We are about to enter a week that the Christian church has designated as Holy Week. That designation does not imply that other weeks are not holy. But sometimes we need a Holy Week to teach us the holiness of all weeks.
This week will begin with pageantry and praise, but within the same week there will be betrayal and violence. We will bear witness to Jesus’ suffering and to God’s full embrace of the suffering of the world. We will remain in the silence of Holy Saturday when the world held its collective breath amidst doubts and confusion. Only the dawn of a new week would bring the good news of resurrection.
My early faith formation was not marked by observing all the events of Holy Week. We were more than happy to celebrate the resurrection on Easter Sunday without considering all that led to it. And in essence I heard only a partial story, an incomplete gospel. Where there is no death, how can there be resurrection?
The fact that the church designated this holy season as a week may signal that its parts are not easily separated. Let us take this week in full and give ourselves fully to it. There really is no other path to resurrection.
Peace and all things good,
David
