EASTER WEEK REFLECTION 2014

As I set off for the Holy Week celebration in 2014, the words of came to my mind.
Book of Wisdom "Lord, you chose me, with you Lord is the wisdom that knows your
works, give me that wisdom to accompany me in my tasks and let me know what you
"I like it," in them I placed the experience and celebration of the mysteries of passion, death and
resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. My reflection focuses particularly on the
pastoral - liturgical scope, of course, without overlooking the theological and human richness of these
holy days. Celebrating the Lord's Easter is to make the presence of
God the Father who is mercy, love, forgiveness, and charity. It is to feel ourselves thrown into the
reflection and prayer. To the transformative change in the life of every Christian who has felt the
the need to live in the presence of the Risen Jesus Christ.

Holy Week brings us to the center of our faith, to the Paschal Mystery of Christ dead and
resurrected that our Savior performs this mystery through the Sacraments and by
through the liturgical actions of the Church. Each one of us Christians has the responsibility
arriving at these celebrations with a new and transformed heart, with a living faith and a
total surrender, so that the saving and merciful action of God may be complete in each one
one of us. Holy Week is a moment full of blessings, a week of
openness to God who speaks to us in His Word, in Tradition, in the ecclesiastical Magisterium, in
the signs of the times, in short, it should be a week of full Hope in the Lord that
communicates abundantly and does not let itself be outdone in generosity.

We were all called to celebrate this year 2014 as the Redeeming Easter of the Lord.
In this way, we will be renewing in our parish and in our community.
apostolic the celebration of our faith in the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ risen from among all the dead needs our commitment and
testimony so that united as brothers and as a people of God (as insistently
we sing during Lent) attending all the liturgical celebrations of Holy Week
has been with generosity and a lot of faith. Today like yesterday the Holy Week, Week
Santa, the Paschal Triduum, or many other designations that we find in the various
the programs of our parishes want to lead us to live, contemplate, and celebrate the
the greatest proof of the Father's Love towards humanity, which is celebrated year after year
those mysteries.

Palm Sunday

With Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the wandering people began their journey of
faith, with branches, palms and others with handkerchiefs for the care of nature, acclamations and
dramatizaciones en este primer momento de nuestra semana santa. Si bien muchos de
those who accompanied Jerusalem and proclaimed him king, were waiting for a Messiah
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politician, warrior, deceiver..., we today, because of historical events, must know
that Hope is in the Savior Messiah, the one who announces to us with his arrival the
the presence of the Kingdom of God among us.

At this beginning, I reflect on seeing the crowds of people gathered in the parish and recreation.
in my mind the entry of Christ into the holy city, into the Jerusalem where the
Jews commemorate their Passover. Seeing children, young people and adults, the sick,
I believe that faith is the clear-seeing engine of this event that, despite
from the heat, the discomforts, the length of the procession, or even the last-minute details
They leave with faces full of happiness at being able to have their branches blessed and shout:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in
the sky!

2. MONDAY, TUESDAY, AND HOLY WEDNESDAY

The celebration of Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was truly a filled act of
faith, framed from a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of the Fallen Lord of Monserrate, me
showed that the years, the pains, the fatigue, and the discomforts are overcome when the
when performing the Prayer of the Holy Stations of the Cross and upon encountering the aforementioned image
change and with heartfelt words, tears, and a sincere confession one can overcome the
pain, misunderstanding, anguish, and even abandonment. Yes, these are truly days in which the
joy of children at the children's Easter, the revelry with restraint of the youth in their
youth Easter, and the serious formation of adults after the night Eucharists
They show a plural Church in ages, in guidelines, training, and in suitable environments.
to each person, time, and place. I have always said, Holy Week in the parish is a serum.
which radiates faith, hope, and charity, three theological virtues centered on that genuine love
of God our Father.

Holy Thursday

Year after year, we experience Holy Thursday with countless activities, including the mass of
reception of oils in the presence of the sickest and the elderly, or the celebration with the
children in a pedagogical way, the arrangements of the monument. So many things in
mind around three key facts, Institution of the Eucharist, Priesthood, and commandment
of love. The liturgy of this evening celebration focuses on and echoes the words and the
events of Jesus on that holy afternoon, in that intimate upper room where he celebrates with his own
what we commemorate day by day perpetually.

Here is the question where the true meaning of this celebration lies, it is not the branches, the
flowers, breads, ears of grain, wine, grapes, phrases or a countless number of ornaments and even errors of
many pastors who adorn the custody with the Blessed Sacrament as if it were a
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decorated exhibition. It is the beginning of the great Easter Triduum, a celebration in three moments
divided into three days and with a clear, mysterious, and profound sense, 'passion, death and
resurrection.

