Greetings, Friends in Christ:
As many of you know, this Sunday marks Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week in Western Christian tradition. Holy Week is the most solemn, transformative, and important week in the entire Christian calendar, and it very truly tells the entire story of our faith in one week -- the story of a God who stoops down to the absolute limits of godforsakeness to dwell with us, to take our pain upon his shoulders, to proclaim the truth that the Kingdom is verily at hand. There is something magical, to me, about the Cross: it has become for me the place to nail all my pain and suffering. Because Christ takes that all on his shoulders.
My friends, it is particularly painful that we cannot gather with friends and family like we are normally able to this season. Trickier still -- most churches are shut down due to the virus, and many more cannot function in the same way they used to. In short, the virus threatens to separate us, at the time of greatest Christian fellowship, when we most need to be together. Our answer, I think, should be to gather -- virtually, that is -- as an entire community. We are an Easter people.
Feel free to use this thread for Discussion of Holy Week. What does it mean to you? What traditions do you and your family practice? How are you coping with the difficulties caused by the virus? What part do you appreciate the most (for me, it's definitely Good Friday)? Let's talk.
In the meantime, the NationStates Core of Catholics would like to offer some programming for those looking to stay in touch with their faith. At 10AM EST tomorrow, we'll be hosting a guided rosary offered for the victims of the coronavirus. We hope you'll join us on our Discord to share fellowship, to talk, to pray, and to live through Holy Week together as a NationStates community. We'll also have several other offerings throughout the week, we hope, potentially including:
- Bible readings and studies
- Stations of the Cross
- Chaplets of Divine Mercy
- Discussion of Faith
- Reflections from the community
- and potentially more! The more people we get in the server, the more we can offer.
In Pax Christi,
United Massachusetts
Defender of the NationStates Core of Catholics