April: Meditation on Holy Week

DEACON'S DIALOGUE, THE REV. PORTIA SWEET-

Holy Week is our opportunity and obligatory time to meditate on the very personal meaning(s) of Christ’s passion to our lives as Christians. I know that it takes firm intention to give this week the attention it calls for, and I always fall short of my own intentions. To grasp the magnitude of God’s love for us in the events of the story of this week is way beyond the ability of most people I know, including me. And yet we are called to remember and actively observe Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter.

Maundy Thursday brings us to the last Passover Feast that Jesus shared with his disciples. It reminds us that Jesus was about serving others, not ruling kingship, as he washed the feet of those gathered with him. We wash, we dine, and then we move into the darkness of his passionate prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal of Judas and his arrest as we strip the altar and chancel of all the beautiful symbols of our worship and belief.

On Good Friday we follow our Lord up Calvary to the cross. It is here that we, like the thief who will be executed with Jesus, can find forgiveness and redemption. It is on Good Friday that we truly must take time and effort to pause, earnestly pray, and draw near to offer ourselves as God gave himself for us.

Easter – the Resurrection of the One who died – cannot be fully realized in our hearts without Good Friday. Spring has no special meaning without winter. Light is taken for granted if one has not also known darkness. We believe the God who came among us, died for us, and rose again that we may have eternal life. Let us remember. Let us try to follow in his footsteps this Holy Week as so draw nearer to the God who loves us still.