April 12, 2025 - Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Artist Sister Mary of the Compassion, OP (1908-1977)

He stared at me, flabbergasted, with his jaw hung low and his eyes fixed on the scene behind me. His voice echoed through the nearly empty church: “HE DIES?!?!” 

Apparently unfamiliar with the large crucifix in the front of the church or why we gathered on Tuesday afternoons for religious education classes, this seventh-grader was hit with the Catholic faith like a ton of bricks. Before I could wrap my head around his exclamation, he continued to shriek, “And they just leave him there?!” Lucky for him, this second question was quickly answered as the group moved from the Twelfth Station, Jesus Dies on the Cross, over to the Thirteenth Station, Jesus is taken down from the Cross and laid in His mother’s arms.  

That young man’s utter shock and horror was a pivotal moment in my experience as a catechist. What could be mistaken for ignorance and met with laughter was truly an innocence to be emulated in approaching the Way of the Cross. At this point in our Lenten journey, the temptation to skip ahead is all too real. Unlike that young man, we know what happened next. We could easily fast forward having seen this episode before. With innocence, as if it is the first time, may we continue to accompany the Lord through Lent. Let us not gloss over the gruesome or the horrific to get to the joy too quickly.  

Imagine being in the gathering of the Sanhedrin we hear in today’s Gospel; the air is thick with uncertainty, fear, and division, and the tension is palpable. We ask each other, “What are we going to do?” How do you respond? What do you do? What do you say? I would like to think that I would respond with strength and courage, yet I cannot be so sure. What if we did not know what the following week would hold?  

On Ash Wednesday, Monsignor McCarren prompted us to see the cup before us as the cup of His Passion. How are we approaching His Passion now in Passiontide? What are we going to do?  

During the next eight days, I hope to open my senses to soak up every detail of the various movements as if it is my first experience. The feel of the palms tomorrow, the taste of the first Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the sight of the vacant tabernacle on Good Friday, and the silence of Holy Saturday will make the lilies smell that much sweeter on Easter Sunday. I want to experience the same surprise and glee as that seventh-grader did the following week when my class explored the Resurrection! After over a month of spiritual preparation, may we proceed with innocence and humility when it matters most. 

O God, who have made all those reborn in Christ a chosen race and a royal priesthood, grant us, we pray, the grace to will and to do what you command, that the people called to eternal life may be one in the faith of their hearts and the homage of their deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. (Roman Missal)

Katherine Lizzo, Coordinator of Student & Administrative Support Services

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