Stepping Into Holy Week
Sunset
I found myself watching the slow and steady rise of the sun through the budding trees in my backyard this morning. I often do this, but today I mused at the sureness of it, the fact that the sun rises every morning without fail. I felt confident that my life could depend on it. And just as the sun rises with all its light, so too does it sink below the horizon, darkness ensuing. This Holy Week brings darkness in the reality of Jesus’ Passion. While I sometimes prefer to focus on the Resurrection, it is in the fullness of the Paschal Mystery, the life, death and resurrection that grounds and assures me. As Jesus trusted in the path he walked toward certain death, it was a radical trust in God that moved him toward the shameful and humiliating suffering of a slave. He believed in the ground of his being that God would redeem him. Fully human, Jesus experienced these insidious events firsthand.
Palm Sunday
During Holy Week, the cross looms as Jesus makes his way for the Passover celebration. Jews from surrounding regions converged on Jerusalem during the holiest of feasts. Passover observed the liberation of the Israelites from the Egyptian Pharaoh. Tension was high, especially as the people felt the weight of Roman domination. His entry on a donkey was more of a rebellion than a procession. He rode the lowliest of beasts without armor or weapons. Not an instigator of riots but a rebel of radical love and mercy, Jesus protested the idolatry of the Roman emperor and the Jewish leaders who placated him. In the slow and steady pace of a donkey, Jesus refused to bow to the secular power and dominance of the Roman Empire. In sharp contrast, Pontius Pilate entered Jerusalem in full battle regalia perhaps on a chariot, leading the Roman infantry at-the-ready to squash any hint of an uprising. No riots would be tolerated and order would be maintained. Jesus conveyed the message that God, the Father, reigned. Earthly power has no place in God’s kingdom.
On Monday of Holy Week, Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus’ feet in a symbolic act of surrender to the inevitability of Jesus’ death. Then on Tuesday, Jesus gathers with his disciples at their last meal together only to tell them that he would be betrayed. And not only betrayed by one of his followers but two. Realizing that he must walk towards the cross alone, Jesus faced great distress.
Jesus is Anointed for Burial
On his journey to Jerusalem, Jesus went to Bethany to stay at the home of his good friends: Martha, Mary and Lazarus, who he resurrected from the dead (John 12:1-11). He dined with them, and while he was at the table, Mary anointed his feet with an expensive ointment that was commonly used for burial. She then dried his feet with her hair. The fragrance of the nard filled the room. (Stop here and imagine the scene for a moment.)
I picture this scene in my mind and I wonder about the hospitality shown to him and his disciples. I am struck by Mary’s understanding that he would soon face his own death. Her attention was completely on Jesus. And she knew what the disciples could not face.
I like to think that Jesus had a place where he could go to relax, be fed, and rest. He wasn’t healing anyone or preaching, except to tell Judas to let Mary be; she could use the expensive ointment to anoint him, as he would not always be with them.
Betrayal and Denial of Jesus
Each Gospel includes Jesus’ announcement that he would be betrayed by one of his own. John tells the story of Jesus sharing a morsel of bread directly with Judas before Judas leaves into the night; as if Jesus reached out one last time. In Matthew, they dip their bread into the same bowl. Judas’ decision is made and he scurries away. The betrayal of Jesus saddens me every time. Each year I hear the story, I wonder at Judas’ state of mind and what he hoped to accomplish by handing Jesus over to the Sanhedrin. Still, I feel compassion for Judas’ misguided ignorance.
Then Jesus calls out Peter who can’t imagine betraying Jesus. Yet, Jesus’ prediction of Peter denying him, not once but three times, reminds me of Peter’s humanness. John’s Gospel pictures Jesus looking right at Peter after his three denials. I imagine the shame that washed over him as Jesus witnessed his cowardice. Yet, I know that even that betrayal does not cut Peter off forever. I ask myself:
When Have I Denied Jesus?
I think of Matthew 25:45 “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it for me!” In countless ways, I betray and deny God’s people. As I believe that God’s people include all people, I find it challenging to look them in the eye and see them as God sees them. Just as the sun rises and sets without fail, so is God’s love for all people.
I’ll end my musing with a prayer attributed to Saint John Henry Newman (d. 1890) and prayed by Saint Teresa of Calcutta (d. 1997) throughout her ministry. Let it inspire you during this holiest of weeks. May the fragrance of Jesus’ anointing linger in your heart. May the aroma of his presence stir you to loving action.
Fragrance Prayer
Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly, that my life may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus! Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others; The light, O Jesus will be all from You; none of it will be mine; It will be you shining on others through me. Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by example, by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You. Amen
Call to Action: In the comments below, share what struck you in this musing. Questions to consider: In what ways do you deny Jesus? How can you welcome the fragrance of the Holy Spirit into your life?
