Holy Week marks the height of the Christian year, the culmination of Jesus’s teachings while incarnate among us, his trial, crucifixion, burial and Resurrection.
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Holy Week takes us on a difficult but important journey. It is a process, an emotional roller coaster if you will. It is a time we allow ourselves to feel the joy and triumph of the entry to Jerusalem, the betrayal of Jesus’s close companions, the further betrayal of the crowds who chose Barabbas over Jesus. It is a time to know deep in our being Jesus’s faithfulness to the truth, to love, even with the torture of death on the cross, and to recognize the faithfulness of the women who come to anoint the body and discover He is Risen.
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The music, dramatic reading and actions, the play of light and darkness; our liturgy engages all our senses. This is the season to show up and to be present whether in person or online for the daily opportunities to walk the path of Holy Week.
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On Palm Sunday we are one with the crowd shouting “Hosanna” and before long shifting to “Crucify Him”. Simple Eucharistic services on Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday remind us again of the sacrifice and love of Christ.
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On Holy Wednesday we gradually enter darkness and ponder a range of emotions in the service of Tenebrae. With psalms, canticles and the music of Max Richter and Arvo Part we
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allow ourselves to go deep into the darkness trusting in God, in even one ray of light.
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Maundy Thursday begins with an Agape Meal sharing fellowship and food with friends and washing one another’s feet. This evening ends in betrayal and the stripping of the altar and removal of Jesus as the Sacrament leaves the Tabernacle and our sanctuary.
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Through the broken liturgy of Good Friday, we confront Peter’s further betrayal in denying Jesus, we sit at the foot of the cross and sense confusion after Jesus’s death and burial.
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From here we move to Holy Saturday and gather for prayers and readings acknowledging our sorrow and grief.
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Immersing ourselves in Holy Week, we shall be transformed. When we allow ourselves to sense the suffering and betrayal with our full being, and feel the grief of death, we can know most completely the joy of Easter morning. For sorrow and joy are one, each helping us better know the other, each reflecting our full humanity and the nature of love.
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Whether you feel safe and comfortable being present in the flesh or online, please join in. Let us be companions on the way and stay with Jesus.
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