As we continue with anticipation towards Easter, we welcome this refection from Regina Heater, and invite you to pray through Holy Week using the songs below.
Did you know that the current commemoration of Holy Week, as set forth for modern Catholics has only been in place since 1955? That is a curious thing to me - perhaps my soul recognizes that what we do during Holy Week is not just a recollection of the final week of Jesus’ life, but a call across the centuries from all who followed Christ, all who sought to find meaning through the stories of his life, all those who gathered to share a meal “in remembrance”, all who gathered to hear the story of his betrayal, suffering and death, and pondered whether they, too, might have a bit of Judas or Peter in their heart. A call to all who have kindled the Easter fire, who have waited in the Great Silence, who have listened patiently to the stories of our Creation and history, who have walked to the river, the font, turning away from an old life and to a new one, declaring “I do, I do believe.”
This is what we do in Holy Week. We connect deeply with our Creator and ponder our deepest questions - who is God? Why did Jesus do what he did? How did the people who claimed to love him turn on him, turn away from him? How could they not keep watch with him? How could they not SEE? How did they carry on in those dark hours? We walk with them as best we can, through Jesus’ triumph coming into Jerusalem, to Mary anointing him, to Judas’ betrayal, to a final festival meal with friends, to a terrible, terrible night, to a day that defies description. We try to walk through the story, with Jesus, with his friends to that moment that is Jesus’ worst and our best. We are left in the Great Silence with just one thing to do: wait.
It is in this waiting that all of our preparation in Lent comes together. We have anticipated this moment. We have created a space in our hearts for our Hope, and in the dark we long for that Hope in ways we haven’t longed before because, before, our hearts were crowded with other things. Now we long to hear the Gloria again, long to sing the “A-word”, long for the Risen Christ. Now, in the dark, we find we are really ready for the dawn.
Daughter of Zion -- Margaret Becker
Step By Step -- Rich Mullens & Bebo Norman
Come to the Table -- Michael Card
Remember Me -- Mark Schultz
Jesus, Remember Me -- Taize Chant
O, Sacred Head Now Wounded -- Selah
Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs -- Michael English, Larnelle Harris, Steve Green
Open My Heart -- HARC
He Is -- Aaron Jeoffrey
