NIGHT PRAYER: Monday of Holy Week

Tonight our prayer begins 

    with wise counsel from John Predmore, SJ.,

        followed by a song and my Night Prayer...                

    We have to give ourselves permission
    to be weak enough to enter into Holy Week.

    Stop pretending that you can hold everything together.
    No one is telling you that you have to be strong.

    Instead, you need to be real.

    You do not need to put on a special face to others 
    to show you are a Christian. 

    Stop perpetuating illusions 
    about the way others tell you to be.

    This week is about your relationship with Jesus Christ  

    and what he needs most is for you to be a real person 

    – just as you are –

    even if you are weak, vulnerable, filled with chaos, 

    and bombarded by a variety of conflicting emotions.

    If this is who you are, 
    then this is the 'you' Jesus wants to meet 
    on this journey to the cross.

- John Predmore, S.J.

Tonight's song isn't particularly Lenten or Paschal but it's an old favorite - and in light of John's reflection above, this song is worth praying every day this week...  My Night Prayer follows the widget.

Take, O Take Me As I Am by John Bell

 

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Take, O take me as I am, Lord,

    not as I wish I might have been,

    not as I wish I were,

    not as I wanted to be today

    not or hope to be tomorrow

    but just as I am today:

        the person who stands before you

        knowing there's nothing about me

        you don't already know...

Take me to your Cross, Lord, 

    just as I am...

 

Summon out what I shall be, Lord,

    Summon to the surface 

        what I'm afraid to face;

    pardon what needs mercy,

        mend my broken parts

            and heal my every wound...

    Summon from my depths, O Lord,

        the person you created,

            for whom you died and rose,

                and who waits upon your kindness...

Summon me to stand, Lord,

    humbly by your Cross

in need of your mercy,

    just as I am...    

Set your seal upon my heart, Lord,
    and with your gentle touch:

        seal my soul with mercy,
        seal my heart with love,
        seal my thoughts with wisdom
        and my soul with saving grace... 

Sign me with with your Cross

   and set your seal upon my heart,

        just as I am, Lord, just as I am...

 

And live in me, Lord...

    dwell in me in peace,

        my friend and close companion:

    be a housemate in my soul

        and the keeper of my heart...

Come into my heart, Lord,

    just as it is, just as I am...      

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep rest in your peace...

 

Amen. 

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Passover, Easter - and the moon

    Photo by Juan Rodriguez

 

There are millions of images
    of sunrises and sunsets
but not often enough do we see
    a moonrise, a moonset...

 

And this week, the moon is so important 

   as its light and phases determine

the time to celebrate to celebrate

    our paschal feasts...     

 

Passover:

    in the seventh month, 

        the 15th day of Nisan,

            at the full moon... 

 

Easter: 

   the first Sunday

      after the first full moon

         after the spring equinox...

 

How fitting, Lord, that the heavens above 

    should set the date for us to celebrate

      your rising from the dead!

The moon:

   drawing its cool silver light 

      from the heat of the sun;

the moon:

   waiting for springtime's turn

      at equal night and day;

the moon:

   full of vernal glory,

      awaiting the Paschal Lamb...

 

In these early days of Holy Week,

   shine your light, O God, 

      upon our faith, our prayer,

upon our waiting for your Son to rise again:

   in our hearts, in our souls and in the world

with the gift, the grace and glory

    of your everlasting life... 

Amen.

 

Here's some Celtic music to help us contemplate the rising of the Paschal moon...

 

Moonsong by Adrian von Ziegler 

 

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Monday Morning Offering: 3/30

Morning Coffee by George Mendoza

I've posted this for many years on Monday of Holy Week so you may remember it.  It's something I need to be reminded of and to pray for every year and perhaps you'll find it helpful, too...

 

And so it has begun, Lord:

    the Week we call Holy...

I've read how theologians debate 
    whether any unit of time or time itself
        can actually be or become holy -
but I'll leave that to the scholars, Lord,
    and simply wonder about my being holy,
        growing in holiness,
    - especially in the week ahead...

Why am I afraid of this word: holy?
Why am I put off by it?
Why am I so easily convinced
that holiness may be for others 

    - but not for me?

I know I want to be strong, healthy, wise and just,
    honest, fair, loving and prayerful, 

        faithful, kind, compassionate and forgiving
- so why do I shy away, Lord,

    from the prospect of becoming holy?

