As a parish community, we are invited to deepen our call to walk together—not simply as individuals of faith, but as collaborators in a common mission. Each step we take, each act of service, and each prayer shared among us builds up something greater: a Church renewed through unity, strengthened by participation, and shaped by the path we make together.

Holy Week draws us more deeply into this shared journey. It is not merely a remembrance of what once happened, but a living mystery unfolding in our midst. As we follow Christ through these sacred days, we are called to serve with humility, to walk as one Body, and to protect the gift of communion. Where division threatens the unity of Christ’s Body—whether visible or subtle—it must be faced and overcome. Only then can our witness be whole, and our mission reflect the One who goes before us.

In this Great Week—the holiest of all weeks—we follow the final steps of Christ. It begins on Palm Sunday, when palms wave and acclamations rise, but ends in the silent love of the pierced Body, lifted upon the wood of the Cross.

As the night of Holy Thursday unfolds, the hands that break the Bread serving the sacred communion are the same hands that wash the feet in humble compassion. The Eucharist and service reveal the heart of communion.

On Good Friday, the hands that healed wounds and fed the hungry with the Bread of life are now pierced and motionless, nailed to the Cross, redeeming the world without a word. In silence, He gives everything.

In the stillness of Holy Saturday, the Body once broken, buried, and wrapped in the silence of the tomb now rises in glory, and the Light shines forth, triumphant over death and darkness. The grave is no longer the end, but the threshold of new life.

And on Easter Sunday, the stone once sealed against hope is rolled away, and the Risen Christ shines His light upon us and sends us to walk in the radiance of new life. The path we walk is no longer toward the tomb, but outward—toward the world, carrying the joy of the Resurrection.

As we enter these sacred days, may we do so not as spectators, but as participants—united in faith, walking and celebrating together, and carrying both the joy and the weight of the Paschal mystery. May our shared path through Holy Week renew in us a spirit of communion and strengthen the mission entrusted to us: to walk as one Body, in the light of the Risen Christ.

Fr. Fabio de Souza