The Week that Changed the World
I’ll admit it, I look forward to Holy Week even more than Christmas.
Every year, Palm Sunday feels like the Church is saying, “Come in close. Pay attention.” We start with palms, procession, and Hosanna—remembering the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem—and then, almost immediately, we hear the Passion. That shift isn’t jarring by accident. It’s the
Church giving us the full Gospel in one sweep: the praise, the suffering, the Cross, and the promise of the Resurrection. Palm Sunday doesn’t ease us into the week. It points us straight toward it.
There’s so much packed into these days that you can’t absorb it all at once. The readings don’t feel distant. They feel like they’re happening right in front of you. The prayer of the Church is direct and steady, and it asks something of us.
This is th week that changed the world, and if we let it, it will change us, too.
That’s why we built this issue the way we did. Holy Week isn’t just another stretch on the calendar. These days are different. They’re holy. They’re worth planning around. If you’ve ever felt the closeness of Holy Thursday night, the stark quiet of Good Friday, or the first Alleluia at the Easter Vigil, you already understand.
We dedicate this issue of the Four County Catholic to helping you enter more deeply into what the Church celebrates in Holy Week. Father Peter Langevin begins with the Chrism Mass—the Diocese’s clearest sign of unity—when priests renew their promises and the sacred oils are blessed and consecrated for sacramental life across every parish.
Holy Week’s Sign of Unity for the Diocese - Renewing Priestly Promises and Consecrating Chrism
Deacon Ben LoCasto then walks us through the Easter Triduum—Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil—showing how these days draw the Church into the heart of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
The Easter Triduum - Three Days That Changed the World
In “A Question of Faith,” Father Richard Breton explains why the Church does not celebrate Mass on Good Friday, and how that purposeful absence teaches us to wait at the foot of the Cross with faith.
A Question of Faith - Father, why is there no Mass on Good Friday?
Andrea Hoisl offers a strong local conversion story, tracing Dayne Rugh’s journey through OCIA and reminding us that the grace of Easter keeps calling hearts home—on God’s timetable, not ours.
Conversion on “God’s Time,” Not Our Own
Andrea DePaola invites families to experience the Triduum through the eyes of a child, where silence, darkness, light, and wonder can leave a lifelong mark.
Triduum Through the Eyes of a Child
One final note as we enter these sacred days: some of our people can’t be present in person—because of illness, age, mobility challenges, work, travel, or circumstances they simply can’t change. That’s why our Communications Office will be live-streaming the Holy Week liturgies from the Cathedral. Nothing replaces being there, but we hope these broadcasts help bring the Church’s prayer to those who need it.
Click here for the full live-stream schedule.
Have a blessed Holy Week and a joyful Easter.
By Wayne Gignac
Click on the Magazine cover below to read the entire issue.
