It’s hard to believe how quickly Lent has flown by, but Holy Week has arrived and Teach Bhríde and the Clonard community are busy preparing a host of liturgies for the Paschal Triduum and Easter celebrations. While organizing and practicing the large amount of music that is included in this week’s liturgies can at times feel daunting, it is also a great joy for us to rehearse and explore many beautiful pieces of music that will hopefully enhance the reflection, prayer, and celebration for those at Clonard this Holy Week. We have remarked that we feel more engrossed in music than ever this week, as a majority of our daily efforts over the past several days have been devoted to planning and/or practicing music for this week’s liturgies.
While most of Teach Bhríde’s other large projects are on hold this week, exciting events are on the horizon on many fronts. Many sixth-class students at Scoil Mhuire, Kennedy Park, and Educate Together will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at the beginning of May, and First Communion celebrations for second-class students will follow throughout May and June. Also, we have been rehearsing at a rapid pace for next month’s Resurrection Play, and we have been having a ton of fun learning our characters and the music. We are very excited for the play’s performances on May 16-17!
While Holy Week can be an emotional and spiritual roller coaster, ultimately we are called to look towards the great joy and salvation that is brought with our Lord’s resurrection. As Father James here at Clonard often reminds us, in the end we as Christians are not a people of Christmas or Good Friday, but we are an Easter people, and Christ’s victory over death is what guides our faith and living. While Christ’s passion and death are gruesome, saddening, and sometimes difficult to understand, and the sorrow of the Way of the Cross is a necessary part of our Holy Week journey, the journey directs us to rediscover God’s wondrous and life-giving love and share that love with the world. We pray that everyone comes to experience God’s love in even greater depth and intimacy this Holy Week and Easter season. Teach Bhríde wishes everyone a happy and blessed Easter!
Peace,
Ben
