On Holy Thursday, a group of high schoolers likely will do what the Apostles couldn’t on the night of Christ’s arrest before his crucifixion: stay awake.
That night, teens of the Church of Christ the King in the New Vernon neighborhood of Harding Township will unite from 7:30 to 11 p.m. for Holy Thursday Church Hopping. They will pray with Jesus in adoration at five area churches, including their home parish, to remember the events leading into Good Friday. Unlike the Apostles, who fell asleep waiting with Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane the night of his arrest, the youth plan to stay awake.
“Church Hopping will introduce the teens to adoration — a different form of worship for many of them. They can unite their suffering in prayer with Jesus’ suffering. They can also better understand Holy Week to prepare them for Easter. Jesus loved us so much that he died for our sins,” said Karen Theckston, Christ the King’s interim youth ministry coordinator.
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Many parishes across the Paterson Diocese will hold compelling services and activities that expand on — or take a different approach with — the traditional rites and events throughout the Paschal Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. All the observances detailed in this story are open to the public, except the Holy Thursday Church Hopping, a Christ the King event.
For the Christ the King teens, the evening will start with the 7:30 p.m. Mass of the Lord’s Supper at their home parish, followed by adoration. Then, they will travel by car to pray for 10 minutes each in adoration at four local churches, including the Shrine of St. Joseph and St. Vincent de Paul Parish, both in the Stirling neighborhood of Long Hill Township.
Also, on Good Friday, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney will join Morris County Right to Life to pray for the protection of babies in the womb during A Way of the Cross for the Victims of Abortion at Morristown Planned Parenthood on Speedwell Avenue at 10 a.m.
On Good Friday, St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln Park will join an interfaith Cross Walk to remember Jesus’ sacrifice and suffering on the cross. The half-hour walk will start at noon in St. Joseph’s parking lot and proceed in silence with a large cross through Lincoln Park’s main streets.
Several parishes on Good Friday will hold Seven Last Words, a quiet time of spiritual reflection about Jesus’ final words on the cross. St. Jude Parish in Hardyston will hold the service at noon, followed by a 3 p.m. service of the Lord’s Passion and Death.
The Way of the Cross: A Franciscan Mystery Play will stop on Good Friday at 8 p.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mountain Lakes. The Franciscan Mystery Players will present their moving performance of Christ’s passion. Not a traditional “play,” the performance uses special lighting, a stirring soundtrack, pantomime actions, and an inspirational narration. It is not suitable for children under 10.
On Easter Sunday, St. Bonaventure Parish in Paterson will hold an outdoor Sunrise Mass in Spanish at 6 a.m., weather permitting.
“There is something beautiful about the sacrifice of waking early, running to the tomb, and welcoming the Risen Christ with the first light of morning. It mirrors the journey of the disciples who rushed to find the empty tomb,” Father Alex Nevitt, St. Bonaventure’s administrator, wrote in the bulletin.
