St. Joseph the Worker Parish to host relics of Christ’s Passion on April 10

+ Enlarge

WEST JORDAN — The Nine Relics of the Passion will be available for veneration at St. Joseph the Worker Parish on April 10.

The collection includes a relic of the True Cross; a piece of stone from the room where the Last Supper was held; a piece of the Column of Flagellation; a piece of the Crown of Thorns; the effigy of the Veil of Veronica that was touched to the original veil; a replica of one of the nails of the Cross that contains filings taken from the true nails; a piece of bone from St. Longinus, the centurion who pierced the side of Jesus; and a thread from the cloth used as the wrapping for the Burial Shroud.

“This is really a gift from heaven,” said Juan Arriaga, a member of Knights of Columbus Council 7961 at St. Joseph the Worker Parish. “I think that this may be a call so we can all give ourselves completely to God.”

The chance to see these relics outside the Holy Land is rare, he said, adding that being in the presence of God is a great blessing, but in this case, “we are not going to him, he is coming to us. In his great love he is coming to us, he is not waiting for us to go to the Holy Land. He comes to us to share his passion for us and with us.”

In today’s uncertain times, being in the presence of the Lord is important, Arriaga said. “As a Catholic I see every day how evil attacks our world, how evil wants to confuse our youth, how our families are being broken, how we all are suffering.”

By venerating relics, “we are not visiting the relics, we are visiting Christ,” he said. “It is about reflecting, it is about the feeling, it is about opening our hearts to God and having a quiet time so we can hear God’s call.”

Reflecting on the suffering of Christ during the Passion “is going to make us feel that our sufferings are nothing,” Arriaga said. “He will take the pain away, that day when we are all together in front of all these relics I think that  we are going to feel free, we are going to feel at peace.”

Arriaga also helped organize the veneration of the relic of Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, at the parish on Feb. 16. More than 300 people participated in that event, he said, so when he received an email from the Apostolate for the Holy Relics about hosting the Relics of the Passion, he immediately shared the news with his pastor, Father Eleazar Silva, “and he said do it.”

Having these relics at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church will be “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Arriaga said.

The April 10 event will include meditation, Eucharistic Adoration, prayer, music and veneration.

WHAT: Veneration of the Relics of the Passion

WHEN: Thursday, April 10, beginning at 6 p.m.

WHERE: St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, 7405 S. Redwood Road, West Jordan

The presentation of the relics will be bilingual English/Spanish.