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