The mother of all liturgies: Homily for Sunday, March 29,. 2026

The mother of all liturgies. These are liturgies at their finest. We feel, we smell, we see, we hear, we taste. But most importantly, we are invited to be part of a Church that is alive and growing. A while back at Christmas, I stressed that the Church and St. Dominic’s Parish needs you. The Church needs you. Those who are embracing the faith need you. Readings for Today.

The mother of all liturgies

Today, we begin the week we call holy. Everything we hold as the core of our faith we celebrate this week. This week we celebrate the Paschal Mystery, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The way we will celebrate, however, is not superficial. The Church goes over the top to help us to enter the deepest events of our faith.

Take today, for example, two Gospels. One of the Gospels involves the reading of the Passion, a story we will hear twice this week. In fact, the thought briefly crossed my mind that this week, the liturgies themselves are, in a very real way, the homily. I thought that maybe this could be a good place where I would just sit down. But as a Dominican, I simply can’t do that.

But what I can do is to help each of us to know just how important it is for us to be present to the events of this week, to focus on why they matter so much. Today, the Gospels we read remind us just how fickle we can be in our relationship with God. We can at one moment be on top of the world, and in the next moment we are joining the crowd, chanting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

But the three days of Easter, the Easter Triduum, provide the opportunity for us to know exactly what is most important about our faith. While the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke have descriptions of the Last Supper that remind us of the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, on Holy Thursday, it is the Gospel of John we read. We will be reminded about the intimate connection between the liturgy and service and concern to the poor.

On Good Friday, we hear, as we do every year, the passion is told by the Gospel of John. Through powerful references to key aspects of Jewish theology, we understand that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and that Jesus is the Temple of God. Jesus will be the once-for-all sacrifice that saves us.

But the event we celebrate at the end of this week, the mother of all liturgies, is the Easter Vigil. Every aspect of what we celebrate during the liturgical year each day at Mass arises from the foundation of the Easter Vigil. But the foundation of the commandment Jesus gives us is the cause of our rejoicing.

St. Dominic Parish is part of a trend we are seeing all over the world. Eleven people will be baptized, two will be received in full communion in the Catholic Church, and others will be confirmed. But most important for us is to be present as much as possible at all these events. Those coming into the Church join this community through the witness of our faith.

As they enter the Church, they should experience our joy. Each liturgy serves to engage all of our senses. These are liturgies at their finest. We feel, we smell, we see, we hear, we taste. But most importantly, we are invited to be part of a Church that is alive and growing. A while back at Christmas, I stressed that the Church and St. Dominic’s Parish needs you. The Church needs you. Those who are embracing the faith need you.

At the Holy Thursday Mass, this Thursday at 7 p.m., we are reminded about Jesus’ self-gift in the Eucharist and how Jesus inspires us to serve. At noon on Good Friday, we enter into the most powerful reminder that we are loved more than we can understand. Something so important that this week we hear the Passion twice, and we venerate the Cross because it is triumph and victory. And on Saturday at 8 p.m., we celebrate the Easter Vigil. How important do I think the Easter Vigil is?

If I were ever Pope, I would tell every Catholic they had to come to the Easter Vigil, if they were able. Now, since it will never happen that I will be the Pope, I will settle for encouraging all of us to think about supporting those coming into the Church and receiving the Sacraments. The Mass is long, but spectacular. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are spectacular. We are loved. We are saved. We have an eternal friendship. Thanks be to God.

On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.

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