Holy week and Easter are always a special time.  But for the three of us Oblates of Mary Immaculate (Irek, Louie, and I) these days have even been more significant as it is our first experience of Holy Week and the Triduum in Beijing.  Palm Sunday Irek celebrated mass at the Polish embassy.  Louie and I took part in the liturgy at the local diocesan seminary, which also serves as a parish church.  It is about a ten-minute bicycle ride from where we live (unless Louie’s bicycle pedal falls off again!) 

Due to circumstances, we had our own Holy Thursday liturgy here in the apartment followed by a special dinner to celebrate our call to the sacramental priesthood.  It was a beautiful time together as we recalled thankfully our lives as priests.  We ended up with a final Holy Hour of quite prayer. 

 On Friday we joined the seminary for the Good Friday liturgy and to kiss Jesus crucified made me recall St. Eugene’s experience two hundred years ago of Christ’s love for him and all mankind. 

 

 For Easter Vigil the three of us joined the seminary again and were invited to concelebrate with the seminary staff. Streaming into the church with lighted candles and renewing our baptismal vows as  eight adult catechumens were about to be baptized was a powerful experience.  

Later in the mass, as I watched the hundreds of faces of the people receiving communion, I couldn’t help but feel I was indeed  seeing the face of the Risen Christ in China. 

What an apt preparation for Pope Benedict’s letter to the Chinese Catholics!

  

 Sunday we attended afternoon mass at the (southern) cathedral. So it has been a very full week –and with language classes throughout.  But more than that–it has been a week of gentle grace. 
 
April 8, 2007  David Ullrich, omi