Holy Week: Let Us Go up to Jerusalem
By Fr. John Roderick, F.S.C.B.
March, 2024
As we begin Holy Week, we are invited to accompany Jesus as he makes his pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish Passover. This annual event commemorated both the liberation of God’s Chosen People from slavery in Egypt when the Angel of Death “passed over” the Jewish houses that were marked by the blood of the lamb, and the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea when Moses led God’s people out of Egypt and into the desert where they journeyed towards the promised land.
During Jesus’ public ministry, he gradually revealed to his closest friends what was to take place during his final pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Jesus desired to prepare his disciples for his final destiny to truly share it with them.
Jesus was teaching his disciples and telling them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.” (Mark 10:33-34)
Today, Jesus continues to invite each of us to journey with him spiritually through our Holy Week celebrations, where we actively remember the key events through which Jesus freed us from the bondage and slavery of sin and death and restored our relationship to the Father as his beloved sons and daughters.
For the friends and disciples of Jesus Christ, Holy Week is the celebration of the most important events in His life. In this reflection, I would like to offer a few comments on each of these five events as an invitation to participate in them with greater depth and awareness.
Palm Sunday. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118:26). As Jesus makes his triumphant entrance into the Holy City of Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover, he will be welcomed by choruses of Jews singing a special prayer. It is taken from the thanksgiving liturgy for the victory procession of the king and his people into the temple. Jesus will be greeted as the long-expected King of the Jews. He will enter riding on a donkey and will be received with great enthusiasm and joy. The people will lay down their cloaks and palm branches as he passes by, all the while singing, “Hosanna to the son of David!” and “Hosanna in the highest!” This moment marks the beginning of Holy Week.
A few short days later, these shouts of joy will change to the cry of anger, “Crucify him, crucify him!” The Jewish People had been waiting many generations for their king, and they were disillusioned. They expected an earthly ruler who would finally free them from Roman domination. They are blinded by their mundane expectations and fail to recognize the new and definitive Kingdom which God desires to establish through his Son and which is characterized by humility, service, and mercy.
Holy Thursday. “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24). On this day the Institution of both the Eucharist and of the Ministerial Priesthood are commemorated. In the morning, it is custom for all the priests to gather with their bishop in the cathedral to celebrate the Chrism Mass. During this liturgy, the oil of the sick and of the catechumens and chrism oil are blessed. In addition, the bishop along with all the priests renew their priestly promises to be totally consecrated to Christ that they gave on the day of their ordination. This is a beautiful moment of brotherhood in which all priests reaffirm their personal fidelity to Christ, who has chosen them to be his ministers in the world.
Later, we commemorate the Last Supper at which Jesus instituted the Mass which is the Memorial of his Passover. At the beginning of this meal Jesus will wash his apostles’ feet (John 13). This gesture reveals the heart of Jesus’ mission: Jesus humbles himself taking the place of a servant to wash away their uncleanliness and to prepare them to participate in the Paschal supper. He instructs them to follow a New Commandment to love one another as he has loved them, laying down his life for them.
St. Paul offers one of the oldest accounts of what took place in the Upper Room: “The Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me'” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25). These words of institution clearly reveal Christ’s will: under the species of the bread and wine, Jesus makes himself present in his Body given over and his Blood poured out.
Afterwards, Jesus will retire to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane and will begin a period of great agony which will culminate in being handed over by Judas to the Roman authorities. During this night we are invited to respond to Jesus’ invitation to “stay awake and keep watch” with him as he enters more deeply into his passion. It is tradition to stay with Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic Adoration throughout the night. There exists an ancient tradition that started in Rome by St. Philip Neri called the Seven Church Pilgrimage, which invites the faithful to visit and pray before the Blessed Sacrament in seven nearby parishes, each one commemorating a particular moment of Christ’s Passion. Last year, I made this pilgrimage with a few friends from the young adult group and from the parish.
Good Friday. “They will look upon him whom they have pierced” (John 19:37). On Friday, we remember the events between Christ’s condemnation and his Crucifixion. It is a day of fasting and penance, and everything we do should be oriented towards contemplating Christ on the Cross. In the morning, it is customary to participate in the Way of the Cross and at 3:00 pm in the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion. The Way of the Cross is a beautiful way to follow Christ in his agony as he makes his way to Golgotha.
As we look upon Christ crucified, we are invited to reflect upon the terrible reality of sin. Jesus bore all the sins of the world in his body; he bore the weight and consequences of all our personal sins and that of the whole world. In a mysterious manner, Jesus had to experience the complete effects of sin, which are death and separation from God, to redeem all of humanity. St. Paul beautifully describes this mystery, “For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (1 Corinthians 5:21).
Holy Saturday. “He wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb” (Mark 15:46). This day is marked by great silence. Jesus descends to the realm of the dead to announce his victory over death and sin to all those who have died before his coming. There are many beautiful artistic depictions of Jesus going in search of and taking Adam and Eve by the hand and leading them upwards. It is a day of recollection and anticipation for the great Easter vigil.
Easter Sunday. “He is not here, he has been raised” (Luke 24:6). Easter is the great feast of joy and light. Through Jesus’ resurrection, God has irrupted into history and destroyed the power of death and sin. Through the sacrament of baptism, we have received a definitive participation in this victory. We are beloved children of the Light, children of Divine Mercy, children of the Resurrection.
The Easter vigil liturgy recalls salvation history and celebrates with much joy Jesus’ resurrection. At the beginning of the liturgy, we are invited to process into the Church after the blessing of the fire and the new Paschal candle. The priest will sing Lumen Christi (The Light of Christ) and we will respond Deo gratias (Thanks be to God). It is a sign of the definitive victory of light over darkness, of life over death, of mercy over hate. We will have all our candles lit from the light of the Paschal candle, which represents Christ’s desire to share the victory of light over darkness with all his friends. We will hear the singing of the Gloria and Easter Alleluia, and the ringing of bells, all of which have been silent since Ash Wednesday. The liturgy of the Word will offer nine readings to help us relive the great story of salvation.
Afterwards, we will celebrate the baptismal liturgy and welcome the catechumens into the Church. As part of the rite of baptism we will entrust all the new Christians to the great family of God through the praying of the litany of the saints. We are invited to look to the lives of the saints to learn what it means to follow Christ with all of one’s heart. They are a continuous reminder, as well, of God’s faithfulness to the Church and to each of His beloved sons and daughters throughout the centuries. The whole congregation is then invited to renew their baptismal promises. This is a beautiful reminder of the gift of eternal life which God bestowed on us. The Mass on Sunday morning will focus more on the events of Jesus’ resurrection and the delight of encountering the Risen Lord.
As we gather to begin Holy Week, let us fervently ask the Lord for the grace to respond to the Church’s invitation to let our hearts and lives be profoundly marked by these great mysteries. I would like to personally invite you to take a little more time for prayer and limit the noise and distractions that often dominate our days and free time. Consider making a thorough examination of conscience and receiving the sacrament of confession. May God bless you during this grace-filled week.
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Image featured in the banner: Giotto di Bondone, The Entry into Jerusalem, fresco, ca. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy; US-PD
