Holy Saturday is a day of waiting and anxiety. I imagine the apostles holed up in a small room in Jerusalem, waiting for the Roman soldiers to come arrest them. The authorities have already crucified Jesus, and the apostles expect that they are next. Waiting for their deaths, many of them doubt the promise that …
Good Friday: Praying with Peter
Today, I think of the apostle Peter, who in the early morning of Good Friday denied Jesus three times. After Jesus was arrested, numerous people came to him, asking if he knew Jesus. 69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of …
Holy Thursday: Praying with Jesus
Today, Catholics move into the most prayerful and solemn time of the Church year—the Triduum, which is made up of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. These days prepare us for the highest Christian holiday, Easter Sunday, which celebrates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead after his crucifixion. For each day of the Triduum, I …
A sacrificial feast
Written November 2010. Today, Muslims are celebrating Eid al-Adha, the holiest holiday in the Islamic calendar. It is similar to Christians’ Easter celebrations, in that it is the most important holiday of the year, yet the worldwide festivities and preparations are less extensive than those during the month of Ramadan (which is similar to Christmastime …
Modern day prophets
The theme of this year’s Ignatian Family Teach-In is “Prophetic lives: Caminando juntos (Walking together).” This idea is taken from the words of Oscar Romero, the former archbishop of San Salvador who was murdered while saying Mass in 1980. During the brutal civil war, he advocated for the protection of the poor in his country, …
JORDAN DENARI DUFFNER 