YO DAMITA!

Alleluia! Our Lord is risen! =D

Apr 14

leesaPictures, Reflections 1 Comment

Peace be with you!

Maaann, I’ve been reluctant to blog because I know this is going to be a long one. haha I decided to just attempt. Here we go!

This Lent went by faaaast. And I must be honest with you, it was not my best Lent ever (last year was! =D) but this was the best Holy Week ev-er. Perhaps because I knew this Lent wasn’t as great as last years, I wanted to make the last week the best week of this year.

Holy Thursday:
This Holy Thursday service was quite unique, compared to those I have experienced in the past. Ok first, the homily. The homily was given by my favorite priest at the parish (who was just a visiting priest from NY ironically).
He started the homily by talking about orphaned lambs. Read more about it here. If you don’t want to read it, I’ll briefly explain. Many times during birth, ewes die because of complications, so what the farmers do, is give the lamb to another goat/sheep. (They make this other mother think she gave birth, ok just read the article haha). So the lamb is adopted right after birth. And he related this to us and Christ. How we are adopted by Christ. He’s not just stuck with us. But he CHOSE us! (Okay I read this again, and it definitely doesn’t sound as coherent as the priest’s homily, but I’m hoping you all get the connection ahaha) As we are being washed by the blood of the Paschal Lamb, it is not about being cleansed, but about adoption. I also loved this service because we were able to drink the blood of Christ! (it’s not USUAL here in Japan)

Good Friday:
I went to stations of the cross at 3pm. It was suuuperrr! Father wanted EVERYONE involved so there were a bunch of cards on the altar with different roles on them. For example, First station – 2nd reader, Fourth station – Mary. There were about 70 of us? And majority of us all had cards. Some had to carry the cross, were candle bearers, help carry the cross, etc. It was just captivating! haha What was cool too, was how there were so many of us from different places… Australia, America, Africa, Europe, etc. I experience the “international spirit” of my parish every week but it never ceases to amaze me. All from different corners of the world, but sharing Christ together. Sigh. haha OK! SO service started at 7pm. Once again, my favorite priest, gave the homily. He asked us to think of every stupid decision we’ve made, everything in our lives that have hurt us, etc. Then he told us that during the Veneration, we would all carry the cross and pass it to each other. As we pass and let go of the cross, we are laying EVERYTHING down on the Cross for Christ to take on.
It was really powerful! (Then the mass went on to celebrate the Eucharist which I, along with the sister I was with, thought was weird?!)

Easter Vigil:
I finished work at 6. And I debated whether or not to go to mass that night or the next day (I took off Easter Sunday). I just felt the urge to go. So I went! Mass started outside. After Father lit the fire, everyone started processing inside and then we all lit each other’s candles. Holy Moly. This service was about 3 hours. But it was TOTALLY worth it! I got to see 7 new brothers and sisters being welcomed into the family! SEVEN! I was really happy being able to witness their baptism, confirmation, communion. It was just so inspiring.

Easter Sunday:
I spent it with my dear brothers and sisters in SFC. Most of us don’t have family here so we spent it together! We had household and it was about simple joys in our lives. My simple joy was Mass haha, and being able to have a family with the community regardless of where I may be in the world.

Okay I have a lot more I want to share with you, but I’ll put that in another blog haha. =)

YAY! Happy Easter, guys!