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A lot of ups-and-downs, light and darkness, life and death this week we Christians deem “holy.”
A stew of seemingly contradictory ingredients: From the height of Palm Sunday, with acclamations of faith in Jesus as the long-awaited “Son of David,” to the rant of the worked up rabble on Good Friday, “Crucify Him!”
From the raised palms of victory greeting Jesus seated on a donkey, to the raised fists demanding His torture and death the following Friday;
HOLY WEEK HAS JUST BEGUN: HERE’S WHY IT MATTERS TO CHRISTIANS
From the warmth of that fraternal meal at what would be His “Last Supper” on Holy Thursday, to the anguish of blood, sweat, and tears only hours later in His “agony in the Garden,” as one of his dinner guests betrays Him, the others all-but-one abandon Him, and the leader He had appointed denying Him three times.
Easter wooden cross on black marble background with Palm Sunday palm. (iStock)
From the misery, defeat, and death on that Friday weirdly called “good,” when the sun hid and darkness covered the earth, to His radiant Resurrection after three days.
Faith to doubt…to faith again;
Joy to sorrow…to jubilation again;
Good to evil…back to good;
Life to death…and a return to life;
Victory to defeat…to triumph again.
Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday…
Is it bizarre? Is it a tease? Or…is it a reflection of what this life is for all of us?
UNUSUAL HOLY WEEK TRADITIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
For are not these days on Earth just such of mixture of both joy and sadness? We seem to weave from health to sickness, peace to war, flourishing to adversity…and then, finally, death to eternal life.
FILE – Cardinal Timothy Dolan speaks during the traditional Ash Wednesday service, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in New York, Feb. 17, 2021.
(REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
Have we not sensed that during COVID? Sickness, isolation, fear, death; but also heroism of so many, and eventually recovery.
Do we not…
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