Holy Week & Easter Part I

In my last blog I shared that the Church is truly universal. The Catholic Church is not just an association of different particular Churches.  It is rooted in a variety of cultures with a myriad of external expressions. This couldn’t be more apparent than in the liturgical celebration of the Paschal mystery I experienced in the community of the Diocese of Damongo in Ghana. Let me share with you some of the highlights.

Lenten Walk

The Holy Week celebration for the Diocese began a day earlier than what we are accustomed to.  On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, the youth of the parish and a few oldies like myself joined a Lenten Walk, a Stations of the Cross procession to a large hill.  The group met at the Old Cathedral for the First Station and worked its way through the streets of Damongo (about 1.5 miles walk) to the bottom of the hill where the 13^th Station was prayed.  Karen and I did not actually join the procession but went to the hill together with the men who carried the table, chairs, and other provisions for the day’s activities.  The Bishop must have known that we would slow down the group as they made their way to the top of the hill, so he requested Karen to drive the volunteers to the site. 

Our penance for the Holy Week actually began that day.  It was difficult for us and at some point, Karen and I were on our hands and knees as we climbed the hill.  Everything had been set-up by the time the group arrived for the 14^th Station.  As we sat down on the rocks and branches of trees for the Bishop’s recollection, it reminded me of what it might have been at Christ’s sermon on the mount.  

A Penitential service followed the recollection with confessions made available for those who wanted it.  The culmination of the day’s event was the celebration of the Mass.  Going down the hill was scarier as we were worried that we would slip and just fall.  A seminarian and a few students were assigned to help us, and we made it.  It was an exhausting day but truly blessed.  Karen and I arrived home at 4:30 p.m. and woke up the next morning to get ready for the Palm Sunday Mass.

Palm Sunday

The Palm Sunday celebration began with the blessing of the Palms by the Bishop and a procession from the Agri school to the Cathedral, a distance of 1.4 kms.  As everyone processed into the Church drums were playing, parishioners were dancing and singing Hallelujah. It was a site to behold. Everyone was dressed in their finest.  The Cathedral was almost a sea of red that day.

Chrism Mass

We had the Chrism Mass on Wednesday.  All but one of the 38 priests of the Diocese were there for the renewal of their ordination vows and the blessing of the oils. This Mass celebrates the institution of the priesthood.  The Bishop also blessed and explained the (1) Oil of the Sick used for the anointing of the sick, (2) the oil of the Catechumen used for those catechumens who are preparing for the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist and (3) the Sacred Chrism used in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination of Priests, in the dedication of Churches and altars. These oils were received by the parish community at the Evening Mass of Thursday of the Lord’s Supper. For the Diocese of Ghana this year’s Chrism mass was very touching with the presence of a priest participating in his Chrism Mass for the first time. During the announcement before the final blessing, the young priest was introduced to the parishioners.  I was also briefly introduced to the community as the new missionary to serve the Diocese.  A luncheon was prepared by the Bishop for his priests, and Karen and I were invited.  This gave me an opportunity to meet the priests personally.