As we enter into Holy Week, we are going to hear many Scripture readings centered on the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ and the meaning for us and for the world. As we go through the stories of Jesus, I suggest that we read them with two eyes, an eye to the past so as to appreciate what happened in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, and an eye to the present to see how we fit into these stories. Suppose I was there in Jerusalem during the first Holy Week, what role would I have played? If the arrest, trial, sentencing and execution of Jesus were going on today in my own city or neighbourhood what role would I play? On Palm Sunday which begins this sacred week, we hear the story of Jesus asking his disciples to go a neighboring village and bring him a donkey’s colt. If the owner of the animal asks them why they are hijacking a colt that did not belong to them, they were to answer that the Lord needs it. Now put yourself in the place of the owner and imagine how you would react? Remember that for the ordinary people in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, donkeys & colts were a privileged means of transport, comparable to a car today. How would we react if one evening we found some young guys trying to drive away in our car and when confronted, all they say is;, "The Lord needs it?" We would immediately call the police.

Just one example as we remember and retrace the last week of Jesus. Where are we as individuals, as a faith community, as a society?

Are we with some of the Scribes and the Pharisees, afraid of loss of power?Are we the Roman soldiers – just obeying orders? Are we like Pilate, disinterested and washing our hands of the mess? Are we like Peter, wanting to stay with Jesus but ultimately too afraid? Are we like John, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the faithful women at the foot of the cross, witnessing, being broken-hearted, perhaps wanting to intervene but knowing not what to do? There are many characters in this Passion Week neither necessarily good nor bad, but human, - people like you and me. Where are we during Holy Week? Where am I during Holy Week?

For excellent resources on Holy Week, see the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). 

Why bother with Lent? Is it just 40 days of drudgery or can we make Lent 2024 different? Can it be a chance for “metanoia” - turning our lives around, turning back to God? Let us be open to possibilities this Lent to make it different. Let us be reconciled with someone from whom we are estranged. If, we can’t even be reconciled with another person in the orbit of our own little lives, what good is it talking about peace and reconciling on a global scale. They say charity starts at home. So too, reconciliation starts at home. Understanding Ash Wednesday and Lent may help us to have a more meaningful Lent this year in preparation for the joy of new life in the Spring and the new life we profess at Easter. 

Jesus retreated into the wilderness and fasted for forty days to prepare for his ministry. It was for Him a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation. By observing Lent, most Christians join Jesus on His retreat.

Lent consists of the forty days before Easter. In the western Church, we skip over the Sundays when we count the days of Lent, because Sunday is always the joyful celebration of the Resurrection. Therefore, the first day of Lent in the western Church is always a Wednesday.

In Biblical times, ashes became a sign of remorse, repentance, and mourning. Today someone might wear a black armband to signify that they are in mourning; back then people put ashes on their foreheads. You can find biblical examples of this in 2 Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1-3, Job 42:6, and Jeremiah 6:26. During Lent, ancient Christians mourned their sins and repented of them, so it was appropriate for them to show their sincerity by having ashes on their foreheads. The custom has persisted in the church as secular society has changed around us. Traditionally, the ashes for the Ash Wednesday service come from burning the palm fronds from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration.

It is most appropriate on Ash Wednesday, when we begin a period of sober reflection, self-examination, and spiritual redirection. But it is not all about being gloomy, for in the Gospel we read today, Jesus tells us not to look gloomy, glum and dismal. Lent is a time for serious reflection and introspection but not for its own sake but for the sake of helping us all to change our lives for the better. 

Any piety, fasting, prayed that does not pay attention to the basic commandment to love our neighbors is no piety at all. The people to whom Jesus was speaking were fasting and praying to attract other people’s attention. They wanted the social status that came with being good, upstanding religious persons. They wanted points for being seen at the prayer breakfasts. God was listening to the cries of the hungry and the homeless in their midst. Jesus did not say “practicing piety is unimportant.” He said, “Do not do it for public gain.” So we have the ashes on our head, not to show others but as a reminder to ourselves of our need for God.

PRAYER, FASTING, ALMS GIVING are three crucial pillars of Lent. However, if they are done for show without justice and reconciliation, they tend to ring hollow.

If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:16-17)

The four Advent candles represent, Hope, Peace, Joy, Love. Our world today is sadly lacking in these, and seems to be getting worse every day. Christians may be seen as naïve in believing that there will be a time when our world is at peace. It is only through faith, that we can possibly hold out such an outlandish hope. Faith is believing when there is evidence to the contrary. Certitude is not faith. If certitude was the basis of our faith, looking around at our world, we would despair. Faith allows us to have hope. Only by having hope, can we work for peace without giving up in despair. Only by having hope, can we find joy in life even under difficult circumstances. Only by having hope, can we be people of love in the midst of an angry, divided, hate filled world. The life of Christ, for whom we wait this Advent, is a life built on the bedrock of faith, covered with the nurturing soil of hope and bearing the fruits of peace, joy and above all, love.