Several Viatorians gathered in the chapel at the Viatorian Province Center to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles.  Holy Thursday initiates the Easter Triduum that commemorates the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.   In his homily, Fr. Arnold Perham stated that during the liturgy, Fr. Thomas von Behren, provincial, would wash the feet of members of the community, as Jesus washed the feet of those at table with him during the Last Supper, “to remember whose servant he is.”

Fr. Perham reminded those present that “we too are called to wash feet in countless other ways.  When we care for others in our Viatorian community in time of sadness and suffering, we serve them in a way very much like washing their feet. When we take the time to call someone whom we have not seen for a while, we become close to them in a way as if we had washed their feet. When we seek to congratulate and celebrate each other, in a way, we wash their feet.  When we give our time in service to our community, we wash each other’s feet.”

For a copy of Fr. Perham’s homily, please click here.

Nine members of the region participated in 8th Day Center for Justice’s 30th annual Good Friday Walk for Justice.  The Walk for Justice is based on the Stations of the Cross which mark Jesus’s walk to his execution.  Ten contemporary stations, held at five downtown locations (Congress Plaza, Chicago Board of Trade, Federal Plaza, Daley Plaza, and Thompson Center Plaza) and prepared by various peace and justice organizations highlight local, national, and international injustices calling the participants “to be in solidarity with those who are suffering at the hands of dominating and abusive power, those are condemned, burdened, stripped of dignity, tortured and killed by unjust public policies.”

For more information of 8th Day Center for Justice and the Walk for Justice, please visit www.8thdaycenter.org.

Members of the region also attended the Easter Vigil in neighboring parishes in the Arlington Heights area.

The Easter Triduum was celebrated in the following Viatorian parishes:
Maternity BVM (Bourbonnais, IL), St. Viator (Chicago, IL), St. Patrick (Kankakee, IL), St. Anne (St. Anne, IL), St. George (St. George, IL), Guardian Angel Cathedral (Las Vegas, NV), St. Viator (Las Vegas, NV), St. Thomas More (Henderson, NV), St. Francis Xavier (Corozal Town, Belize), San Basilio Magno (Bogotá, Colombia), and San Juan Maria Vianney (Bogotá, Colombia)