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CV NEWS FEED // Holy Thursday is an underrated part of Holy Week, according to an article that Little Vatican Media’s Catholic Stand published on March 27.
Dan Fitzpatrick, a former Catholic elementary school principal who blogs about how Catholic parents and educators can help children grow in their faith, wrote that, like the character Jan in the TV show The Brady Bunch, Holy Thursday doesn’t get the attention, respect and love that it deserves.
“It is obvious why Holy Thursday takes a back row in people’s minds as compared to Easter, since this final, third part of the Triduum commemorates the central event of our faith. What shouldn’t be as pronounced when measuring Catholics’ attitudes regarding Holy Week and the Triduum is that Palm Sunday and Good Friday should supplant Holy Thursday in importance and attention,” he wrote. “An argument can be made that Palm Sunday, which launches Holy Week, and Good Friday, which is just as much a part of the Sacred Triduum as Thursday, are given more prominence than Holy Thursday by many.”
Catholics traditionally display palm branches behind their home crucifixes for several months after they bring them home from church on Palm Sunday, he said. On Good Friday, which is a national holiday in some countries, Catholics fast and pray the Stations of the Cross and many Christians venerate the cross.
Holy Thursday, the day when Jesus gave the Church the gifts of the Eucharist and the priesthood is well worth observing through spending time in adoration and attending the Mass of the Last Supper, Fitzpatrick said.
“It was because of Holy Thursday that we now have priests who bring Christ to us in the Holy Eucharist,” he wrote.
Holy Thursday is also when Jesus gave the commandment “That you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another,” prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, healed the high priest’s servant’s ear after Peter cut it off, and announced that Judas would betray him and that Peter would deny him, Fitzpatrick noted.
“It is one of the most consequential nights in all of history, was one of the most pivotal days in the life of Christ, and doesn’t deserve the lower status and short end of the stick that the stereotypical middle child frequently receives,” Fitzpatrick said.