Voices of Holy Week - 2014

The HOUR Begins

In these posts I have selected the texts revealing some of the many voices we hear during these sacred days. Take them to prayer and ask to gain insight into their message and meaning for your life.

Wednesday (see Tuesday and Monday below) (Review the remarks on spiritual desolation - Palm Sunday post)

In the day of my distress I sought the Lord.

My hands were raised at night without ceasing;

my soul refused to be consoled.

I remembered my God and I groaned.

I pondered and my spirit fainted.

You withheld sleep from my eyes.

I was troubled, I could not speak.

I thought of the days of long ago

and remembered the years long past.

At night I mused within my heart.

I pondered and my spirit questioned.

"Will the Lord reject us for ever?

Will he show us his favor no more?

Has his love vanished for ever?

Has his promise come to an end?

does God forget his mercy

or in anger withhold his compassion?” Ps: 77 Wednesday, Morning Prayer.

"I pondered and my spirit fainted" ... some may think of the conflicts of Holy Week as long past, over and done with. But the struggle transcends time and each generation must enter into it. This IS my Holy Week. Where do I stand?

 "I pondered and my spirit questioned" ... St. Ignatius gives three principal reasons why we find ourselves desolate.

1. The first is, because of our being tepid, lazy or negligent in our spiritual exercises; and so through our faults, spiritual consolation withdraws from us.
2. The second, to try us and see how much we are and how much we let ourselves out in His service and praise without such great pay of consolation and great graces.
3. The third, to give us true acquaintance and knowledge, that we may interiorly feel that it is not ours to get or keep great devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation, but that all is the gift and grace of God our Lord, and that we may not build a nest in a thing not ours, raising our intellect into some pride or vainglory, attributing to us devotion or the other things of the spiritual consolation.
   
   

"Will the Lord reject us for ever?" ... Let him who is in consolation think how he will be in the desolation which will come after, taking new strength for then.

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6: 10-17

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Tuesday (see Monday below)

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,

“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

 “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”

So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,

son of Simon the Iscariot.

After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.

So Judas took the morsel and left at once.

AND IT WAS NIGHT! Jo: 13:21

"Jesus was deeply troubled" ... once again we see on what level these things matter. These are matters that penetrate into the depths of the soul, shaking the very foundation of one's confidence and trust. When the bond of love is broken it penetrates our hearts, destroying our faith in what we believed to be true and good, giving us hope.

"One of you will betray me" ... our religious life is not akin to following some rules for healthy living. It is a relationship with another, based on love and mutual trust. I can quit my workouts and it is only a matter of weight. If I abandon my faith practice, I break another's heart.

"Satan entered him" ... true religion is not about the smoke in one's thurible. It is about salvation, the cosmic conflict between evil and good, Satan and Christ. Satan buys people with money for here and now, Jesus offers life with him, eternally. To sin is to sell out, Satan the new owner.

"And it was night" ... when the light is gone, darkness takes over and evil comes out to have its way. Satan needs only to accomplish one thing, separate us from the Light. Then we will destroy ourselves.

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Monday 

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,

I have grasped you by the hand;

I formed you, and set you

as a covenant of the people,

a light for the nations,

To open the eyes of the blind,

to bring out prisoners from confinement,

and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness. (Is. 42: 6,7)

"Covenant" ... a sacred contract between two parties. God is one, we are the other, but Jesus stands in our place, representing each one of us, since we alone could not uphold our pledge of fidelity, we are no match for the Deceiver.

"Open eyes" ... we are not saved by reason of our doing. We are saved by that person who has both the power and authority to do it, Jesus.

"Bring out prisoners" ... what stops us? We are not confined by bars and bricks and locked doors. We are held by the voices, seeded in our minds, instructing our actions. Who's voice are we hearing?

"Who live in darkness" ... those who walk alone, counseled only by the wisdom and values of this generation; who cannot hear the voice of Jesus.

Holy Week is about a person, Jesus, not theories and speculations concerning religion. The person of Jesus and our relationship with him is central. This is the "hour" for us to examine our faith. Is it strong and viable, uncompromised and certain, growing stronger in this age of decline of faith?