This summer, Father Tom Margevicius plans to see the Passion Play performed in Oberammergau, Germany, where he said attendees “sit back and watch this beautifully moving and wonderfully engaging drama unfold in front of your eyes.”
Many of the faithful believe that is what they do when entering Holy Week, “watching something happen to Jesus,” said Father Margevicius, director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Father Tom Margevicius
But that’s not what the Church wants to happen in its liturgical celebrations that week, he said.
“We don’t so much sit back and look at historical drama unfolding in front of our eyes, as much as we ourselves are invited to enter into the meaning of these celebrations,” he said.
Father Margevicius recently joined “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley to discuss how to more fully engage in Holy Week.
The Church commemorates these events so that “you and I would be changed,” he said, “that our lives would become more like Jesus Christ.”
The point of how the Church celebrates Holy Week is to move the faithful to participate, not just spectate, Father Margevicius said.
“And that’s the reason for all these elaborate rituals that we do with candles and with incense and with palms and kissing crosses and things like that,” he said. “It’s all to get us involved so that we can better appropriate the truths of what Christ did, in our own lives.”
During the interview, Father Margevicius also addressed the requirements and purpose of fasting on Good Friday, adding the Church even encourages the Good Friday fast to continue through Holy Saturday and through the celebration of the Easter Vigil.
While not an option for everyone, he said, “for many of us, it’s just a little discomfort in the stomach and it’s something we can endure bodily for the sake of saying, ‘Look, there are more important things than earthly delights in life, namely spiritual delights. And if I can take my attention away from delighting my flesh for a short while for the sake of focusing on the things that are spiritual that really endure beyond this life, then I’m putting my life back in the right perspective.’”
Father Margevicius also provided tips for individuals and families to prepare for Ash Wednesday and Lent. To hear them and to hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” show, which debuts at 9 p.m. April 8 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and also airs at 1 p.m. April 9 and 2 p.m. April 10.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Alicia Hartle, executive director of Pentecost Today USA, who describes how to use praise and worship to strengthen one’s relationship with the Holy Spirit; and Meisha Johnson, coordinator of mission at St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes, who discusses how this Easter Triduum will be a special one for those coming into the Church.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
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