Could it be I just don't understand
     - what it means to be holy?

Help me understand, Lord,
    especially this week
        - and help me want to be holy...
 

Help me understand that to be holy is:

    to be the whole person you made me to be;
    to be in a right relationship with you, my God;
    to live and to work graciously with others;
    to use and offer and share
        all the gifts and talents you've given me;
    to do what is just, to love what is good,
        and to walk humbly with you, O Lord...

 

I do want to be all of those things, Lord,

    so help me understand:

        that's what it means to be holy! 

 

Of course, there's one thing I know for certain:
    I could be a whole lot more holy

        than I am right now… 

But just how holy do I want to be?

I want to be holy enough, Lord, 

    to stand before you, Lord

      - without embarrassment, shame or guilt...

I want to be holy enough, Lord,

    to know that I've helped the poor
        - and generously so…

I want to be holy enough, Lord

    to know that my intentions and desires, 

        my dreams and schemes
            - are honest, pure and just...

I want to be holy enough, Lord, 

    to love you with a good heart
        - cleansed of selfishness and pride…

I want to be holy enough, Lord,  

    to recognize my lack of holiness
and to ask for the help of your grace
    - whenever and wherever I need it...

Just four days left* in Lent, Lord: 
    four more days to be holy 

        - at least a little more holy -

    in this season of praying and fasting
        and serving the needs of others...

Four days left in Lent
    to be more faithful to prayer

in the morning, in the evening 
    or whenever you and I might sit down,
        one-on-one,  just the two of us, Lord... 

Four days left to deny myself 
    some taste or sip, some pleasure or toy, 

        some whatever-it-might-be, Lord
    and discover what hunger fasting reveals,
        what empty space that needs to be filled

            with your wisdom, your word and your truth... 

 
Four days left to care for the poor, 
    to give to the poor, to be with the poor, 
        to work for the poor
            - to discover how rich I am -
        and reach out to share my bounty 

            with those whose needs 

                are much greater than mine..

So, I ask you, Lord, in this holy week:
    make me at least a little more holy
        than ever I've been before...

I offer you this holy week:
    make me holy, Lord,
        day by day, 

    make me holy

        one day at a time...

Amen.

* Lent ends at sundown on Thursday of Holy Week and then begins the Triduum Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil) followed by the 50 days of the Easter season, culminating on Pentecost Sunday. 

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What if I can't get to church for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil?

No doubt about it: the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil are the greatest celebrations on the church calendar! But they are not holy days of obligation... Easter is a day of obligation because of what it celebrates - and because it always falls on a Sunday which, on its own every week - is a day of obligation.

The liturgies of Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Holy Week are known as the Triduum which means three days (the first three panels in the illustration above).  The Triduum is really one celebration which stretches over three days.  The celebration we begin with the entrance song on Holy Thursday night only comes to its end with the closing song of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night.

I encourage you to participate in the liturgies of the Triduum 

    - BUT - what if you can't?

• What if your family responsibilities or work schedule claim your time when those celebrations are scheduled?

• What if illness or your advanced age keep you from getting to church?

• What if personal problems, difficulties or concerns make it difficult to attend? 

• What if the length of these longer-than-usual celebrations is more than you can handle at this time in your life?

 Not to worry!  

In these days, you can find the Triduum liturgies livestreamed from Saint Peter's in Rome - and from your local parish!  Of course, this is not the same as participating in person but it is a way to pray with the Church through these holy days.

AND...  Mass on Easter Sunday (the fourth panel in the illustration above) is also a prayerful, beautiful, glorious celebration of the Lord's Resurrection - and I hope you'll be able to join your parish on Sunday morning.

But if any of the reasons that keep you from the Triduum also apply on Easter Sunday morning, set apart some time on Easter to read the scriptures for the day (see the link at the top of my sidebar here). 

In short: come if you can - and if you can't, join us in spirit and prayer! 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 3/29

On Sundays, Night Prayer will focus on an element from the day's celebration of Mass. Tonight we reflect on the second scripture from the Palm Sunday liturgy, Philippians 2:5-11.

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, 

   did not regard equality with God

   something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    coming in human likeness

and found human in appearance,
    he humbled himself,
    becoming obedient to the point of death,
    even death on a cross...

