Have you checked your Lentometer lately? You know, the gauge indicating the number of good deeds, the depth of your prayer, and the difficulty of your fasting throughout the 40-day season. If you’re reading this toward the end of March and feel good about your Lenten practices, congratulations! If you feel the Lentometer shows you were a bit lax, that’s OK. It’s OK??? Well, we’re in the home stretch to Easter. Holy Week is the first week of April. Our following of Christ takes a different path. While prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are fine 365 days of the year, they are not the prime focus of Holy Week. The week beginning with Palm Sunday moves the focus from ourselves and our Lenten practices to our Crucified and Risen Lord. This holiest of weeks has little to do with refraining from eating Easter candy early. We focus on the redeeming acts of Jesus Christ: his passion, death, resurrection. The liturgical services are very rich in meaning, ritual, and symbol. You don’t want to miss any of them. Where else would you want to be on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil? Your presence at the services, walking the Via Crucis with your Master, is the best way to pray and the best way to love.