Malang – Happy Easter Party from the Scholastic Community of the Montfort Pondok Wisdom Seminary to the confreres where eta is located. Greetings of brotherly love to all of us. On this occasion we will share a series of activities during the 2024 holy week in the Ponsa Community.
Palm Sunday
The Eucharist celebration started at 08.00 WIB led by Father Lodo, SMM, Fr. Hedi, SMM, Fr, SMM, and Fr. Goris, SMM. An all brothers responsible for the liturgy. The blessing of the palm leaves took place in the Prayer Garden - Gotto of Mary, Mother Protector of Travel. "The lay people are like the ocean with palms in their hands," a piece of the lyrics of this opening song is clearly illustrated by the presence of the lay people who filled the courtyard of the Grotto of Mary and the chapel of St. Montfort. In his homily, Fr. Lodo, SMM advised the congregation to prepare themselves to welcome this holy week with a heart full of repentance so that the celebration of Christ's resurrection will be meaningful. Praise is met with betrayal. You are the one who shouts "Blessed be Christ the King" and you are the one who shouts "Crucify Him, He is not our king". Oh how bitter is this cup that I drink. But I haven't left you one bit. I give you My Body and Blood as a guarantee of your safety. After the Eucharist celebration, a group photo was held and then the activities followed the general holiday schedule.
Lamentation in the Three Holy Days
This post-year holiday is different from other holidays, so that during this post-year holiday all activities do not change like other holidays in general. All brothers continue to wake up and carry out community activities as usual while cleaning the entire community environment, mowing the grass, cleaning windows, rejuvenating the flowers around the chapel, corridor, cleaning the chapel, etc. The Lamentation of the Three Holy Days leads the all brothers to appreciate Jeremiah's message in his lament over the destruction of Jerusalem, symbolized by the death of Jesus.
Maundy Thursday
Preparations for the night of Jesus' last supper with His disciples were carried out in short fragments by several of the apostles. This fragment leads the congregation to enter into the essence of the celebration celebrated at the Maundy Thursday mass. The Eucharist celebration begins at 18.30 led by Fr. Goris, SMM and concelebrant Fr. Wim, SMM and Fr. Hedi, SMM and liturgical officers from all brothers. In his homily Fr. Goris, SMM said that sincere love is love that is accompanied by sacrifice. Quoting the words of St. Montfort that love requires the sacrifice of "Everything or Nothing". And Jesus proved that love by washing the feet of His disciples. May we wash each other's feet with love like Jesus. After the homily he took off his chasuble and put this love into practice by washing the feet of several brothers. The drama of washing the feet that Jesus performed on His disciples was a sad and emotional story that Jesus wanted to teach them to become "servants" to others. If I, your God and Teacher have done it then you must do it too. The Eucharist celebration closed with a procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the memorial room located in the Van Kessel room. In the deep silence of the night, all brothers took turns in groups keeping watch with Jesus by remembering His message, "Can't you just watch with Me for an hour? My heart is so sad it feels like it's going to die." At 00.00 WIB a sacrament blessing was held which was attended by all community members. The night was getting late, the sound of jangkrirs could be heard shouting in the atmosphere of 'silentium magnum', the all brothers returned to rest while contemplating the mystery that was celebrated today. New orders accept; so that you love one another, as I have loved you
Good Friday
The Way of the Cross starts at 08.30 WIB and is held around the Ponsa community. Each stop of the Way of the Cross is covered by group representatives who have been shared by the liturgy with the creativity of each group; poetry, short narratives, etc. This way of the cross was attended by several local community members and students. After the way of the cross, all brothers went back into silence, without interacting with each other and some even chose to die physically on this day. The shouts of joy at the gates of Jerusalem turned into merciless shouts in Pontius Pilate's residence. “Crucify Him, Crucify Him, He is not our king.” Oh how sad the sorrow I am experiencing. But His love will never be far from us. The kissing or veneration of the Cross service begins at 15.00 WIB with the celebrant Fr. Megi, SMM and concelebrant Fr. Wim, SMM and litigious officers from levels III and IV. The Cross-honoring ceremony took place solemnly and solemnly even though heavy rain poured down on the city of Malang and its surroundings. However, this did not dampen the enthusiasm and enthusiasm of the people to attend the celebration of the Cross Veneration today. In his homily Fr. Megi, SMM said that; No matter how bad our life situation is, no matter how devastating our experiences in the past, God never 'runs away' leaving us to face it alone. He is present and accompanies us to complete it. Likewise with Jesus, God did not leave Him alone on the Cross. “There is no Cross, that is the Cross” the words of St. Montfort may help us to accept the small crosses in our lives as an effort to unite with Jesus the Crucified Wisdom. The beautiful chanting of the Passio leads the congregation to interpret the Gospel text which is sung in beautiful tones by the passio officer. After the service of veneration of the Cross, the congregation left the community in a state of calm and silence. The atmosphere will be even quieter and calmer until tomorrow. Lord, forgive us if we often disarm You with countless sins. Forgive us sinners.
