Holy Week

Have you been Eastered? (Easter Vigil/Sunday)

To be Eastered means that we accept and expect that our lives will have frustrations, setbacks, difficulties, and loss - along with many rich blessings - and that we accept and expect that we won't be exempted from any of that, any more than Jesus Himself wasn't exempted from that. That means that we must learn to live with the unknown and what we don't understand, trusting in God that He is actively present in the midst of everything that happens in our lives, the good stuff and the bad. Because of the Resurrection, it is our conviction that God's doors are never shut to us; that His mercy is never exhausted; that He always gives us another chance; that He will never, ever give up on us or on our world.

Good Friday: The Doorway to Light and Life

Think about some aspect of your life, or that of someone you are close to, that you would like Jesus - who intimately understands pain and suffering - to bring His light love to. It was His suffering and dying on the cross, and, ultimately, His resurrection, that transforms our experiences from being meaningless to being redemptive. And that's why, every year, we celebrate this particular Friday as "Good."

Will you let Him wash your feet? (Holy Thursday)

We all have parts of our life, of our personality, maybe even of our physical body, that reek, that we don’t like, that embarrass us, shame us, that we shield with anger or pride or defensiveness or other strategies. What the Lord shows to Peter - and to each of us, too - is that we don’t have to hide these things from Him. He didn’t come for the perfect; He works with who we are. And if we accept His mercy, His humble tending of our soul, we’ll find ourselves changing and our future opening up in ways we could never have expected.

Holy Week Challenge!

As part of our daily prayer this Holy Week (and beyond!), let's pray that we can imitate Jesus and be the kind of filter that filters out the negativity and brings only kindness, thoughtfulness, compassion, graciousness, and forgiveness. Let's pray that the Holy Spirit will do that work within us, so that we, the whole community of us, can go out and change this world one encounter at a time - the same way Jesus did.

Embracing Sacrifice and the Cross (Good Friday)

Think about the crosses that God, in his mysterious wisdom and providence, has allowed to come into your life. Think about the persons in your life and in our world who most need God's grace. Give your cross to the Lord; allow Him to take it, to join it to His own; and offer it up: for you, for your loved ones, and for the transformation and renewal of the world.
 
Permission to podcast the music in this episode obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-737156. All rights reserved.

Allowing Jesus to Give Everything for Us (Holy Thursday)

Jesus lowers Himself to serve those whom He loves. That kind of self-lowering can often offend our human pride; while many of us are willing (or want to be willing) to give everything for someone we love, we want to control how much others are allowed to do for us - even Jesus. But to truly receive the love of Jesus, we must not only be willing to give everything for Jesus: we must also be willing to allow Him to give everything for us.
 
After the homily (about the 06:55 mark) is the singing of "Pange, Lingua, Gloriosi / Tantum Ergo," which takes place during the Transfer of the Most Blessed Sacrament at the end of the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper. Permission to podcast this music obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-737156. All rights reserved.

Practicing Hosannas

Practice hosannas by allowing your words to be those of encouragement and support, your prayers to be of praise and surrender and humility. And be alert for any way that, instead, you are giving in to a kind of "crucify him" by your words and actions.