Holy Week Leads Christians Toward Easter with Reflection, Ritual, and Renewal

(KNSI) – For Christians across central Minnesota, the week leading up to Easter Sunday is a journey through some of the most profound themes in human experience, and one local priest says that’s exactly the point.

Father Scott Pagotchnik with the Diocese of St. Cloud joined KNSI on Tuesday to walk listeners through the significance of each day of Holy Week and why the season resonates beyond church walls. “Holy Week is like the story about when everything goes wrong. It’s pretty much chaos, violence, betrayal, all these things, and how God enters very much those realities that we face all year long.”

The week begins with Palm Sunday, marking Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, and builds through a series of days each carrying their own weight. Wednesday is known as “Spy Wednesday,” the day Judas agreed to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. Holy Thursday centers on the washing of the feet and the Last Supper, the moment Christians believe Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion, and Holy Saturday is observed as a day of mourning and silence before Easter Sunday’s celebration of the resurrection.

Father Pagotchnik noted that one of the most striking aspects of Holy Week is how little Jesus speaks during those final days. “During all these liturgies, from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, it’s pretty much all that he shows us. It’s not a lot of words. It’s not a lot of teaching, lecture, instruction of ‘this is what you do when everything falls apart.’ It’s like, just keep your eyes on me.”
He said that message carries weight precisely because it mirrors real human experience, times when words fall short and what matters most is what someone does under pressure.

Easter Sunday, Father Pagotchnik explained, is not simply a happy ending but a profound statement about the nature of suffering and love. He pointed out that even in the resurrection accounts, Jesus retains the wounds of the cross, a detail he finds deeply meaningful. “It’s a reminder to us that sacrificial love, even in heaven, whatever we’ve done to really help other people and try to serve the truth, will be kind of trophies that we keep into eternity.”

As for attendance, Father Pagotchnik says he has seen a gradual increase in recent years, including among younger people searching for meaning and purpose. His message to anyone who has been away from church: the door is open.

Easter Sunday this year falls on April 4th. Holy Thursday and Good Friday services are scheduled at churches throughout the St. Cloud area, including at St. Mary’s Cathedral, where the bishop will preside.

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