Within this reflective season falls Mothering Sunday, a day that carries both historical and spiritual significance. Originally, it was the time when people returned to their ‘mother church’ reconnecting with the place where their faith was nurtured. Over time, it also became a day to honour mothers and all those who offer care, guidance, and love in our lives.

We participate in a liturgical enactment of the Palm Gospel and the Passion Gospel in which the whole story of Holy Week is anticipated. As we hear the stories of Jesus and his disciples in the days leading up to his death, we are invited to consider again our own discipleship.

We are offered an opportunity to reflect on Jesus’ path to the Cross.

We are offered an opportunity to reflect on Jesus’ path to the Cross.

We recall Christ’s humble service demonstrated in his washing of his disciples’ feet, his institution of the Eucharist, the meal to which all are invited, and the perfection of his loving obedience through the agony of Gethsemane.

After keeping vigil, Maundy Thursday passes into Good Friday. The church has been stripped of all decoration: it is bare and empty. In these surroundings we are reminded simply and starkly of the price of Jesus’ obedience. Through reflections, readings, hymns and prayers we hear the story of Jesus’ suffering. The most conspicuous feature of Tenebrae (Latin for ‘shadows’ or ‘darkness’) is the gradual extinguishing of lights until only a single light, a symbol of Christ – the light of the world, remains in the darkness.