He Is Risen!

... He is risen indeed!

Although it feels more like Christmas than Easter outside with temperatures near freezing and a light blanket of snow covering most of the diocese, the Church's springtime has come. While it would've been nice to be able to bilocate and take pictures at different parishes at the same time, I decided to chronicle Holy Week at St. Mary's Cathedral for the paper.

There were many highlights of the Triduum, including the site of nearly every priest in the diocese gathered together at the Chrism Mass on Tuesday. But the memory I may take away most was last night at the Easter Vigil.

Because of the weather, the cathedral was about two-thirds full at best, with plenty of open seats along the sides and in the back. The weather was cold and icy, but the six women entering the Catholic Church were in attendance. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but there seemed to be a certain stillness... quiet... at the Vigil Mass that gave it a deeper sense of intimacy than what I've normally experienced with packed churches over the years. No doubt that the weather caused people to delay their attendance until Easter Sunday (and the cathedral was overflowing into the Cathedral Center's upper hallways for the bishop's Mass), so maybe it was in part because those who came to the Vigil Mass had to make an extra effort to get there. There was just ... this solemnity that is hard to describe. It really was a beautiful evening, and chills went up my spine as the six candidates immersed themselves in the baptismal font and later were confirmed and received their first holy Eucharist. With relativism so widespread today, even within the Church, it's a true act of courage (and love!) to consciously enter the Catholic Church as an adult. There are many reasons one can give to leave, but there is one main reason to stay -- only the Catholic Church has the Truth in all of its fullness and beauty. These six witnesses have examined the Church's teachings amid a very secular (some would say anti-Catholic and anti-Christian) world and have found the Church to be the Way. This is so inspiring.

I would very much like to hear of any Holy Week highlights you had. Please tell!