Beloved friends, we have stepped into what the Church traditionally calls “Holy Week.” Holy Week demonstrates the last week of Jesus before his crucifixion – the week which precedes the great festival of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, the final week of Lent. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and ends with Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. In these articles, I shall guide you with a step-by-step explanation of every event that occurred in this holy week; also known as the Passion Week, which ushers us into the Greatest Feast of the Church – Easter Sunday. Palm (Passion) Sunday Palm Sunday opens up the Holy Week, for it celebrates the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, a few days before suffering passion, death, and resurrection (Matthew 21: 1-11; Marcos 11: 1-11; Luke 19: 28-44; John 12: 12-19). This Sunday is called so because the people cut branches of trees, and leaves of palm trees to spread on the ground where the Lord would ride in a donkey. With this, he awakened, in the minds of the priests of the time and teachers of the law, envy, mistrust, and fear of losing power. Then they began a plot to condemn him to death. Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem riding a colt.
As he entered Jerusalem toward the temple, many stretched their robes and branches of the trees along the way. In this event, there is a clear connection with the prophecies registered in the Old Testament. The prophet Zechariah prophesied exactly about this event. He spoke about a fair and humble king that would bring salvation, and that he would come mounted on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). In addition, a messianic psalm directly celebrates the procession of the Messiah (Psalm 118). At the triumphant entry, the crowd chanted the phrases of verse 26 of Psalm 118 – “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord…” A popular error that is commonly preached on this day relates to the crowd that shouted “Hosanna in the highest” on Palm Sunday as being the same crowd that shouted “Crucify him” on Good Friday.
How can we understand this? The crowd that paid homage to Jesus at the gateway to the city was not the same crowd that later demanded his crucifixion. While the crowd of Palm Sunday was composed of the larger group of the followers of Jesus (those who had benefitted from his teachings, miracles, kindness, etc.), the crowd of Good Friday (who shouted “crucify him”) was composed of the chief priests, elders of the people and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Liturgy of Palm Sunday is not a repetition only of the gospel scene, but a sacrament of our faith, in the victory of Christ in history, marked by so many conflicts and inequalities. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark recorded that after the triumphant entrance, Jesus spent the night in Bethany. Why is Bethany significant? This is why you must read about Monday of the Holy Week.
Great and Holy Monday
On this day, according to the Gospel of John, we read: “Six days before Easter (Passover),” Jesus arrives in Bethany from Jerusalem (where he made his triumphant entry). Here, the notion of Jesus’ death gets clearer as we hear in his rebuke of Judas Iscariot’s hypocrisy who tried to prevent Mary of Bethany from anointing the feet of Jesus with a very costly ointment. To this, Christ said: “Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial.” (Cf. John 12:7). The first reading is that of the “suffering Servant of Yahweh.” After having rebuked Judas Iscariot for his greed and love of money, Judas began to plot different ways of making money even to the extent of betraying his Master and making profits from it. Likewise, the Chief Priests at this time heard that Jesus was at Bethany, and being filled with envy and hatred for Jesus on account of those who had believed in him (those who shouted “Hosanna…” on Palm Sunday) starting scheming for ways to kill him and also Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.
Holy Tuesday
Aware of the plot of the Chief Priests to kill him, Christ takes his seat at the table with his Apostles, and his crucial moment begins. In other words, Christ’s journey to his glory begins, as the Johannine community presents us with the episode from the “book of glory” (Cf. Jn. 13:1 – 20:31). This section opens up with Jesus’ awareness that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father, showing to the very end his love for his own who were in this world. Here, Christ foretells the sad reality of his betrayal by one of his Apostles. Put differently, Jesus announces the betrayal of Judas and the weaknesses of Peter who would deny him thrice. In this scene, there is an anticipation of Holy Thursday – the Last Supper. Sadly, after dipping the piece of bread in the dish and had given it to Judas Iscariot, satan entered him, and he became more determined to betray Jesus. This was the first record of the “smoke of satan” entering the Church, right in the presence of Christ in the “upper room.” Inasmuch as Jesus showed a particular sign of affection to Judas by dipping the bread in the dish and giving it to him, Judas reacted with contempt and ingratitude. For a host to take a morsel of food and dip it in the sauce, giving it to one of the guests was a gesture of honour and affection in that culture. Thus, Jesus’ final outreach of love to Judas, enacted in the gift of the morsel, is rebuffed. On receiving the morsel, Judas promptly leaves the company of Jesus and the other disciples and goes out into the darkness of the night to execute his plans of betrayal.
Holy Wednesday (Spy Wednesday)
By tradition, this Wednesday of Holy Week is known as “Spy Wednesday”. This is so because before Jesus celebrated the Passover, a “spy” went out to betray him. This action by Judas earned him the title of “spy” by the medieval Christians, in accord with the traditional definition of the English word, “one who keeps secret watch on a person or thing to obtain information.” Therefore, on this day, Judas went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’ They paid him thirty silver pieces, and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.