 

I come in prayer tonight, Lord,
    with a heart that needs to be emptied,
    a heart that needs to be filled...

You showed me how, Lord,

    you showed me the way:
you humbled yourself to the Father's will

    you emptied yourself,
and now you invite me

   to humble and empty myself
that I might be filled

    with your mercy, your grace and your peace...

But I don't always find it easy, Lord, 

   to empty myself of the things I want,

the things I want to get and to have,

   to collect, to keep and hold on to...     

Nor is it easy for me to let go:
   the pain I've somehow befriended,

   the self-pity I keep for protection,

   the burdens I cling to for cover

   and the masks I wear for disguise...
 

Help, then, my heart to discern, O Lord,
    what to keep - and what to lose,

    what to treasure - and what to toss...
    what to hold on to - and what to surrender,

    what to save and what needs to be saved

        by your mercy, your grace and your truth...

And as I let go of things that I don't need:
    fill my heart to overflowing, Lord

        with what nourishes and feeds me,
        what strengthens and redeems me

            through the life you surrendered

               and gave for me..  

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

 

Amen.

 

These Alone Are Enough by Dan Schutte

 

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Take my heart, O Lord, take my hopes and dreams.
Take my mind with all its plans and schemes.
Give me nothing more than your love and grace.
These alone, O God, are enough for me.

Take my thoughts, Oh Lord, and my memory.
Take my tears, my joys, my liberty.
Give me nothing more than your love and grace.
These alone, O God, are enough for me.

I surrender, Lord, all I have and hold.
I return to you your gifts untold.
Give me nothing more than your love and grace.
These alone, O God, are enough for me.

When the darkness falls on my final days,

take the very breath that sang your praise.

Give me nothing more than your love and grace.

These alone, O God, are enough for me.

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Jesus doesn't listen to the prayers of those who wage wars, but rejects them . . . (Pope Leo, Palm Sunday Homily)

Dear brothers and sisters,

As Jesus walks the Way of the Cross, we place ourselves behind him, following in his footsteps. As we walk with him, we contemplate his passion for the sake of humanity, his broken heart, and his life as a gift of love.

We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms abounds him. He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence. He offers himself to embrace humanity, even as others raise swords and clubs. He is the light of the world, though darkness is about to engulf the earth. He came to bring life, even as plans unfold to condemn him to death.

King of Peace. Jesus’ desire is to bring the world into the Father’s arms, tearing down every barrier that separates us from God and from our neighbor, for “He is our peace” (Eph 2:14).

King of Peace. Jesus enters into Jerusalem not upon a horse, but upon a donkey, fulfilling the ancient prophecy that calls for rejoicing at the arrival of the Messiah: “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations” (Zech 9:9–10).

King of Peace. When one of his disciples drew his sword to defend him and struck the high priest’s servant, Jesus immediately stopped him, saying: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt 26:52).

King of Peace. While he was burdened with our sufferings and pierced for our sins, Jesus “did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent” (Is 53:7). He did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war. He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history.

Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood” (Is 1:15).

As we set our gaze upon him who was crucified for us, we can see a crucified humanity. In his wounds, we see the hurts of so many women and men today. In his last cry to the Father, we hear the weeping of those who are crushed, who have no hope, who are sick and who are alone. Above all, we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war.

Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!

In the words of the Servant of God, Bishop Tonino Bello, I would like to entrust this cry to Mary Most Holy, who stands beneath the cross of her Son and weeps also at the feet of those who are crucified today:

Holy Mary, woman of our day, grant us the certainty that, in spite of all, death will no longer hold sway over us; that the injustices of peoples are numbered; that the flashes of war are fading into the twilight; that the sufferings of the poor are breathing their last. And grant, finally, that the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up like frost beneath the spring sun.

- Pope Leo XIV  

  Palm Sunday Homily

  March 2, 2026 

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Pause for Prayer: PALM SUNDAY

Image source

 

Our worship on Palm Sunday begins with blessing and waving palm branches and singing Hosanna! Even here, on the first day of Holy Week, there's room for joy in Lent!  But moments later the mood of our prayer changes with the day's readings, culminating in the gospel of the passion (the suffering and death) of Jesus.  Today's scripture tells the story.

