Monday of Holy Week

Lectionary: 257

Even the trees are
scarred by his agony. 

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.


We often sing "Precious Lord, take my hand." As we enter Holy Week we take the hand of Jesus and walk with him. Meanwhile, his other hand has been grasped by the LORD, leading him and us to Calvary. This is a hard journey.

Holy Week is variously celebrated throughout the world. It is a massive celebration with processions and vigils. It is colorful, exciting and encouraging. 

Only two weeks ago we saw how the world was fascinated by the election of a pope. It seemed that everyone was caught up in the drama, which continued when the news media lit up with allegations of suspicious conversations between Cardinal Bergoglio and the "dirty warriors" of Argentina. 

Whether they understand the Passion of Jesus or not, they cannot ignore what he has done. The events of Jerusalem during that fateful Passover still reverberate around the world. The universe is watching for a light for the nations. They want to see "the victory of justice." 

Can it be that Jesus is "a covenant of the people" and "a light for the nations?" 

In their private lives too, many prisoners of resentment, lust and greed, of anxiety and fear hope that a Messiah will lead them out of confinement. "Can a single human being be so important?" they demand of us. 

They might overhear our reading in the churches, "You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” Those who madly refuse to hear the cry of the poor, putting their demands off for one more generation, who say, "Not on my watch!" -- hope Jesus is not that important. His death, they say, was only one man's misery in a world of suffering. He should have no real authority in our world. 

But in their hearts they worry that "the hour has come" 

when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Later this week we will see Jesus led before the mob and placed on the Seat of Judgement. Each of us will pronounce our fate by the decision we make in that hour. 

On this Monday we anoint his feet with our tears and beg him to leave Bethany and lead us to Jerusalem.