Like a multi-act play, the week begins with the liturgy of Palm Sunday: an overview of the journey Jesus traveled into Jerusalem (that part of the story is told at the beginning of the liturgy and followed by the procession with palms), and the recounting of the Passion narrative (this year taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke.
On Thursday evening, in the gathering twilight, we gather to pray and to remember the evening when Jesus ate the Last Supper in company with his disciples. We wash the feet of some of the modern-day disciples, just as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, and we watch in silent prayer, recalling the time that some of his disciples prayed with him in the garden of Gethsemane.
On Friday, we hear the story of the Passion of Jesus as it is told in Saint John's gospel, and we pause to pray in remembrance of the day when all hope seemed to have been dashed. The story is not over though, for in the darkening hours of Saturday, we hear the promise of life first spoken to Adam and Eve, and then repeated to others of our ancestors in faith, a promise that was fulfilled when Jesus rose from the dead and left the tomb empty, with no evidence of his presence save cloths which were carefully folded and placed and a stone that had been rolled away.
Additional food for thought can be found in the printed reflection entitled Following Jesus on the Royal Road of the Cross which can be found on the website of Salt+Light Television.
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