 

Holy Week begins today, Lord...

 

In some ways, it will be an ordinary week:

    I'll still have my regular work and duties.

    I'll still need to care for my family and friends.

    I'll still have to do the laundry and take out the trash. 

    I'll still have shopping to do and bills to pay.

    I'll still have to deal with life's everyday problems

       whose responsibilities won't diminish or take a break...

And I'll do all this in a world that will largely ignore
    all we celebrate on these holy days:
        Palm Sunday
            Holy Thursday
                Good Friday
                    Holy Saturday
                        Easter!

So I ask you to help me, Lord,
    to make and keep this week holy...

I hope and pray this week will be peaceful -
    in spite of all I have to do...

I hope and pray these days will be prayerful:
    that I'll make time to spend with you alone
       and time to pray with the church on these holy days...

I hope and pray that in my mind and heart
    these days will be different from any others,
       in how I see and experience the world around me,
       in how I plan and spend my time...

Help me know and live this week of special days,

    these solemn, sober, grace filled, joyful days:

       a time to grow in faith, and hope and love,

       a time to grow in my relationship with you...

 

More than all the weeks and all the days

   of the rest of the year, Lord,

may the days of this week be truly prayerful

   and, to your glory, truly holy...

Amen. 

Let's pause for prayer on this Palm Sunday with Rory Cooney's Palm Sunday Processional, a piece I used for years in my parish in Concord and which brings us to the streets of Jerusalem as Jesus entered his city.  

If a video doesn't appear below, click here! 

 

When they heard that Jesus was coming.

    Sing Hosanna to the Chosen One! 

 

All the people went out to meet him.

    Sing Hosanna to the Chosen One!

 

Spread their cloaks and branches before him.

Children sang with palm branches waving.

 

Blest is he like David before him.

Blest is he, God's blessing upon him.

 

Guiding cloud and pillar of fire.

Satan's foe and friend of the sinner.

 

Word of God and firstborn of people.

Promise kept and crown of creation.

 

Vision blest and hope for the future.

God's beloved and radiant with glory.

 

Wondrous bread and stream in the desert.

Holy thirst and God's living water.

 

Eye of God who see to the heart of us.

Healing touch, the sight for our blindness.

 

Rising sun, the light of the world.

Word of life who give us your Spirit.

 

Friend in death who weep for our dying.

Freed in death, who roll back the stone for us.

 

Friend in death, who wake us to new life.

Friend in life, we sing glad hosannas.

    

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Why is my Palm Sunday homily so short?

 

The liturgical directives for Palm Sunday call for a "brief homily," owing to the length of the Passion narrative  and the fact that such a compelling story needs little additional comment. For years now, I've made an effort to respect these circumstances by preaching a brief homily, consisting mostly of the gospel's compelling language.  In addition to the video above, here's my text for this weekend.

Although it's at the very heart of our faith,
   the story of the suffering and death of Jesus
     is recounted in its entirety only twice a year,
   and then in the same week,
     on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

Though we hear this story infrequently,
   its characters, words and images 

      are vivid in our imagination.

Particular words and phrases
  have embedded themselves 

in our memory and in our hearts,
    evoking prayer and repentance...

Don't these words echo in a place deep in your soul? 

“One of you will betray me..."

“Surely, it is not I, Lord?”

"This very night before the cock crows
   you will deny three times 
      that you know me..."

"Father, if it is possible,
   let this cup pass from me;
        yet, not as I will but as you will…

 

“Stay here and keep watch with me for an hour...”

“The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak…”

 

"I do not know the man..."

 

Betrayed by a kiss…

 

“Those who take up the sword

    will perish by the sword…”

Peter went out and wept bitterly...

 

They stripped him,
   put a crown of thorns on his head
      and spat upon him…

"Crucify him! Crucify him!"

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

He cried out in a loud voice
   and gave up his spirit…

“Truly, this was the Son of God…”

Any of these phrases and the images they call forth
   would be good food for prayer in the days ahead...

We enter the Week we call holy
   when Christians around the world

      pause to remember and celebrate
         the suffering,  death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.

May the story of his suffering and death
   refresh our faith in his loved poured out for us...

May the words of Jesus' passion,
   embedded in our hearts,
bring us his mercy
   and lead us to the peace of Easter...

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