Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord
We Catholics are a little crazy. After all, we eat and drink the body and blood a guy who died two thousand years back but believe that he is alive. We are so crazy that we think that when we read his words that he is actually talking to us. We even think that when we gather in his name he is in our midst even though we do not see him. It is a little spooky but without him being with us there would no reason to get together. And then we break bread and drink wine in his memory but then, it is not just ordinary remembering; rather, we believe that we are actually reliving his death and resurrection. If this has not freaked you out yet, we also believe that those who are yet to come into the world, those who are here and those who have gone before us are all connected in an ‘eternal NOW.” I told you we Catholics are a little crazy!
For the outside world, it will be another ordinary week. Schools take spring break, families take vacations, businesses get into top gear preparing for spring and summer, politicians continue their bickering and whining, the entertainment industry launch the new season and March madness will be reaching to its climax. For those of us who give any significance to Christ, it is also Holy Week. So what? Well, it is time to be crazy the Catholic way.
Three ways to be crazy Catholics this Holy Week:
1. Reliving the Story of Jesus. What I just said was crazy about Catholicism is what I also say is unique about Catholicism. We are able to connect the past, the present and the future in a seamless way. And we can do this because of Jesus Christ who gave us his Spirit. We can do this because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). Yes, we can relive in the present what Jesus did for us in the past. And we can bring what awaits us in the future into this little space and into our tiny hearts. We can do this because the Spirit of Jesus connects us to the past, present and future.
As we enter into Holy Week, then, I am suggesting that we do not merely think about what Jesus did for us. I am suggesting that do not just recall what Jesus has done for us. I am not ever suggesting that merely reenact what Jesus did for us. I am suggesting that we relive it. On Holy Thursday, do not just come for mass and get your feet washed , but rather, be present at the table of the Last supper with Jesus, allow him to wash your feet, feel his heartbeat, feel his pain and enter into his life. Relive the story of Jesus.
2. The story of Jesus is My Story/Our Story. As strange as the Catholic way of living may seem, there is a reason why the story of Jesus is so important to us. Because at the end of it all we realize that this is hardly just the story of Jesus. This is our story. Here is the difference between those for whom Holy Week and Easter makes sense and for those whom it is another Easter. At some point the first group of people realize that Christ’s suffering was actually ours, his pain was really ours and that that cross should have been my destiny. Those for whom Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday makes sense are those for whom the story of Jesus and their story has become ONE.
So I invite you this Holy week not to be a mere bystander. Rather, I invite you to live your story through the story of Jesus. Remember, if you live the story of Jesus, then Easter is ours as well.
3. The power of imaginative prayer. Who am I in the story? This year, I have undertaken a very special task for Holy Week. I have decided to assume a character in the story of Jesus and it is hope to enter into Holy Week from the perspective of this character. I read the passion from the gospel of Luke early last week and I am inclined to be the man at whose house Jesus celebrated the Passover. Luke does not tell us his name but I want to think that his name was Nicodemus.
Each one of us has our own way of honoring Christ but one way to make our story and the story of Jesus is to assume a character and live it for the entire week. If you like this kind of prayer, keep a journal and write down your thoughts. It can become a great way to let the story of Jesus and your story become one. This can be powerful prayer.
I would like to invite each one of you to relive the entire story of Holy Week. To absent ourselves from the Thursday celebration of the Lord’s supper, from remembering the passion and death of Jesus on Friday, and from the hopeful expectation of Holy Saturday is like trying to miss the crazy Catholic story. This week do not be afraid to be crazy about reliving the story of Jesus because it is after all, our story.
- Fr. Satish Joseph