Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday, through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and ends with Easter Sunday, commemorating the last week of Jesus Christ's life on earth.
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He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53
Introduction: Holy Week, also known as Passion Week, is a significant period in the Christian calendar that commemorates the last week of Jesus Christ's life on earth. It is a time of solemn reflection, prayer, and spiritual renewal for Christians around the world. The week begins with Palm Sunday and ends with Easter Sunday, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, recalling Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. According to the Gospels, Jesus rode a donkey into the city, and the crowds welcomed him with palm branches, shouting "Hosanna!" (Save us, we pray!). This event is seen as a fulfilment of the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, "Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."
Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, where Jesus shared a meal with his disciples, instituting the Lord's Supper (Eucharist) and washing their feet as an example of humility and service.
Good Friday marks the day of Jesus' crucifixion, where he died on the cross, bearing the sins of humanity.
Holy Saturday is a day of reflection, as Jesus' body lay in the tomb, and his spirit descended into the realm of the dead.
Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of Christian faith. Holy Week is a sacred time for Christians to reflect on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a journey of faith, reminding us of God's love, mercy, and redemption.
As we walk through the week, may we be inspired to live a life of love, humility, and service, and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world. Holy Week is a time for spiritual renewal, reflection, and celebration. May we use this week to deepen our faith, to love more fully, and to live as Jesus' disciples in the world.
Jesus said, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16:25) To achieve your full potential, before you can fulfil your mission and purpose in life, your identity as a body must die. You must release your shell as the totality of who you are. Death is not always physical or final. You die many times while you are alive. Your childhood, for example, dies as you become an adult. Your single life dies when you join another in marriage. And your career, the role you play in life, dies when you retire. Each benchmark of maturation requires a death of your former self. Many, however, resist “dying.” Death is a success secret because endings give way to new beginnings. Sometimes you have to let your hopes and dreams, your accomplishments and possessions, and even your role or persona, die before your true mission and purpose can be revealed to you. If you’ve taken the wrong path, assumed a mistaken identity, or pursued a meaningless goal, to achieve your higher purpose, that part of your life has to come to an end. It must die. You experience suffering, like when Jesus sweat blood in the garden of Gethsemane, when you resist the inevitable. Jesus had to die on the cross so he could fulfil his mission and rise on the third day.
The resurrection of Jesus, three days after his death on a cross, is the pinnacle of the Christian faith. That death is not final; that even though you may die you can yet live, in Jesus’ most powerful success secret. Many people don’t view their life in the context of eternity. They see their existence as limited to what is experienced through the physical body. Once their body dies, they believe, they die with it. Consequently, for these individuals, the primary mission and purpose in life is the preservation, protection and defence of their body. The length of life, not its height, is the measure of success. Yet Jesus taught that you are more than your body. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again,” (Jn 3:6-7) you are born with a body but you are also born of the spirit. Once your body dies, your spirit, made in the image and likeness of God, can rise again. Not only does your body die, eventually returning to dust, but during your lifetime the roles you play and the self-images you create will die also. So will some of your hopes, dreams and desires. Anyone who has never experienced failure has never really tried to reach their full potential. Although you can learn much from failure, the question is not whether you succeed or fail, but whether you can rise again once you do fail. Some of the most successful people in the world have also been great failures at some point in their lives. The secret to their success is after every failure they rose again. Setbacks, defeats and even failure do not have to be final. You can ultimately achieve success if you rise again.
Conclusion: He rose again! “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (Jn 11:25) The power of the resurrection is that Jesus is alive. He is a living Saviour, and he gives us true, solid peace that frees us from all fear. In turn, he breathes into us his own Spirit, empowering us as his witnesses. And he gifts us with the privilege of bringing his good news-the blessed hope-to all who are lost and afraid. That is the radical result of the resurrection! Easter reminds us that new life is possible. You don’t have to be stuck in darkness. Jesus’ resurrection proves love’s power over death and sin. When you accept the gift of spiritual rebirth, everything changes. Your past, present, and future align with God’s eternal plan. This is your invitation: turn to the cross, believe in the risen Saviour, and embrace the hope that only Jesus can give. His victory becomes your victory, and His life becomes your new life.
Celebrate Easter not just with traditions, but with a heart ready for renewal and a life rooted hope. Resurrection is not only something that happened to Jesus; it is a reality into which we are invited. Our lives are now “hidden with Christ in God.” The resurrection shifts our centre of gravity. We no longer live only toward the grave; we live toward glory. If Christ is risen, then our suffering is not meaningless. If Christ is risen, then our acts of love are not wasted. If Christ is risen, then forgiveness matters. If Christ is risen, then every act of goodness participates already in eternal life. Without Easter, life ends in silence. With Easter, life becomes a journey toward fullness.
Rev. Fr. C. Joseph,
Counsellor,
St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Jakhama.