The story of the Passion is one which continues today and every day. It is the story told in the lives of the poor, in the lives of refugees and immigrants, in the lives of people in prison or on death row. It is felt in the lives of married and single parents alike, in the lives of the elderly and infirm and those who feel alone and abandoned. The Passion becomes real in the lives of soldiers and combatants and noncombatants. It strikes the hearts of those who are victims of racism and in those who are powerless to oppression. It is even felt in the life of planet earth which has been, and continues to be, so abused.
Each year the Church invites us to bring all of this to the Risen Christ. We relive the final days of the Savior in order to reinforce our conviction that resurrection always follows death, that victory always crowns our failures.
Listening to the Passion account reminds us how quickly the Hosannas proclaimed by the people of Jerusalem become the "Crucify Him" of the temple leaders. We’ve listened to these passages every year. We’ve heard it all before and still we might be tempted to think, “Been there, done that.” But have we?
What do these holy days say about the atrocities of horror being rained upon Ukraine? Or Palestine? Or any area of our war-torn world? What do these days say about multiple meaningless shootings in so many parts of our own country? What do these days say about the atmosphere of mistrust, falsehood and bigotry that surrounds us daily? Does "Crucify Him" now take on new dimensions for us? It should.
It is important for us to see the total Holy Week experience as a single event. Individual Holy Week events alone are not enough. These holy days define who we are. We are the people of the Table, the people of the Cross, the people of the Empty Tomb.
Holy Week is a single story of the struggle for communion and solidarity in the midst of great challenges and even injustice and suffering. The struggle continues today, and it is not an easy one.
This year as we celebrate Holy Week, let us be more sensitive to the ways that we exclude certain people from the embrace of our communities. Let's try to resist the deep-rooted suspicions that we nurture against persons who, in some way, are "different" from us. Let’s let our experience of the passion make it possible for people with very different spiritual needs to find true meaning in the Cross.
There will always be moments of loss, of pain, of apparent death. But these holy days invite us to be strong and courageous, assuring us that in the power of Easter and the Risen Christ there is no failure, only joy and victory, ultimate victory.
