With the celebration of Laetare Sunday (The Fourth Sunday of Lent) we are over halfway through our Lenten journey and like any journey, there is always a destination to reach. Once we reach the end of that journey, we immediately begin another journey that is much shorter in length (about 72 hours), but is potentially so powerful in the spiritual effect that it can have on us that it has been called "The Great Three Days' (The Paschal Triduum). After celebrating Passion/Palm Sunday and the first three days of "Holy Week", Holy Thursday evening starts scripturally with the account of Passover when the destroying angel passed over the Jewish homes and they started their journey to freedom through the Red Sea. We then recall through the writings of St. Paul (1 Cor. 11: 23-26) his account of the Last Supper when Jesus spoke the words "This is my body" and "This cup is the new covenant in my blood", along with the command to "Do this in remembrance of me." When we come to Mass that evening, we should notice something different in that the tabernacle is empty of the Eucharist as we will consume the Body and Blood of the Lord that is consecrated at that Mass that evening as well as in the liturgy of Good Friday (which is the only day in the whole year when the Mass is NOT celebrated). At the Holy Thursday evening liturgy we "remember" Jesus' great act of humility and service when the Celebrant washes the feet of representatives of the parish and we are all called to "wash one another's feet" in humble acts of service for others. In this beautiful liturgy we sing the Gloria with the ringing of bells throughout and a silence of the bells until the Gloria is sung again at the Easter Vigil. The Holy Oils that were blessed and consecrated by Bishop Taylor earlier in the week at the Chrism Mass are presented at this liturgy and are placed in the ambry in the entryway into the Church proper for use in Baptisms, Confirmations, and for the Anointing of the Sick until next year's Holy Week. Finally, after Communion, there is a transfer of the Holy Eucharist to a special altar of reposition led by the cross and candles and incense and we are encouraged to stay for a while or come back for Solemn Eucharistic Adoration until Midnight. Regular Eucharistic Adorers are strongly encouraged to come for their Holy Hour and spend it in prayer either in the chapel or the church as we don't abandon Jesus during the Triduum as the apostles abandoned him after his arrest. The liturgy that started with song (at 6:30) concludes in silence with no blessing and dismissal as we normally do at the end of Mass. We depart quietly and the liturgy pauses until 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday). Next week's pastor's column will be a summary of what we can anticipate and prepare for, before coming back to church for the liturgy of Good Friday.