Wednesday, Holy Week: "My appointed time draws near"

in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.

-- Mt 26:14-25

Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the passover meal for us, that we may eat it. . . ." They went . . . and prepared the passover. And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.". . . . And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood."

-- CCC 1339

Tuesday, Holy Week: "You are my servant"

It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

-- Is 49:1-6

The Messiah's characteristics are revealed above all in the "Servant songs." These songs proclaim the meaning of Jesus' Passion and show how he will pour out the Holy Spirit to give life to the many: not as an outsider, but by embracing our "form as slave." Taking our death upon himself, he can communicate to us his own Spirit of life.

-- CCC 713

Monday, Holy Week: "Here is my servant"

whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
Upon whom I have put my Spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations

-- Is 42:1-7

The perfect fulfillment of the Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law in the person of the Son. In Jesus, the Law no longer appears engraved on tables of stone but "upon the heart" of the Servant who becomes "a covenant to the people", because he will "faithfully bring forth justice". Jesus fulfills the Law to the point of taking upon himself "the curse of the Law" incurred by those who do not "abide by the things written in the book of the Law, and do them", for his death took place to redeem them "from the transgressions under the first covenant".

-- CCC 580

Passion (Palm) Sunday: "if we have died with him, we will also live with him"

Procession Gospel: St. Matthew 21, 1-11

Mass: Isaiah 50, 4-7; Psalm 22, 8-9. 17-18. 19-20. 23-24; Philippians 2. 6-11; St. Matthew 26, 14-27, 66.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We prepare now with Christ to enter the holiest of weeks in which we celebrate all of the events leading up to his passion, death and burial. And in doing so we recall how by his death he has transformed our death from a curse into the door of eternal life.

"Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free submission to his Father's will. (Cf. Mk 14:33-34; Heb 5:7-8). The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing. (Cf. Rom 5:19-21)" (CCC 1009)

With the procession of palms which begins today's Mass, we celebrate Christ's entrance into Jerusalem to accomplish his paschal mystery. Those who today acclaim him king, and cry "Hosannah!", will days hence demand he die as a criminal. On Holy Thursday we will take part in a re-enactment of the foot-washing of the Apostles, the twelve men chosen as foundation stones of the Church. To them Christ gave the gift of Christian priesthood and through them he has handed down to us the perfect memorial of his suffering and death in the Eucharistic sacrifice. We will honor our Lord's gift of his Body and Blood as we carry the Blessed Sacrament in procession following Thursday's solemn liturgy of "The Lord's Supper." We will remain in silent adoration until midnight.

On Good Friday we enter more fully into the death of the Lord in our celebration of the Passion. We are strengthened to face our own death as we accompany our Lord on the via crucis, the way of the cross. We join ourselves to the obedience of the Son that we may also obey the Father's will and die a truly "Christian death."

"'It is in regard to death that man's condition is most shrouded in doubt.'[GS 18.] In a sense bodily death is natural, but for faith it is in fact 'the wages of sin.'(Rom 6:23 ;)(cf. Gen 2:17 .) For those who die in Christ's grace it is a participation in the death of the Lord, so that they can also share his Resurrection.(Cf. Rom 6:3-9 ; Phil 3:10-11 .)" (CCC 1006)

"Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning: 'For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.'(Phil 1:21) 'The saying is sure:" if we have died with him, we will also live with him." '(2 Tim 2:11) What is essentially new about Christian death is this: through Baptism, the Christian has already 'died with Christ' sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ's grace, physical death completes this 'dying with Christ' and so completes our incorporation into him in his redeeming act."(CCC 1010)

This day in particular is appropriate for the celebration of the sacrament of Penance. We will adore the holy cross and remain until midnight in silent contemplation of the glorious Son of God who "reigns from the wood".

Holy Saturday with its silence bespeaks the breathless waiting of a world yet held in bondage to the powers of death. The faithful are tested as they persevere in hope for the Lord of life to manifest himself and give light to all men. No liturgy is celebrated on Holy Saturday, for Christ's Church cannot pray except through the living Christ. We watch and wait at the silent tomb with our Lady and the other faithful ones who have not abandoned Jesus.

"To rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must 'be away from the body and at home with the Lord.' (2 Cor 5:8) In that 'departure' which is death the soul is separated from the body. (Cf. Phil 1:23) It will be reunited with the body on the day of resurrection of the dead. (Cf. Paul VI, CPG SS 28.)" (CCC 1005)

St. Leo the Great, pope, speaks compellingly of the mysteries of Holy Week:

"True reverence for the Lord's passion means fixing the eyes of our heart on Jesus crucified and recognizing in him our own humanity. The earth-our earthly nature- should tremble at the suffering of its Redeemer. The rocks-the hearts of unbelievers- should burst asunder. The dead, imprisoned in the tombs of their mortality, should come forth, the massive stones now ripped apart. Foreshadowings of the future resurrection should appear in the holy city, the Church of God: what is to happen to our bodies should now take place in our hearts." (Liturgy of the Hours, Thursday, Fourth Week of Lent)

I look forward to meeting you here again next week as, together, we "meet Christ in the liturgy", Father Cusick

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy (Publish with permission.)

Art: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Christ's Entry into Jerusalem

Saturday, Lent Wk 5: "one man should die"

so that the whole nation may not perish

-- Jn 11:45-56

The religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what stance to take towards Jesus. The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate his followers. To those who feared that "everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation", the high priest Caiaphas replied by prophesying: "It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish." The Sanhedrin, having declared Jesus deserving of death as a blasphemer but having lost the right to put anyone to death, hands him over to the Romans, accusing him of political revolt, a charge that puts him in the same category as Barabbas who had been accused of sedition. The chief priests also threatened Pilate politically so that he would condemn Jesus to death.

-- CCC 596

Art: Duccio, di Buoninsegna (1255-1319), Jesus Accused by the Pharisees

Friday, Lent Wk 5: "the Lord is with me"

Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!

-- Jer 20:10-13

In their "one to one" encounters with God, the prophets draw light and strength for their mission. Their prayer is not flight from this unfaithful world, but rather attentiveness to The Word of God. At times their prayer is an argument or a complaint, but it is always an intercession that awaits and prepares for the intervention of the Savior God, the Lord of history.

-- CCC 2584

Wednesday, Lent Wk 5: "we will not serve your god"

or worship the golden statue that you set up.

-- Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95

The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture constantly recalls this rejection of "idols, [of] silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see." These empty idols make their worshippers empty: "Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them." God, however, is the "living God" who gives life and intervenes in history.

-- CCC 2112

The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it." The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone:

Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.

-- CCC 2132

Art: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775-185: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Burning Fiery Furnace. Exhibited 1832, Oil on mahogany. Tate Britain.