Holy Week: How is this Week Different from All Other Weeks?

And so it begins. Yesterday, with hosannas and palms, we welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem, but then followed him in a "preview" of his arrest, torment and death.  Palm Sunday is the prelude to the most solemn week of the year, a week when we watch with fascinated horror as the only-begotten Son of God suffers and sacrifices himself for our sins, knowing that the story does not end there, but that he will be raised up in glory.

Even though we know this week ends in the joy of new life and our salvation, we are called to participation in Jesus' journey through death.  Here on Monday, we have had our Palm Sunday reminder of what is to come, and have been returned to the dying days of Lent, to stand on the brink of the Easter Triduum. It's a sobering moment. Daily life must go on, but with a consciousness that this is a week like no other. Fr. Austin Fleming today, in a lovely prose-poem, says we have four more days to get Lent right, followed by three days to enter the mystery.

I think that it's only coincidental that until sundown on Thursday it is still Lent. Really, these next few days are different than the Lent that came before. While this is more obvious to those of us who prepare and rehearse for the liturgies of the Triduum, even to the Catholic in the pew, these days should have a different character than previous days of Lent, characterized by seriousness, preparation and anticipation.

These are not days to take lightly for those who take discipleship seriously. What we heard yesterday during the reading of the Passion was the human experience of Jesus' journey through Paschal Mystery. What we prepare for is the divine experience of the ultimate sacrifice of love - and the glory that will be its result.

Ponder. Wait. Be like the "disciple whom he loved" -  be with Jesus this week - all the way to the Cross and beyond. Be with him on Thursday night as he shares himself in the Washing of the Feet in the Eucharist. Be with him on Friday, as he suffers and dies for us on the Cross. Be with him as he rises in new life and light from the tomb on Saturday night, so that you can be with him in Easter joy on Sunday and beyond.

And So it Begins..

Holy Week is here - our annual walk with Jesus Christ to the Cross, the grave and beyond. It is a powerful time. Yet how often do we take it for granted.

Do we know deep in our hearts what this all means? Sometimes. We know Christ's Passion in our bones when we are going through suffering in our own lives and these moments in the liturgical year intersect with that suffering.  Yet it is so easy, when everything is just fine and life is stable, to distance ourselves from the suffering and death of Jesus.

This powerful short film from Spirit Juice Studios reminds us that if we truly listen to the Passion this week with our whole hearts, Jesus can break into our complacency.

May you have a blessed Holy Week - filled with conversion moments that pull you deeper into the heart of Jesus.

Entering the Narrow Gate: Following Jesus in Holy Week

Today begins another of those moments in the liturgical year when we step out of our own time and into "God time."  Celebrating Jesus' Passion on Palm Sunday is one of those past-present experiences - it happened 2,000 years ago, but it is coming to life again among us as we hold our own palm branches and hear the great story of his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem.  Our own song of triumphant entry rings out as the ministers process to the altar for our celebration.

As we settle into our celebration, we hear of the Suffering Servant in the first reading and in the poignant responsorial psalm. From the writings of St. Paul, we hear that Jesus is given the "name above every other name."  As the Passion is read, we watch as Jesus celebrates Passover with his disciples, washes their feet and gives them the great gift of the Eucharist. We listen in sorrow as he is arrested, tried, scourged and nailed to a cross - and with those who were at the foot of the cross so long ago, we feel their pain and loss. Then we go home to finish the final days of our Lenten journey and to prepare for the Three Days.

For me, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of Holy Week are always an interesting mixture of anticipation, interior preparation, and a sort of background focus on what is to come, in spite of the ongoing business of everyday life.  Inevitably there is a major rehearsal for us musicians - where, unlike most people in the pews, we get a foretaste of everything that is to come, from Gesthemane anguish to Alleluia joy.  However, in the liturgical year spirit of  "already-not-yet" we know the time has not yet arrived - at the same time we also know we will be ready when it does.

So, how does having heard the Passion this weekend prepare us for the great Three Days of the Easter Triduum?  I think we do this today so we can carry the story in our hearts and ponder it until we hear it again, beginning Thursday night. This is not an ordinary week - and we enter it so that we will not be ordinary people, but extraordinary ones, transformed by this annual celebration of Paschal Mystery.