THEOLOGICAL CLUE

Thursday of Holy Week originally was celebrated as a feast of reconciliation, long ago when sin was taken seriously by the church; the penitents, who were excluded from the congregation during Lent were brought back and joined the congregation in the sacrament. They would come to the closed door of the church, knock and seek entrance, only to be turned away by an official of the congregation. They returned a second time, knocked and were turned away again. The third time, the bishop went to the door, opened it, listened to their petition, accepted it, embraced them, and led them to the front of the nave where they were formally received back into active membership in the congregation. That kind of ceremonial would not be feasible today, because no one is expelled from the…