UNIQUE HOLY WEEK EXPEREINCE

The Sumedhans observed that they found their Holy week experience at Sumedha very special. Many of them said this Holy week was very different from the ones that they were used to. "Unique," "Special," so very meaningful" were some of the words and phrases they used to describe their experience.

Participants of the Sumedha Sadhana attended services on Holy Thursday and Good Friday at the parish church, and enriched especially the good Friday Liturgy through their singing of the Passion of the Lord.

However, they had their own Way of the Cross on Friday morning and the Easter Vigil Service on Saturday night.

At sunrise on Friday morning, Sumedhans went up the Sumedha Hill carrying a large and heavy wooden Cross. This Way of the Cross was composed by Fr. Jose Parappully, the Director of the Sumedha programme. He built it around the Word of God and made reflections at each Station of the Cross applying the Word of God to the existential sufferings of humankind. Participants took turns to lead each Station as well as to carry the Cross.

The Way of the Cross ended at the Calvary on top of the Sumedha Hill. The reflections at each station, the participants said, were very meaningful and helped them reflect deeply on human realities as they trudged up the hill.

The rest of Friday was spent in quiet reflection and prayer. Participants reflected on their one month experiences at Sumedha in the light of the Paschal Mystery.

Saturday was spent in preparing (cleaning, decorating, singing practice) for the great celebration of the Easter Vigil which began after nightfall. After the lighting of the  new fire and the new Paschal Candle, and singing of the Paschal Proclamation, participants sat in the dark in the light of the paschal candle, listening to the great stories of our Salvation History.

Fr. Parappully who was the main celebrant at the Easter , made reflections on each of the stories in the light of the members' experiences at Sumedha in the past one month.

In his homily, Fr. Parappully focused on the theme of newness and transformation that the Resurrection of Jesus represents.

The Sumedha experience of the past one month had concluded with an invitation to reflect (questions had been given) on the Galilee Song (the Sumedha theme Song) which spoke about "voices deep within my heart"  calling me to "leave my boats behind,""leave them on familiar shores," "to walk past horizons that I know," "to walk into evening shadows one more time" and to "set my heart upon the deep" and "follow you again my Lord."

Fr Parappully weaved the words of the Galilee Song into his brief reflection on the resurrection event.

Participants had written their responses to the questions on the Galilee Song and had drawn a picture giving visual representation to the answers their reflection  had provided. These were shared during the liturgy in the context of newness that they had experienced so far at Sumedha and the further newness to which God  was inviting them. The drawing were presented as their offering around the Paschal Candle, along with their prayers.

Listening to the stories of salvation history sitting in darkness around the paschal candle, weaving the Sumedha experience into the meditation on the resurrection of Christ, sharing of their experiences and the invitations they were hearing and expressed in their drawings, and offering them to the Lord in prayer and thus being fully involved in the liturgy made this Easter Vigil celebration "very meaningful" and "different" from the ones the  participants were used. to.