Ordinary Eve
Holy Week
Why do we keep Holy Week special?
Holy Week is culmination of Lent, the time when we remember Jesus's arrival in Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Feast of the Passover and the events that lead up to his death on Good Friday.
In this period Jesus goes from celebrity and hero on Palm Sunday to outcast and pariah. He is feted by the people and he is deserted by his closest friends, he is shown extravagant love by the woman who annoints his feet and extravagant hate by the people of Jerusalem and the thief hanging beside him on the cross. It's a strange period of time because it's so brief and there is a sense of the unreal about it because we know the end of the story. Yes, Jesus dies, but it's ok, he's going to rise again! What is the point of focusing on the very negative and brutal story of his downfall when we could be celebrating the triumph of God?
There are 2 key reasons why Holy Week is distinct and important.
1) By following Jesus's story from the high to the low we see how we ourselves have treated Jesus. Would we have cheered in the streets to see him arrive? Would we have really spent all our money- ALL our money - on perfume for someone's feet? Would we have got annoyed when he refused to lead us to a physical freedom? Would we have fallen asleep whilst he prayed, just because we were tired? Would we have shouted "Crucify!"?
2) Holy Week is remarkably human. People are excited by a celebrity then they reject him. People accuse each other, fail each other, run away, are helpess, are celebratory. All this humanity and the overwhelming triumph (it seems) of evil help us to put the miracle and divinity of Easter into proper perspective. Our lives are built on this one event, and most of the year we forget about it. We need to be reminded once a year of how amazing and important this was and Holy Week helps to focus our mind and really rejoice when Easter comes around.
Victoria Pal
