HOLY WEEK
MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK... (Is.42,1-7;John 12,1-11)The cloud covers the house...the cloud of the cross. Did Mary know what she was doing? Did she realize that in the anointing she was announcing the death of Jesus? So many unusual things: the anointing of the feet instead of the head...the drying of the feet with her hair…using so much of the precious anointment that the house was filled with its fragrance...These unusual things speak to us about the fact that something is hidden within them. The death. What was He thinking as Mary performed the washing? Nothing is said. His silence is the voice to which we must listen to. His heart must have been sad even a little frightened. The touch of His dear friend gave Him consolation.
Did John want to say something beyond the literal? We look at the word ”house” and how John uses it in other places. It is the presence of God, and whoever is with God is in His “house.” .God is present and the fragrance is His glory. But who is anointed? It is the entire Christ and therefore in this act we also are anointed into His death; we are anointed into the Passover which He will walk. We have become dwellers in the “house” and the glory of the Head is within all the members. It also means that as we celebrate the sacred mysteries of this week, we are not only celebrating or remembering Christ’s but also our own. In some mystical way, we have been joined to Him so that the path He walks we also walk. The anointment of the Spirit has come upon us...
Question:
1: Do you welcome the Lord into your home and anoint Him with the oil of friendship?
TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK... (Is.49,1-6;John 13, 21-33,36-38) A night of contrast .”it was night” words which tell us of sin, of betrayal. They ring with the absence of God…God is light; God is brightness and sunshine; God is being able to see. Night is selfishness; night envelops one so that there is separation. Night is sad; light is joy. Night has no hope; light is hope. Night is walking in the human condition; light is walking with God.
“It was night” is man separated from God. But then the Lord speaks: now is the Son of Man glorified...
The mysterious words “Son of Man” that contain within them the very meaning of who the Lord is: God and Man. He has walked with them.. Many times they did not understand who He was. Now in this, the “night” who He is will shine through. The astounding paradox: night is no longer night but light. Absence is no longer absence but presence. The glory of the Lord, which is the presence of God among men, will shine through. In what people see as the dark, His death, at that very moment His glory will shine through. On the Cross, we see God.
The seasons of the Church’s year each have their own meaning. Easter is the day of days...It is the day which goes so far beyond anything which the human mind can grasp that we stand with our mouths open in awe and wonder. It is the day when we look at our lives and remember that the night which we may have to walk in is only the threshold of the glory which is to come. The sadness-joy, hope-despair, success-failures of life are all wrapped in the great mystery which the Lord unfolded for us when He said: Now is the Son of Many glorified.
Question:
1: Have you ever been in the “night” and then be led to the “light?”
WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK... (Is.50,4-9;Matt.26,14-25) ”Thirty pieces of silver,” the price of a slave...The words of Isaac are fulfilled. The “servant” that mysterious figure of whom he speaks is realized in the flesh. That servant, one of the great hopes of Israel, is here. The words come back. He will take upon himself our sins; he did not shield his face from buffets and spitting; he gave his back to those who beat him...All the words are fulfilled.
It is so humbling with all our pride, and sometimes haughtiness, to accept the fact that God became a servant He gave his life as only a servant can do. We should look at the Lord as redeemer, as King. Then to realize that He is redeemer and King only as servant. Once again, the profundity of this week staggers us. God is our servant.
His life is not His own. His life is for us. He who is the master of all, the beginning and the end of all creation, the center, subjects himself to the created. His life is not something to be held onto but must be surrendered if those whom He has come to serve are to have life. We see in this scene much more than simply betrayal. The mystery of the meaning of life comes through. We live not only for ourselves but for others
Question:
1: What do think of the Lord as your servant?
THE HOLY TRIDUUM.
HOLY THURSDAY... (Ex.12,1-6,11-14;1Cor.11,23-26;John 13,1-15)The Eucharist. So many images come to mind. Service, community, presence, gift, honor and glory...Where do we begin? Where do we put ourselves in this scene? Is it gathered roun
d the table enjoying?.Is it with the apron on washing the feet of our brothers and sisters? Is it looking forward to what this evening means: suffering, death and most happily resurrection? Are our hearts heavy because we know the master is leaving but do not as yet know how? Are they happy because they realize the gift which has been given them? They have just received the bread of life, they have been given the command: do this in memory of me. Something special…they do not yet fully understand. The Master teaches them the meaning of the evening: He washes their feet. The servant/master gives the sign of love. He gives life through the Eucharist, so they must give life to one another. To be “this evening” in memory of Him..
