An invitation to allow our Lord Jesus this week, this Holy Week, to conquer your hearts, in new ways. As our Lord processed into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he came as a king seeking to conquer. He did not come on a war horse. He came on a beast of burden. He did not come with an army with weapons. He came with his sacred heart to conquer through love. This entire week is an unfolding of the depth of his love for you and for me.

Every year during Holy Week, Holy, set apart, a week set apart for God in a new and special way. Every year, we have the invitation to allow our hearts to be conquered anew, to experience the depth of his love in new ways. I invite you to make that journey throughout this week, in a particular way to set aside, to set apart, to make Holy, Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lord's Supper. Good Friday, as we recall his Passion, and also an invitation to attend our Easter Vigil Mass.

This extended high point of our entire year of prayer, this Mass that we welcome those who will be entering into the full communion of the church. This Mass that so powerfully expresses our faith. 

This year, we find ourselves as part of a three-year Eucharistic revival in the Catholic Church in the United States. The bishops are inviting us to experience and grow deeper in the gift of the Holy Eucharist.

The Second Vatican Council taught that the Eucharistic sacrifice is the source and summit of the Christian life. I invite you to consider that all of Holy Week is contained within each Mass. And so as we experience the depth of this week, as we enter into this week, the promise of this week is that going forward after this week set apart, every other Mass of our year could be different for us.

At every Mass, we process in recalling our Lord's entry into Jerusalem, at every Mass we hear the Hosanna in the song two or the Holy, Holy, Holy, recalling that Hosanna that was acclaimed him as he entered into Jerusalem. At every mass, we encounter the mystery of Holy Thursday when he instituted the Holy Eucharist. At every mass, we encounter the mystery of Good Friday when he died for us, at every mass, we encounter the mystery of Easter Sunday when he rose from the dead.

This holy week IS an opportunity for us to go deeper into our faith, to journey with our Lord, to allow him to conquer our hearts in new ways, and then to emerge from this week with a deeper appreciation of the gift of the Holy Mass, with a deeper appreciation of why the church would say such bold words. 

The Eucharistic sacrifice is the source and summit of the Christian life. Our invitation this week, to allow our hearts to be conquered in new ways by our Lord, who has come to reveal for us the depths of the love of his most sacred heart.