Hi Everyone!
I hope you are safe and taking every precaution in this pandemic. For friends of our faith community around the country, I am Mark Neuhengen St. Teresa of Avila’s Director of Evangelization and Parish Mission. I want to let each of you know that the staff has been thinking about you and do not hesitate to reach out if you need anything. I also find it important for each of us to share our faith especially during Holy Week; the most important time of our calendar.
I also wondered what Jesus and the disciples did on the first three days of holy week. Palm Sunday was when Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and the story really picks up on Holy Thursday, but what happened on those three days? In some ways, I think those days were similar to the situation we currently find ourselves, a time for waiting. Much of our lives have been overturned and we are waiting for our lives to get back to normal. You might feel like your days are dragging along and that your work is for naught. Many people in the scriptures feel the same way. For example Today’s first reading from Isaiah says “ Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God.”
In this period of waiting, take some time to find your reward in the lord. This might be calling someone that you have had a disagreement with. This might be about learning about a new injustice in our society (like how 70% of COVID-19 deaths in Chicago come from black and brown communities). Our lives might be on hold but it wont stop us from finding the living God.
Mark Neuhengen