The “upper room”...A room which resounds with the hearts of all humanity. The evening, done in time and place and yet going so far beyond time and space that our minds stand in humble acceptance, and that is all. The room and what it means has come down to us in the acts of the martyrs; it has come to us in the thousands upon thousands who have dedicated their lives to the Lord. This room comes to us in the love which is shared between husbands and wives between parents and children; it comes to us with a friend helping a friend…with the gentle hands of a nurse giving comfort to a patient…This evening and the Eucharist are all about us…and more than that this evening is still yearning to be brought to life in our lives.
Holy Thursday is not celebrated as a date past but rather as a date yet to be lived.
Question:
1: Simply ask yourself the question: what does the Eucharist mean to me?
GOOD FRIDAY... (Is.52,13-53,12;Heb.4,14-16;John 18,1-19) Silence...The scourging is finished. The long walk to Calvary has ended. The sound of the nails biting into his flesh no longer penetrate the air...the crowds look. His mother and a few friends, at a distance, cry. T
hen the words come: It is finished. But is it?
As we go through this day, wrapped in the sadness of separation colored by hope, as we walk the Passion with Him, is it finished, or is it just beginning? In finishing His work the beginning for the rest of us is in sight.
He begins, in this finishing, something new. The splendor of creation, the meaning of what it is to be human, suffering, not as a curse, but as life giving. It is not yet finished because what happened on that hill so many years ago still has to become alive in the lives of those who say: I believe. The cross is not finished; it has to be made present to the world around us. In finishing, He has just begun. It is not the end but rather the entrance to a new road of living.
It is paradoxical that death brings so much newness. It is the great paradox that in defeat there is victory, that in the shattered body on the cross is the glory and the presence of God...It is something which makes the mind bow to think that He who is the beginning and end of all things subjected Himself to those whom He created...We look at the cross in this moment of silence, and we see ourselves. We see the shattered broken people so much in need of healing. We look at the cross and we see love. We look at the Cross and see that He has come down to heal us and in showing that we are loved gives us the greatest healing.
It is finished, and only begun...
Question:
1: Look at the Cross and see the love of God…
Did John want to say something beyond the literal? We look at the word ”house” and how John uses it in other places. It is the presence of God, and whoever is with God is in His “house.” .God is present and the fragrance is His glory. But who is anointed? It is the entire Christ and therefore in this act we also are anointed into His death; we are anointed into the Passover which He will walk. We have become dwellers in the “house” and the glory of the Head is within all the members. It also means that as we celebrate the sacred mysteries of this week, we are not only celebrating or remembering Christ’s but also our own. In some mystical way, we have been joined to Him so that the path He walks we also walk. The anointment of the Spirit has come upon us...
Question:
1: Do you welcome the Lord into your home and anoint Him with the oil of friendship?
TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK... (Is.49,1-6;John 13, 21-33,36-38) A night of contrast .”it was night” words which tell us of sin, of betrayal. They ring with the absence of God…God is light; God is brightness and sunshine; God is being able to see. Night is selfishness; night envelops one so that there is separation. Night is sad; light is joy. Night has no hope; light is hope. Night is walking in the human condition; light is walking with God.
“It was night” is man separated from God. But then the Lord speaks: now is the Son of Man glorified...
The mysterious words “Son of Man” that contain within them the very meaning of who the Lord is: God and Man. He has walked with them.. Many times they did not understand who He was. Now in this, the “night” who He is will shine through. The astounding paradox: night is no longer night but light. Absence is no longer absence but presence. The glory of the Lord, which is the presence of God among men, will shine through. In what people see as the dark, His death, at that very moment His glory will shine through. On the Cross, we see God.
The seasons of the Church’s year each have their own meaning. Easter is the day of days...It is the day which goes so far beyond anything which the human mind can grasp that we stand with our mouths open in awe and wonder. It is the day when we look at our lives and remember that the night which we may have to walk in is only the threshold of the glory which is to come. The sadness-joy, hope-despair, success-failures of life are all wrapped in the great mystery which the Lord unfolded for us when He said: Now is the Son of Many glorified.
