Christian Holy Week is Underway

(KNSI) – It’s the most sacred time of the year for Christians as Holy Week is underway.

The days leading up to Easter follow the final footsteps of Jesus by celebrating his life, teachings, crucifixion and resurrection. St. Cloud Diocese Director of Vocations Father Scott Pogatchnik was a guest on KNSI and talked about what the week means for the faithful. “The most defining aspect of this whole week is that Jesus Christ gives meaning and purpose even to suffering. Jesus says, I’ve come to enter into the most trying of human experiences and not just to try to take them away, but actually to make tragedy the very cause of our triumphs.”

He says Easter is a great time to get in touch with faith. “For people of deep faith, for people of no faith, I would just say Jesus proposes an answer to the deepest human questions. Where do we come from? Where are we going? Why are we here? And, he does so by taking up our human experience.”

The week began with Palm Sunday services. Father Scott says next up is Spy Wednesday, named because it is the day Judas sells Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, which was the price of a slave. The week continues with Holy Thursday, where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. Good Friday celebrates the last supper and Jesus’s death on the cross with the Tenebrae service. Holy Saturday includes the Easter Vigil that evening. Sunday is Easter.

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