Holy Week

Well, it's almost time for the the big game. Holy Week. It's like March Madness for Catholics, the pinnacle of our Church year. Sure, everyday life is going to go on throughout this week, but it's our job as Catholics to take a step back from that, and to recognize that this is one of the cornerstones of our faith. We reenact this each year, which shows that it truly is important.

The only way to truly observe the Holy Triduum is to make yourself a part of it. Feel the emotions...the foreboding and foreshadowing of Holy Thursday, the pain and sadness of Good Friday, the patience and faith of Holy Saturday, and finally the rejoicing of Easter Sunday. Everyone uses those emotions on a daily basis, so why not use them for God. It helps us learn not only more about God, but ourselves as well.

You'll hear the Passion once again on Friday, but it will be from John. One line in Luke's on Palm Sunday stuck out to me though. Right after the crowd of chief priests, rulers, and regular people yell that they want Barabbas released, Luke tells us that Barabbas had been in prison for a rebellion and murder. I think we all know that murder is pretty bad, and wouldn't want a known murderer running around the streets rebelling. Yet, the people would rather have Barabbas on the streets, than Jesus, who has never hurt a fly. He was just changing the world.

Their thinking is just so backwards that it really makes me think, wow these people had no idea what they were talking about. They thought they did, but lost all sense of reality in the rush of actually making a difference with their voices. It's called getting caught in the moment, and not thinking about the consequences of actions. We can be so set on something that we block out any other alternatives, which probably could be better that what we are set on. That tunnel vision can really hurt us. I'm all for tradition and keeping things the same, but there are times when change really is good.

It's kind of what life is about. Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, you have to embrace those turns in life, because the alternative is having the same thing happen day after day after day. Not very fun is it? Pretty repetitive. Things can change, but God needs to stay constant, that's where our grounding comes from.

Think about this week, although Jesus told them what would happen more than once, the apostles had their world rocked for three straight days. Some of it was good, some of it was terrible. By being scared to go out in public, their face was shaken too. We've all had those whirlwind stretches, where life's turns seem more severe than ever. We need to keep our faith strong in those instances, and think that maybe this change could be for the best down the road, and lead us where God has us meant to go. That's our fate, and our destiny, and we can get emotional about it.

So, in these next few days, feel sad, feel happy, get scared, give yourself to God and the events that save us. Change really is good, but keep God as that constant, traditional force. The Triduum is a pattern that repeats throughout our own lives, and with God as our Rock, our destiny is inevitable.