Holy Saturday
The splendor of Easter begins to radiate. Its radiance ignites the enthusiasm of the All brothers in welcoming the peak of this mystery of faith with various kinds of preparations. At 08.30 WIB the All brothers started working to prepare everything related to the celebration tonight and tomorrow. They are divided into post-2024 celebration sections. These include PU preparing chairs for the congregation, installing lamps for lighting, cutting the grass. Sie liturgy; train acolytes, prepare liturgical equipment and compose mass texts during celebrations. Sie decoration; decorating the chapel. Sie consumption; preparing the dinner menu for the post-past banquet together. Sie vocal and instrumental music; preparing a sound system and training a choir to enliven every Eucharist celebration during Holy Week. And other sections that participate in preparing all the needs related to every celebration during Holy Week.
Eucharistic celebrations were held twice due to the large number of people. The people in question are students from various universities in Malang who chose to take part in the Eucharist celebration during Holy Week at the Montfort Ponsa Chapel. The first Mass was led by Fr. Goris, SMM at 16.30 WIB with liturgy officers from OMM (Montfort youth). The second mass was led by Fr. Wim, SMM at 19.30 WIB with liturgical officers from all brothers. The Easter candle blessing is held next to the entrance to the chapel with the aim that all the congregation can see the blessing rite while being invited to enter into the essence of the celebration being celebrated today; Christ the glorious light. In the dark of night with burning candles in their hands, the congregation sang the Easter hymn by Fr. Wim himself. And after that the liturgy proceeded solemnly and gracefully.
During the celebration the electricity went out, so Fr. Wim made extra noise during the homily. He advised in his homily to be a light for others in need. Radiate the love of Christ to those around us. The second Mass was supposed to be reserved for community members, but who would have thought that there were some people who were still present at this second Eucharist celebration. Because the number of people attending was so large, every Holy Week celebration was helped by brothers of TOMM to distribute communion. After the Eucharist celebration, it continued with group recreation in the Van Kessel room. The post-holiday fun is celebrated by playing cards, accompanied by songs from Fr Dellos and Josi's guitar and eating snacks that have been prepared by Sie consumption. Don't forget the Easter dinner menu cooked by Bro Sadil, et al, namely dog meat (RW), oh how delicious this banquet is! Apparently, the mandate of Maundy Thursday Mass is still being lived by Bro Marto and Bro Ferdyn as well as Bro Sadil and his partner by serving at the card table, aka 'shuffling the cards'. From them we learn that serving is an expression of love in caring for life together. Recreation closes at 23.00 WIB.
Easter Sunday - Feast of the Resurrection of Jesus
“Live as an Instrument of His Righteousness (Rom 6:13)”. The Eucharist celebration begins at 08.00 WIB with celebrant Fr. Hedi, SMM and concelebrant Fr. Goris, SMM, Fr. Wim, SMM, Fr. Megi, SMM and Fr. Lodo, SMM and liturgical officers from all brothers. The Eucharist celebration took place solemnly and lively with the song 'A Jubailant Song' from the choir of Bro. Allan et al adding to the joy of Easter. The number of people who attended was no less than at previous celebrations. Even the chairs provided by the community could not accommodate the number of people present. In his homily Fr. Hedi advised to love the culture of life. Because Christ has saved us from sin and death, so life should be preserved so that it is valuable for others who need it. Let's promote a culture of life and avoid a culture of death. After the Eucharist celebration, a group photo was held. And then continued with joint work, namely returning the chairs to their original places and cleaning up the melted wax that had fallen on the floor and chairs. Next, the All brothers were given the opportunity to visit friends and people in the neighborhood to share the love of Christ that flows from the Paschal mystery that has just been celebrated. At 16.00 WIB the all Brothers arrived at the community and the next rules followed the general holiday schedule. Thank You. Deep Blessing.
Bro. Herdi Making, SMM