Holy Thursday
Dear friends in Christ, with today being Holy Thursday (or Maundy Thursday as it is traditionally called), we have successfully stepped into the most important and solemn period in the Church’s liturgical calendar, which ushers us to the celebration of Easter, the Mother of all Celebrations. This period is known as Easter/Paschal Triduum. It is important to note that the word “Triduum” originates from Latin. It is used to refer to a period of three days of prayer before a feast. Thus, Easter Triduum refers to the activities of the Church during the three days preceding Easter. Thus, we talk about Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Maundy Thursday gets its name from the Latin word “mandatum,” which means “commandment.” According to Christian tradition, near the end of the Last Supper, after the disciple Judas had departed, Christ said to the remaining disciples, “I give you a new commandment: love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13:34). The Latin term became the Middle English word Maundy by way of the Old French “mande.” The Church lives out Christ’s commandment to love one another in a number of ways through her traditions on Maundy Thursday. The best-known way is the ‘washing of the feet’ of laymen by their priest during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, which recalls Christ’s washing of the feet of His disciples, as we see in today’s Gospel Reading (cf. John 13:1-15).
Aside from celebrating Jesus’ mandate (commandment) of love on this day, we also celebrate the anniversary of the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood, and also the institution of the Ministerial Priesthood in order to perpetuate the Holy Mass, convey God’s forgiveness to repentant sinners and preach the Good News of Salvation. This was brought about by Christ who transformed the Jewish Passover into the New Testament Passover. On Holy Thursday, we remember the Lord’s Last Supper with his Apostles, in which He institutes the Sacrament of His body and blood (Holy Eucharist) – “TAKE AND EAT, THIS IS MY BODY…THIS IS MY BLOOD…DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME” (Matt. 26:26- 28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; {Cf: 1Cor. 11:23-25}). With these words, Jesus chose his apostles to serve and lead the Church; put differently, Jesus ordains His Apostles as priests of the New Covenant, in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross – only a priest can offer gifts and sacrifice. To this day, the catholic priest continues to act “in persona Christi” (in the person of Christ) and re-enacts the sacrifice offered once and for all by Christ in His memory (“Do this in memory of me” 1Cor.11:25).
This is known as the priesthood of Christ in the order of Melchizedek and should not be likened to the Levite priesthood of the Old Testament. In fact, St. Paul tells us in 1Cor. 11:26-27 that whenever we eat the body and drink the blood of Christ, we proclaim his death, until He comes again. Therefore, Holy Thursday is a special day for all Catholic Priests, a day which marks the beginning of the ordained priesthood. The Mass is celebrated in the evening, and it’s a beautiful and joyful celebration. During the singing of the Gloria, the church bells are rung and then remain silent until the Easter Vigil of Holy Saturday night. This is the night in which we also remember the betrayal and arrest of the Son of God by one of his newly ordained priests – Judas Iscariot (the highest of all priestly scandals). Fulton Sheen once said that “no other priestly scandal can surpass that of Judas Iscariot, which happened right there in the presence of Christ – Christ allowed satan to operate even in his newly formed Church in the upper room”. This indicates that the Church is a community of “saints and sinners”.
Little wonder the Latin man exclaims: “ubi multitudinem, ibi peccata”: meaning, in the midst of multitudes, sin persists; this shall continue until the Kingdom of God comes; when the sheep would be separated from the goats, and there shall only be saints in the gathering of the faithful. With the arrest of Christ, the Church’s Altar, which signifies Christ is stripped of its beauty (altar clothes) and would remain bare until the “Gloria” of Easter Vigil. Since Holy Thursday is a feast day of the Blessed Sacrament, there is a little procession of the Eucharist after the Mass to an altar of repose set up for the occasion. In this regard, we are encouraged to spend at least an hour with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament: “Stay here and keep vigil with me for an hour…” (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32- 42; Luke 22:40-46).
Good Friday
On Good Friday we remember the death of Jesus. According to an ancient custom, Mass is not celebrated on this day or before the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. The celebration of the Lord’s passion and death takes place in the afternoon. There are three parts to the liturgy of the day: the Liturgy of the Word; the Veneration of the Cross; and Holy Communion (which had been consecrated on Holy Thursday). On this day, we recall how Jesus Christ was given up to death, a death he freely accepted; in fact, a shameful death by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10). What then is so good about “Good Friday” since the Son of God suffered and died a shameful death by crucifixion on the cross? Why not “Dark Friday” or “Bad Friday”, or any negative concept we could term it? Although in Portuguese, we have a similar expression: “Sexta-Feira Santa” (i.e. Holy Friday); in English, however, the origin of the term “Good” is debated: some believe it developed from an older name, “God’s Friday.” Regardless of the origin, the name Good Friday is entirely appropriate because, the suffering and death of Jesus, as terrible as it was, marked the dramatic culmination of God’s plan to save his people from their sins. Paradoxically, the day that seemed to be the greatest triumph of evil was actually the death blow in God’s glorious plan to redeem the world from bondage.