Question:
1: Have you ever been in the “night” and then be led to the “light?”
WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK... (Is.50,4-9;Matt.26,14-25) ”Thirty pieces of silver,” the price of a slave...The words of Isaac are fulfilled. The “servant” that mysterious figure of whom he speaks is realized in the flesh. That servant, one of the great hopes of Israel, is here. The words come back. He will take upon himself our sins; he did not shield his face from buffets and spitting; he gave his back to those who beat him...All the words are fulfilled.
It is so humbling with all our pride, and sometimes haughtiness, to accept the fact that God became a servant He gave his life as only a servant can do. We should look at the Lord as redeemer, as King. Then to realize that He is redeemer and King only as servant. Once again, the profundity of this week staggers us. God is our servant.
His life is not His own. His life is for us. He who is the master of all, the beginning and the end of all creation, the center, subjects himself to the created. His life is not something to be held onto but must be surrendered if those whom He has come to serve are to have life. We see in this scene much more than simply betrayal. The mystery of the meaning of life comes through. We live not only for ourselves but for others
Question:
1: What do think of the Lord as your servant?
THE HOLY TRIDUUM.
HOLY THURSDAY... (Ex.12,1-6,11-14;1Cor.11,23-26;John 13,1-15)The Eucharist. So many images come to mind. Service, community, presence, gift, honor and glory...Where do we begin? Where do we put ourselves in this scene? Is it gathered roun
d the table enjoying?.Is it with the apron on washing the feet of our brothers and sisters? Is it looking forward to what this evening means: suffering, death and most happily resurrection? Are our hearts heavy because we know the master is leaving but do not as yet know how? Are they happy because they realize the gift which has been given them? They have just received the bread of life, they have been given the command: do this in memory of me. Something special…they do not yet fully understand. The Master teaches them the meaning of the evening: He washes their feet. The servant/master gives the sign of love. He gives life through the Eucharist, so they must give life to one another. To be “this evening” in memory of Him..The “upper room”...A room which resounds with the hearts of all humanity. The evening, done in time and place and yet going so far beyond time and space that our minds stand in humble acceptance, and that is all. The room and what it means has come down to us in the acts of the martyrs; it has come to us in the thousands upon thousands who have dedicated their lives to the Lord. This room comes to us in the love which is shared between husbands and wives between parents and children; it comes to us with a friend helping a friend…with the gentle hands of a nurse giving comfort to a patient…This evening and the Eucharist are all about us…and more than that this evening is still yearning to be brought to life in our lives.
Holy Thursday is not celebrated as a date past but rather as a date yet to be lived.
Question:
1: Simply ask yourself the question: what does the Eucharist mean to me?
GOOD FRIDAY... (Is.52,13-53,12;Heb.4,14-16;John 18,1-19) Silence...The scourging is finished. The long walk to Calvary has ended. The sound of the nails biting into his flesh no longer penetrate the air...the crowds look. His mother and a few friends, at a distance, cry. T
hen the words come: It is finished. But is it?As we go through this day, wrapped in the sadness of separation colored by hope, as we walk the Passion with Him, is it finished, or is it just beginning? In finishing His work the beginning for the rest of us is in sight.
He begins, in this finishing, something new. The splendor of creation, the meaning of what it is to be human, suffering, not as a curse, but as life giving. It is not yet finished because what happened on that hill so many years ago still has to become alive in the lives of those who say: I believe. The cross is not finished; it has to be made present to the world around us. In finishing, He has just begun. It is not the end but rather the entrance to a new road of living.
It is paradoxical that death brings so much newness. It is the great paradox that in defeat there is victory, that in the shattered body on the cross is the glory and the presence of God...It is something which makes the mind bow to think that He who is the beginning and end of all things subjected Himself to those whom He created...We look at the cross in this moment of silence, and we see ourselves. We see the shattered broken people so much in need of healing. We look at the cross and we see love. We look at the Cross and see that He has come down to heal us and in showing that we are loved gives us the greatest healing.
It is finished, and only begun...
Question:
1: Look at the Cross and see the love of God…
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