Holiest Week

Today Christians celebrated Palm Sunday. We commemorated the day when Jesus of Nazareth was hailed a king and greeted with palm-waving enthusiasts. Before the week was out, some of the same people turned on him with fists in the air demanding that Jesus be crucified. Today at all the Masses celebrated in the Roman Catholic church the narrative from St. Mark's gospel was proclaimed. Today's gospel ended on a somber note: Jesus' tomb was sealed by a large stone. Two women named Mary watched what happened and noted the tomb's location.
With the perspective of Christian believers we wait and watch as the two Mary's did until next weekend when the "mourning is turned into joy" and the "weeping into dancing" when the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty.
Together let us honor our Lord whose Passion and Death we commemorate this week. Let us, especially on Holy Thursday, thank him for the gift of the priesthood and the Eucharist. For those who take a day off on Good Friday, may it be a day of prayer and silence commemorating the Lord's death on Calvary. When we were kids our mother reminded us to be more quiet on Good Friday and to pray more. It's still valid advice today.
These weeks of Lent have been busy for us at Pauline Books & Media. We were privileged to meet many good people at a variety of venues: the ManUpPhilly Men's Catholic Conference; books and media displays at St. Raymond's church inOak Lane area; at St. Vincent's in Richboro; at the Natural Family Planning Conference hosted at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Southampton; at St. Maria Goretti in Hatfield, PA; at St. Teresa School in runnemeade, NJ; at Our Lady of the Lake in Medford, NJ; and at Mom Heart of the Home retrat in Downingtown.
At each of these events a few dedicated and generous men and women helped us in countless ways: with lifting of boxes, packing, cashiering, and a myriad of ways We promise our prayers in a special way this week for all whom we have met in this Lenten season; all who helped us in many ways; and all who offered their prayers and sacrifices for our intentions.
Our next event will be a book and media display at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in South Philadelphia. It will be exciting to be in a parish with Mass in four languages: English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Indonesian! We will be at St. Thomas on Saturday evening April 14, and at all the Masses on Sunday, April 15.
Earlier on Saturday, we will hold a display at St. Charles Seminary with the two books of Monsignor Brian Bransfield: The Human Person in the Thought of John Paul II, and Living the Beatitudes.
Have a good Holy Week!