Friday 3 April 2026
After I year I have the routines down quite well. I know where I’m supposed to sit, stand, and kneel.
Then comes Good Friday.
Suddenly, I’m back to watching everyone else and doing what they do on a slight 1-2 second lag.
It started early. A friend from SVP asked if I would join “the crowd”, as they were short of people who wanted to crucify Jesus.
I wasn’t sure what this meant in the moment. But I caught on and meant to say something like amateur dramatics were not really my thing. I only managed to say that I had volunteered to have my feet washed the day before, and perhaps someone else might want a turn. It came out in a confusing riddle, and I wasn’t surprised by the expression on my friend’s face.
Midway through, it dawned on me I’d forgotten cash for the collection. Then later, I stood for some time waiting to join the queue for communion before I realized there were two queues. I was holding everyone up.
Had this been a football match, I would have been subbed at halftime.
But is there a better time to be in and around the church than for the Triduum?
I’d was more and more tired at each service, but excited to be there. I thought back to last year, and how nervous I’d been, but also how eager. I’d had a gradual sense of wanting to be part of the church all through RCIA. But by Easter, it felt like the most natural thing.
That was all a year ago (give or take a few weeks for the early Easter). What a transformative year this has been.
I used the electronic payment machine on the way out.