Holy Week

Jesus has entered Jerusalem in triumph, amidst the waving of palm branches and cheers of "Hosanna in the highest"; he dines with his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus at their home in Bethany, a couple of miles from Jerusalem; Mary washes his feet and anoints them, provoking Judas to criticize her. Jesus retorts with a reference to his burial, and in the background, the chief priests are plotting to kill him because the number of his believers was increasing. The stage is set for the events which would transpire six days later at Passover. Our own hearts, after five weeks of preparation through prayer and fasting should be ready to participate as fully as possible in the events of this week recorded in the Gospels, and lived out in the liturgies of the Triduum, Holy Thursday through the Easter Vigil. Realistically, it is a work week as usual, and making it to Easter Sunday Mass might be all we can do. If so, we can still set apart some time each day to be quiet and visualize the events of the last week of Jesus' s earthly life, by using the daily Mass readings, meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary...perhaps even one per day, or by praying the stations of the cross at home with a stations of the cross prayer book. If you have The Passion of the Christ, or Jesus of Nazareth, this would be the week to set aside time, even family time, to watch them. It is the holiest week of the year, and certainly one that demands that extra effort from us to allow it to draw us closer to Jesus. He is the reason why we have "given up" some of our favorite things: to be ready to dedicate our lives more fully to him. Think back to Ash Wednesday and those Lenten resolves. Here's where they culminate. Let this week not slip by as an ordinary week, but one that pulls everything we promised together in him.