Questions regarding Holy Week

The religion reporter for the local newspaper asked me some questions regarding Holy Week.  Here are my answers.

(1) For those who may not know, what is Holy Week and why is it important?
Holy Week is the last week in Lent, starting with Palm Sunday.  During Holy Week, Christians reenact, relive, and share in the mystery of Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. In many ways, the events of Holy Week tell us what our faith is all about.

(2) What is the purpose of the somewhat somber tone the Church takes in
the weeks leading up to Easter?
      Lent is a penitential season of preparation.  It is 40 days with Jesus in the desert.  Lent begins with the faithful receiving a smudge of ash of their foreheads, as they are told: "Repent and believe in the Gospel."  We accompany Jesus on his way to the cross, on his way to his passion, death, and resurrection.  The Church calls us to practice the Lenten disciplines of fasting, prayer, and acts of charity.  Without this period of preparation, without the somber and serious tone of this season, the celebrations of Easter would not have its full meaning for the faithful. The somber tone of Jesus' way to the cross is in contrast to the joy of the resurrection at Easter. Here at St James Catholic Church in Tupelo, we have had the theme during Lent of "Seeking God in All Things".  This theme reminds us that God is there with us in all the experiences of our lives - we just need to be cognizant of his presence.

(3) What are some of the rituals/traditions involved with Holy Week, and
how did they get started?
       Holy Week observances began in Jerusalem in the earliest days of the Church. Christians would travel to Jerusalem at Passover time to reenact the events of the week leading up to the Resurrection.  One Palm Sunday afternoon, groups of early Christians would wave palm fronds as they made a procession from the Mount of Olives into the city of Jerusalem.  At our Catholic church here in Tupelo, we wave palm fronds in a procession as we enter the church on Palm Sunday as we hear the Gospel reading of Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem and as we read the Passion narrative from the Gospel of Matthew.
      On Tuesday, all of the priests from our Diocese travel with other members of our parishes to the Cathedral in Jackson where we celebrate the Chrism mass.  The priests renew their promise of obedience to the bishop and receive the oils from him that we use in the different sacraments throughout the year.  The tradition of the Chrism mass can be traced at least as early as the 5th century.  It manifests the unity of the priests and the faithful with their bishop.  I will be making the journey to Jackson with the priest from New Albany and the lay ecclesial minister from Booneville to join in the celebration of the Chrism mass.
       On Holy Thursday, we celebrate a special Mass of the Lord’s Supper, commemorating the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. On the night before Jesus Christ was crucified, he changed bread and wine into his own Body and Blood, and he commanded the Apostles and their successors to act in his stead and make present this sacrifice in the mass. The priest washes the feet of twelve parishioners in this mass as a symbol of servanthood with Christ as our model as he washed the feet of the twelve apostles.  At the end of the mass, the Eucharist is removed from the tabernacle and the church is emptied of candles and lines to ready it for the commemoration of Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday.
      On Good Friday, the faithful gather for the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion. In this tradition, which includes reading the Gospel narrative of Christ's passion, the people also venerate the cross, in which the faithful process to the front of the altar, reverencing the crucifix with a kiss, a bow, a touch, or other gesture of dignity and respect. At St James, one of popular devotions on Good Friday afternoon is a re-enactment of the live Stations of the Cross on the grounds of our church, with members of both our English and Spanish speaking communities re-enacting the fifteen stations of Jesus' journey to the cross.  It concludes around 3:00, the time that Jesus died on Good Friday.
      The Easter Vigil mass on Holy Saturday is the highlight of the Church's liturgical year, recognizing Christ's resurrection and the salvation we have in him.  The mass starts after sundown and begins with the lighting of the Easter fire, symbolizing the light of Christ in the world coming out of his resurrection.  The Exsultet, an Easter proclamation, is sung at the beginning of mass.  The priest blesses the baptismal waters in the baptismal font, with all the faithful present receiving a special blessing with the holy water.  At this mass, adults who have been preparing for entrance in the Church all year receive the sacraments of baptism, Eucharist, and confirmation, a tradition that began in the early Church.  This tradition was revived in the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Holy Week concludes with the celebration of mass on Easter morning with the celebration of Christ's resurrection.