Dear friends,

We are onto the home stretch. Our forty days’ journey is nearing its end. I am always amazed at how fast these days pass as we walk through the desert, and at the same time how challenging they can be. God wants to draw us out of our ordinary, day to day, routine in order to show us more. He wants to help us to see anew with the eyes of faith the wonderful gift we have received in Christ at our baptism and to renew that wonder and awe come Easter as we celebrate the Paschal Mysteries with lives made new by the Blood of the Lamb.

Our holy mother, the Church, gives us rich scriptures in this blessed time to rouse us and help us to know the wonderful mystery of God and His love for us in Christ who was incarnate, became flesh, and gave His life for us. Spend some time with the Scriptures in these last days. Next Sunday we celebrate Passion (Palm) Sunday. We will hear of the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and of His ultimate triumph on the cross. Come to the stations if you haven’t yet and walk this path with Christ.

We will have many opportunities in these last days of Lent to enter more deeply into the mystery, if we choose to do so. I encourage you to take some time and make a plan. Sit down with the Lord in prayer, in a silent, technology free space and make a plan to walk with Him a bit more closely in these last days of Lent. What can you do a little better? Have you kept your Lenten fast joyfully, or grumbled all the way? Can you arrange your schedule this week so that you can attend the wonderful celebrations of the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday)? If you have never attended all three successively I encourage you to do so. Each year as I celebrate these wonderful mysteries I find that God is working and drawing me deeper into His love.

Traditionally the Chrism Mass, where the Bishop consecrates the Holy Chrism and other Holy oils for the diocese is held on Holy Thursday. Here in the Archdiocese of Seattle, due to the vast expanse of our territory we celebrate this Mass with the Archbishop on the Thursday prior to Holy Thursday so that the priests of the Archdiocese can travel from their parish to be with the Archbishop at this great celebration in which we remember the Lord’s institution of the priesthood and renew the promises we made on the day of our ordination. It is always one of the highlights of my Lent and my year. I have been blessed to be able to attend this Mass each year and each year I grow in my appreciation for the celebration and the awesome gift that is the priesthood. I invite you to join me at the Cathedral this Thursday April 10^th at 7pm.

After the renewal of my priestly promises, my favorite part of the Mass is when the Archbishop consecrates the Holy Chrism. When I was a seminarian I was blessed with the opportunity to hold the Missal for Archbishop Brunett at the Chrism Mass. This meant that I was right there holding the book while he blessed the oil. As he blessed the oil, at a certain point the instruction in the Missal calls for the bishop to breathe into the oil. To be right there when he did this was awesome. I recalled how God breathed upon the waters at the beginning of creation and life came to be through the Holy Spirit, the breath of God. We become a new creation in the Holy Spirit as we are marked with this Holy Chrism at our baptism, and at our confirmation we are sealed with the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

May the same Holy Spirit renew that wonderful life in each one of us as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the great mysteries of our Faith.

Fr. Jack D. Shrum