I was raised Catholic with a rich tradition of liturgy to engage all my senses on this momentous walk with Jesus from Palm Sunday to Easter.* On Sunday we waved palm branches and sang with joy welcoming the One who came to save us. And barely catching our breath, we entered the Passion narrative with the congregation’s part being, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
In between the hope of deliverance and the deadly turn to crucifixion, we met Jesus eating and drinking a Passover meal with his disciples, remembering God’s liberation of his people. And soon Jesus is breaking bread saying this is my body given for you, and then raising the cup as an offering of his blood poured out for us. In the room are intimations of subterfuge among his beloved; one would betray him. We then find Jesus before the chief priests and high counsel, and being transferred back and forth between those who could wield power over one’s earthly life and death.
And then more agony. Jesus endures mockery, insult, contempt, scorn, ridicule, humiliation, rejection, mental anguish, and physical torture. There are those who weep, those who do what they can to help, those who feel shame and regret, those who keep a distance for whatever reason, those who are transformed.
There is Jesus throughout it all, struggling as does all humanity but not forgetting God’s faithfulness in the Exodus story and God calling him by name into a story still being written. The most compelling line in my reading of the Passion this time is, “When Jesus got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief” [my emphasis] (Lk 22:45). This Holy Week, in the midst of all personal grief and collective suffering, I want to be awake to the Mystery of Love. I feel invited to open more fully, trust, and surrender more deeply to the One who holds and reconciles all.
*Luke 19:28-40 and Luke 22:14-23:56
–Trish Stefanik, Overlook Retreat House at Dayspring
For reflection:
- Where are you in the Passion narrative?
- What do you want to say to Jesus? What is his response?
- In the struggle and crisis of our time, how is Christ calling you?