This day, Holy Thursday, is lost amidst decorations and impoverished in its preaching.
meaning and mystery, it moves from the not so spiritual to the adorned symbolic. Favorable day
to recognize the Eucharist, its importance and perpetuity, the center of our life of faith and
real presence. Key day to pray, clarify, and form about the priestly life as
ministry transmitted and lived in the person of the priest. Recognizable day to do
experience that command of love made by the Father to this humanity that is transforming and
that comes almost in mass only during these holy days.

4. GOOD FRIDAY

What a large number of people, I thought to myself, with a profound faith without a doubt, even though all
we know that it is the major crowded procession and in which we have to invest
resources for people to be happy, in which young people stay up late to do a
mejor dramatizado, y porque no, donde más se vende agua, se pelean por ponerle la
an umbrella for the father and in which everything must be calculated, that is not by the places of years
previous ones and people say, the father innovates as always.

What a great mystery we celebrate on Good Friday, without a doubt it is the test to which
many of us are not willing to continue but in which we insist the most to live in the
Tomorrow is filled with sunshine and demands. If we understood what a great love it shows us.
God to His human son in the midst of the pains of the path of that sorrowful way that is
It complements at three in the afternoon, when there are not so many people anymore, or when only a few are arriving.
to see where they are going to place Christ in the Tomb.

What liturgical richness we have, a prostration that many do not even understand why it is done and
What they say: how beautiful they look on that rug. A passion where the evangelist Saint John
describes to us what happened at each step of the cross. Prayers of the faithful that mark a great
process of understanding where the statement of all, whether believers or non-believers, plays a role
a fundamental role. An exaltation and veneration of the holy cross that should lead us to
to take up the cross each day and acknowledge that Christ has canceled a debt for me and that it
I forget. A bare altar and only the celebration of the word and communion and not
Eucharist as many think; if it is in my reflection on a hidden mystery and that
we need to delve deeper.

SACRED SATURDAY

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Oh wonderful night, the mother of all celebrations as the immortal Saint exclaimed
Augustin more than 1600 years ago. What we have brought after it, concerns about whether the
The bonfire is ready, waiting for everyone to listen properly, reorganized so that
if the bells ring during the glory and the old folks don't forget to welcome the resurrected.
Don't fall asleep during the readings and the choir should be alert, so that I can perform in front.
let the water fall on me that the little father is going to throw at us, let them quickly blow out the candles so that it doesn't

Sweep the floor, because the little Pascualitos from the parish are more expensive than those from the lady of
front. All this is said by the faithful of many of our parishes, but I still wonder did I live the
liturgy of light where I must be light for my community, I understood the reason for the readings
from the Old Testament as a path from the origins through the history of
the people of Israel until they come to understand what the prophets announced?

Do we live every word of the Easter proclamation as that true exultant song of glory?
That in the liturgy of the word of God, illuminated by that holy paschal candle like the flame.
they must burn when renouncing sin again and professing in singular that which since
What my parents have done for my baptism? In short, from my place of apostolate a
intimate, sober, yet profound celebration. From the parish, crowded, warm,
open emotional and as everyone ends up saying the father shone this year because never the
the bishop had been here for an Easter vigil. Yes, what a celebration, what richness of
meanings, what well-structured parts, what a deep, great mystery, and what
Holy night in which we are born to a new life, but did I truly bury the man?
old and with Christ I have resurrected to a new man?, this is the spiritual, liturgical and core
pastoral.

Easter Sunday is linked to the celebration of the Easter Vigil, which is why my center
It is of interest to understand if we have truly experienced that Paschal Triduum as the
unity of the mystery of Christ. Jesus is life, today is the feast of life, and since Mary
Magdalena and the disciples went out shouting: 'Jesus is alive', we understand that the
death is not the frustrating failure of man. Death is the dream of peace into which one enters
hombre para despertarse en los brazos de Dios. Con Cristo todos vamos a la gloria del
heaven, for some reason or for a lot, he told us on the illuminated night of Holy Thursday: 'I am going to
Prepare a place for you so that where I am you may also be.

Therefore, I conclude with these words that are the roadmap to follow, it is what demands us
current affairs to form the Church of Christ in which we are called to testify to all
"Men, who through a lived and enlightened faith make God credible in the world,"
We have the need for men whose gaze is directed to God, learning from Him,
true humanity, we have the need for men whose intellect is illuminated by
the light of God, and to those whom God opens the heart, so that their intellect can speak to
the intellect of others and their heart can open the hearts of others, only through
Men touched by God, God can return to men." Therefore, the Mystery
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hidden since ancient times and that the Jews did not accept, became evident if celebrated, I lived and
I understood that Christ has risen and that only with his death, God gives us new life. Happy
Easter.

FRANK CHAVARRIAGA ESCOBAR