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{"id":99739,"date":"2017-04-03T00:53:24","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T07:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=99739"},"modified":"2017-04-02T18:59:24","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T01:59:24","slug":"invitation-non-catholic-friends-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2017\/04\/invitation-non-catholic-friends-readers.html","title":{"rendered":"An invitation to all my non-Catholic friends and readers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

If you are not doing anything April 13-15, may I suggest you treat yourself to a cross-cultural experience by finding a Catholic parish near you<\/a> and joining us for highest and holiest three days in our calendar. <\/p>\n

Start with Holy Thursday and the great liturgy commemorating the Last Supper. <\/p>\n

Then come (work permitting) to as much of Good Friday as you can (the only day of the year there is no Mass as the Church remembers and celebrates Jesus crucifixion for the world). <\/p>\n

Then come to Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening. This is the heart and soul of the Great Story<\/a> of Jesus. This is what the Catholic faith is: the very hub around which all the rest rotates like spokes on a wheel. <\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to do anything. Just take it in. If you like, you can go up at communion time with your arms crossed over your breast and receive a blessing. But if that feels weird, then just stay in your seat and let it happen.<\/p>\n

As as Catholic, I deeply believe that there is a massive supernatural event taking place in this three day drama. But whether you believe that or not, it is a powerful thing, an intensely and heart-breakingly and joyously human thing, and, Catholic or not, anybody who wants to have a chance to experience a huge and formative chunk of human civilization\u2013and the absolute foundation stone of Western Civilization synthesizing its Hebrew, Latin, and Greek roots\u2013should not deny themselves the chance to experience this.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"