RBWords - Volume 33 - Number 3: March 2020
Something to Think About
r.b.words – vol. 33 – no. 3 – march 2021
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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT -
The end of March does not often coincide with Holy Week, so I don’t speak to that subject as much as I would like. What I am urging in my daily preaching online THE WORD TO THE WISE is that whether or not one can attend daily Eucharist during this week (especially during the pandemic), one can read the scriptures assigned for each day and experience the incredibly dramatic quality of this time that can draw one into the experience of Holy Week in a very personal way. To begin with, the first scriptures for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Good Friday come from what are called “the Songs of the Suffering Servant” in Isaiah. These form a kind of prophetic backdrop to all that Jesus undergoes, especially on Good Friday. The gospel scriptures (Mon and Tues from John, Wed from Matthew) speak to the events at the Last Supper, especially Jesus’ announcement, “One of you will betray me!” Even faithful and impulsive Peter will fail in this regard, but does that “you” include us? Do we go from singing “Hosanna!” to “Crucify him!” to “Alleluia” in just a week? It is a theological and emotional roller coaster!
Holy Thursday reminds us that the roots of our Eucharistic celebration are not at the Last Supper but at the Exodus and the celebration of Passover! Good Friday speaks to Jesus’ statement at the Last Supper, “Greater love than this no one has than that they lay down their life for a friend.” Do we consider ourselves a friend of Jesus? Holy Saturday (the Easter Vigil) speaks to the light of God’s revelation in Jesus’ resurrection and reminds us that we live through baptism in that same resurrection because of him. That is certainly worth all the “alleluias” we can shout! But Easter Sunday makes no sense without what precedes it. We can be part of it and not just spectators. To each of my Beloved Readers, I wish a blessed and deep Holy Week and Easter Day. IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
“For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
From St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans – 5:6-8
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