e have just ended the Easter celebrations, with the
Triduum in Church well participated by our parishioners. We are all in awe by the bounty that the Lord has shown to us, not only with the numbers of people
attending, but most of all because of their lively participation, their spirit-filled lives that touched our hearts in celebration. There are three Xaverians who have been animating this Christian community, two veterans of Indonesia (Fr. Laurenzi and Fr. Bruno) and myself, who after so many years of leadership in the Xaverian congregation, I’m learning once again as a beginner.
Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil have been very intense days, with two services each day. On Holy Thursday we washed the feet of 12 catechists who help us
to bring the good news of the Gospel to many other communities we can’t personally reach on a weekly basis.
We started the Good Friday service very early in the morning, at 7 am, with the procession of the Cross and Stations organized and led by the youth of the parish: it was mainly around the church and the neighborhood, combining both the events of Jesus’ passion with the way of the cross experienced by our people in their daily struggle. Many people
joined in the procession, and ended their “via dolorosa” with the sacrament of penance with 9 priests available for hours.
The Via Crucis organized by the youth combined both the events of Jesus’ passion with the way of the cross experienced daily by our people in their daily struggle.
Yet, the great surprised for us came during the celebration of Good Friday in the evening, when we were predicting a couple of thousand people, and over 5,000 took part. They followed each station from outside the church, under a huge tent, since our church can hold only 900 of them. And they came, from different corners of the church, to venerate the Cross, and remembered Christ’s blood shed for our salvation.
Holy Saturday came, and surprisingly, even more people showed us, especially during the Vigil Service which had started at 10pm and ended at 1:30am. Throngs of people, coming from different communities and walks of life, who witnessed the celebration of 26 adult baptisms, then Confirmation and Eucharist for even more. During that celebration, 6 couples renewed their Marriage Vows according to the Covenant established by the Catholic Church, thus becoming in full communion with the Church.
The early morning mass on Easter Sunday was organized by the children, and for the children, with over 700 of them who sang, prayed, followed the mass in their First Communion dresses, and of course, as it happens in every church around the world on this day… went wild, run around, and kept us busy to keep them in line, bringing joy to all who attended.
We are a parish community of about 13,000 Catholics. To these, this year we added another parish who does not have a worshiping place any more, because the church was lost in an earthquake two years ago.
I take the occasion of this Easter Season to send my greetings of a Blessed Easter to all our friends who follow us with their prayers and support.
(From Xaverian News)