This is our Holy Week

Palm Sunday

We have listened solemnly to St Mark’s account of the passion and death of the Lord. With this reading we have entered Holy Week, the most sacred week of the Christian year.

St Paul reminded us in the second reading that though his state was divine, Jesus emptied himself of his heavenly state when he took on our human nature. But he went further – he accepted death, an ignominious death on a cross. He entered the human condition and for our sake took a path of intense suffering culminating in his death.

He endured the intensity of physical pain when so cruelly tortured. At the same time, he experienced being betrayed by one of his own, being deserted by his closest followers, and scorned by the crowds who only days before acclaimed his entry into Jerusalem. His pain was not only physical but was interior as well. His anguished cry from the cross reveals the depth of his suffering and isolation: “O God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

The prophesy of Isaiah which we read describes Jesus’ attitude, “For my part, I made no resistance, neither did I turn away”. The prophet describes a suffering servant of God who offered his back to those who struck him and his cheeks to those who tore at his beard. He surrendered himself completely to his fate. As the Scriptures foretold he was like a lamb being led to the slaughter.

We know the reason why Jesus suffered so. We know that it was for our sake. We know that he took on the sin of humanity, offering himself on our behalf. He allowed himself to be the perfect sacrifice so that we would be redeemed.

So, we participate in Holy Week knowing that it was all for us. Such is the love and mercy of God towards us. We cannot just look on as disinterested bystanders, because what we recall is all about us and our eternal destiny. It is about being forgiven for our many sins. It is about receiving mercy which we do not deserve. It is about being loved beyond anything we can ever imagine. It is about our chance for eternal life in heaven.

In this coming week we will follow Christ in his final days. The Sacred Triduum, the three holy days take us the Last Supper, Calvary hill, and then at the Easter vigil we will proclaim the Lord’s resurrection and the redemption of humanity. We are saved, we are redeemed, we are given joy and hope.

My brothers and sisters, we are now entering Holy Week. The most sacred time is Good Friday. Let us make this coming Friday a truly holy day. It is a day of fast and abstinence. Let us fast, denying ourselves food. Let us abstain not only from meat, but from doing any shopping, and from watching television. Let us make Good Friday a day of quiet and reflection during which we are silent and prayerful. Good Friday can become a day of retreat during which we ponder the immensity of what God has done for us.

Let us be with Jesus this week. Let us leave aside our superficial activities and our self-indulgent pursuits. This is a sacred time. This is a time for us to centre ourselves on spiritual things. This is a time to open our hearts in faith and embrace with deep gratitude the salvation won for us.

Let us make this a truly holy week.

Archbishop Julian Porteous

Sunday, 28 March 2021