Monday of Holy Week
As we pray our way through this Holy Week, sitting with each day's Scriptures provides us the opportunity to walk with Jesus in the last days and hours of his earthly life. This is not easy. By nature, we shrink away from suffering…especially if we see it as optional. In addition, our daily lives are structured in such a way that we are left with little time for solitude or prayer unless we actively carve out time and commit to it every day. We must make a choice before this precious time slips way.
Will we choose 'skating through' these Holy days or will we 'enter into' the sacred mysteries placed before us?
The reading from chapter 42 of the Book of Isaiah is the first of the four Servant Songs relating God's appointment and anointing of God's Servant. The poetic nature of these 7 verses draws us in…it leaves us in awe, contemplating the non-duality of the life of Jesus. As well, it is hard not to read these verses and not reflect on our own personal lives as disciples…we are followers of Jesus and, thus, carry forth his mission. Read this passage a second time—imagining yourself as the Servant of God; it is heart rending. The Gospel passage relating Jesus' dinner at Bethany with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary reminds us of Jesus's impending passion and death. Mary's lavish anointing of Jesus foreshadows his death and burial. Somehow, she knows, accepts, and prepares for this inevitable sorrow. Who among the disciples willingly goes through this? Who among US wants to relive these deeply painful events? Not many.
But how can a person truly comprehend the penetrating joy of the Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ,
without experiencing the events preceding it?
We can 'skate through' these days leading up to the Triduum, busying or distracting ourselves until Easter…or we can 'enter into' and truly embrace that to which the Spirit is inviting us. If we do not make a conscious choice, we'll probably skate through. Entering into the sacred mysteries and spiritually participating requires our making THE definitive choice. By the grace of God, through Jesus, may we choose to deeply participate in Holy Week and respond to what the Spirit of God is asking of us.
--Gail Lyman