Dear Friends,
One indication of the state of our spiritual life is the spirit with which we live Holy Week.
The week is at the core of our Catholic faith, and its events range from the exhilaration of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem to his agonizing death on Calvary to his mystery-wrapped resurrection on Easter morning.
The liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday especially call to mind the fallout of our sins and the extraordinary display of love and sacrifice that the Son of God was willing to undergo for our redemption.
Those days should elicit a profound sense of sorrow as well as gratitude and hope as we see what Our Lord went through for us.
For in his passion, he was thinking of all of us. He knew what awaited him.
As true man, he shuddered at the prospect of the scourging and the crowning of thorns and the Way of the Cross and finally the crucifixion.
Yet his love for his Father’s will and for us drove him on. Such a display of courage and self-abasement would never have been the stuff of any fictional work—it would have been too fantastic to dream up.
One way we can show gratitude for Jesus’ sacrifice is to commit ourselves to a deeper living of the Gospel.
This might mean letting go of something dear to us: a material possession, a relationship, or even a particular weed of pride that has sunk deep roots in our hearts.
To prepare for the Easter triduum, it might help to pray with our Retreat Guide on the Last Supper. The Eucharist that Jesus instituted on Holy Thursday is his enduring reminder of what he was willing to do for each of us.
The question now is: What will we do for him?
In Christ,
Father Edward McIlmail, LC
Ask a Priest contributor
