A Day of Preparation

3/23/2016

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?".... The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. (Matthew 26:14ff)

Tribute Money by Mattia Preti

In the Ordinary Form Gospel for Wednesday of Holy Week, the Church poses us this question: How are you preparing to celebrate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Are you preparing like Judas to betray your Friend and Savior? Or are you preparing like the faithful disciples to do His Holy Will?

Along with the sisters' ongoing spiritual preparations for this holy season, there are many practical preparations to be made so that the liturgies can be celebrated appropriately. Today, the Cathedral Altar of Repose is prepared to be a fitting resting place for Our Lord after the Mass of Holy Thursday. The convent chapel has been cleaned from top to bottom and is ready to be stripped for Good Friday and later decorated for Easter. Fresh linens have been prepared for the Cathedral and the Convent. The lilies have arrived but are hidden away until the Resurrection. The choir is preparing the glorious music appropriate to the feast and for the liturgies leading up to it. Each of these joyous preparations, done in union with our Lady, can assist us to prepare our hearts to enter more deeply into the Paschal Mysteries we long to celebrate with reverence and recollection.