April 2022

The Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Easter, John 21, highlights the primacy of Peter among the Apostles.

Peter is listed first among the disciples named as present. The other disciples follow his lead by accompanying him fishing.

In our day and age, trust and mercy are as popular as tape recorders and fax machines: people wonder if they’re still around and working. Yes, they are. And when combined, their credibility is off the charts.

In my experience of the Triduum at Saint Vincent Archabbey, a particularly powerful part of it has been the empty Tabernacle. Following the painful moment at midnight on Holy Thursday when Jesus is taken away from us and the Tabernacle is left empty, my attention is repeatedly drawn to the gold tabernacle with its open door.

One of my favorite parts of Holy Thursday is the extended period of adoration after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the altar of repose. That time is the commemoration of Jesus’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane where the Apostles join Him and He asks Peter, James and John to stay awake with Him one hour.

The readings for Palm Sunday might seem bipolar or schizophrenic, but they help us to understand the events that are soon to come during the Triduum and Easter.