And so it begins: the holiest week of our faith. The opening volley of our faith reflections begins with Jesus’ humble but triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  Truly, this is a king like no other king. The reading from Philippians confirms it: he emptied himself to become one of us, even to the point of death, a reality that all human beings must face. But his death will emerge in exaltation and victory.

The daily Mass readings this week will present us the Suffering Servant songs from Isaiah.  Suffering will be the lot of all human beings, but, like Jesus, we need to hold onto hope even in the midst of our pain. The season of Lent ends on Holy Thursday when we mark the great gift of the Eucharist. Jesus covenants his ongoing presence with us as the form of living bread and wine. And in doing so, he commands us to serve one another in the way that he showed us throughout his life.  Symbolically, we are to wash the feet of those in need around us in humble service.  The penitential fasting of Lent is over, and it shifts into festive fasting, that is, limiting our consumption of food and drink before the great feast which is coming lest our appetite will be spoiled.

Good Friday is a day of solemn silence and reflection as we contemplate the fact that Jesus would go to any length to free us from our sins and shower us with God’s mercy and forgiveness — even if we don’t know what we are doing. With an earth that rejected him and a heaven that seemed silent and closed, Jesus hung suspended on the cross alone and despised.  Yet, even from his lamenting despair of feeling forgotten by God, he called out to his Father. In solidarity with Jesus, we honor a solemn fast on Good Friday, refraining from meat and excess food and drink and join his mother and the holy women at the foot of the cross in quiet contemplation.

Holy Saturday morning continues our contemplation. Like the women who followed Jesus and his apostles, we wait in prayer, stunned by the power that sin and evil can seem to disrupt the flow of love and goodness.  But then, as the Easter fire is lit and blessed at sunset, the mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection explodes in a cacophony of sound, light and music. The Crucified One is not dead, but risen, and his burial tomb would not have the final word.  Alleluia!

The Easter vigil leads us through the scriptures outlining the echoes of God’s salvific love weaving itself in the ups and downs of people and history, finding its final destination in the empty tomb. And for the next fifty days, we will bask in the light of this glorious mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, a mystery through which we will share in baptism and the sacraments.  This indeed is a holy week, inviting us to bathe in it so that we too become holy. Christ is risen!  Alleluia!