Reflections for Holy Week
As we enter Holy Week and commemorate the days leading up to and including Jesus’ crucifixion, I want to share a few reflections to ponder from some wise writers:
■ Each Palm Sunday, we recall the image of the crowds praising God and celebrating Jesus as he rode a donkey into Jerusalem. But why did He enter the holy city on an animal considered a “beast of burden” rather than a more regal creature, such as a horse?
Writing in The Tablet, the newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, Rita Piro explained, “The horse was the animal of war and violence, adorned with grandeur, ready to do battle among warriors and kings.
The lowly donkey…was considered the animal of peace, unity, and friendship. The steady, faithful friend of the common man. Any man, king, or peasant alike who came riding on a donkey was seen as a symbol of gentleness, humility, and service.” Piro continued, “The master has need of us, too. Like the donkey of Palm Sunday, we are all called to carry Jesus to others. The way we act, speak, look, and even think must always reflect Jesus, His ways, and His teachings. Whether or not we consider it a burden to do so is up to us.”
■ In Jesus’ day, people wore sandals as they walked the dirt roads, so their feet quickly became filthy. Washing the feet of a guest in your home, therefore, qualified as a dirty job. Yet washing the feet of the apostles is exactly what Jesus did at the Last Supper, asking, “Do you realize what I have done for you?” So, why would the Savior of the world do such a thing?
“What Jesus did stands before us as a defining example of humility and sacrifice, of service and love,” observed Deacon Greg Kandra at TheDeaconsBench.com. “It tells us that to be an apostle of Christ means we must be willing to get down on our knees for another. In one sense, to wash the feet of someone else is to remove the dust and debris and the grit of life—to cleanse, to renew, to restore. But in a deeper sense, it challenges us to something more. It says the Christian life is not about standing above anyone. It is about bending. Giving. Serving. Restoring newness and hope.”
■ Author and spiritual director Becky Eldredge got a phone call from a friend who had suffered greatly in her life. But on this particular day, this friend conveyed a spirit of hope, saying, “Becky, I had a huge ‘aha’ this morning. It matters to Jesus what I have gone through. Every bit of it. It matters to Jesus.”
Writing at IgnatianSpirituality.com, Becky recalled feeling joy for her friend. Becky also thought back to her own ‘aha’ moment while practicing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius some time ago. She said, “As I hear and pray with the moments of Jesus’ suffering during the Lenten season, my understanding of how much Jesus understands suffering widens. He not only gets physical pain, betrayal, and abandonment, but He also understands being misunderstood, what it feels like not to belong, and what it’s like to forgive…There is something that changes in us when we let the wounds of our lives touch the wounds of Jesus. It is as if Jesus were gazing at us with eyes of love and understanding, inviting us to tell Him everything we are seeing and feeling.”
For free copies of the Christopher News Note The Greatest Among You Will Be Your Servant, write: The Christophers, 264 West 40th Street, Room 603, New York, NY 10018; or e-mail: mail@christophers.org.