The cross is where we see the convergence of great suffering and God’s forgiveness. Psalms 85:10 sings of a day when “justice and peace” will “embrace each other.” The cross of Jesus is where that occurred; where God’s demands (His justice), coincided with his mercy. We receive divine forgiveness, mercy, and peace because Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, the result of God’s justice against sin. In other words, God tampered his justice with mercy. For Christians, Good Friday is a crucial day of the year because it celebrates what we believe to be the most momentous weekend in the history of the world. Ever since Jesus died and was raised, Christians have proclaimed the cross and resurrection of Jesus to be the decisive turning point for all creation. Paul considered it to be “of first importance” that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised to life on the third day, all in accordance with what God had promised all along in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3). Above all, Good Friday is good/ holy because it marks the day when mercy and faithfulness met at the cross; a day when the Lord favoured his land (the earth), and revived the fortunes of those who believe in Him; a day in which He forgave the guilt of His people and covered all their sins; a day which God averted His rage and calmed the heat of His anger through the dying words of Christ: forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing (Lk. 23:34).
Holy Saturday and Easter Vigil
Dear friends, after celebrating the passion, suffering, and death of Christ on Good Friday, on Holy Saturday, the Lord Jesus takes his “rest” after the work of redemption he had done; just as God the Father rested on the seventh day after completing the works of creation (cf. Gen. 2:2). For this reason, in some traditions, this day is called “The Great Sabbath”. It is also called “Black Saturday” because it commemorates Jesus lying in the tomb until his resurrection on Easter Sunday. It is a day of great mourning. Black is a symbol of death and mourning. That is why the Church begins with what is known as “Service of Light” on the evening of this Saturday in order that Christ, the true Light would disperse the darkness that connotes that day and bring the light of his resurrection. For this reason, the Coptic Christians call it Joyous Saturday” or “the Saturday of Light.” Having said these, we understand that on Holy Saturday the Church meditates on the suffering and death of Jesus. Then the Church gathers to celebrate the Easter Vigil. The celebration of the Easter Vigil should take place at night, beginning after nightfall or ending before the dawn of Sunday.
The Easter Vigil has four parts: The Service of Light; the Liturgy of the ticipated in the Light of Christ; but after his fall, he ceases to be Lucifer, and became known as devil/satan. Therefore, in the Easter Exultet, we sing to God, asking that the candle which is being lit will continue to burn until His Son (Jesus Christ), “The Morning Star” comes to reign for eternity. The Paschal Candle represents the light and new life of Christ’s resurrection. During the Liturgy of the Word, the story of God’s great love for us is proclaimed in readings from the Old and New Testaments. There are seven Old Testaments texts. Although it would be preferable that all seven Old Testament readings be proclaimed, the number of readings may be reduced if the circumstances necessitate (in this case, at least three Old Testament readings should be proclaimed). The readings recall the great events of salvation, beginning with creation itself, and were selected to dispose people to celebrate the sacraments of Christian initiation with great faith. At the end of the seventh reading from the Prophet Ezekiel with its corresponding Psalm and prayer, the “Gloria” (Glory to God in the highest) is chanted and the faithful join in this joyful song as the Church bells are rung. At this point, the altar is quickly decorated with flowers etc. after this, a reading from the epistle of Paul is taken and the Celebrant chants a triple Alleluia before the gospel is read, and everyone present responds with a triple alleluia; THE LORD IS INDEED RISEN!
This is later followed by the proclamation of the Gospel about the resurrection of Christ; then the homily. During the Liturgy of Baptism, those who have been preparing for Baptism and their godparents are called forward. The priest and ministers then go to the baptismal font. After the candidates are baptized, all present stand with lighted candles and renew their baptismal promises as a sign that they share the new life of Jesus through his resurrection. The Easter Vigil concludes with the celebration of the Eucharist. This is a joyous sharing in the sacrificial meal of Jesus Christ, Lord and Risen Saviour. At the end of the Mass, the Celebrant says: “Go forth, the Mass is ended, alleluia, alleluia! And everyone responds: thanks be to God, alleluia, alleluia! The Lord is risen; the Kingdom has come; our joy is complete; and, in concert with the angels and saints, we greet the risen Lord with shouts of “Alleluia!”
Easter Sunday
Dear friends in the risen Christ, the resurrection of Jesus attests to his divinity, as St. Paul tells us: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom 10:9). And Paul continues to tell us in the fifteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, that: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain; and your Faith is in pointless, and you are still lost in your sins…But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep”. We could probably have remembered Jesus as one of the prophets of old for his good works and sermons if he had not risen from the dead. Nevertheless, “Jesus is risen!”, and this is the central theme of our Christian faith. Through the resurrection of Jesus, we see an attestation to his divinity and a fulfilment of his prophecy: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up .”(Jn 2:19). His Body which is the very Temple was destroyed, and in three days, was raised to life; little wonder the empty tomb became a testimony of this truth; this is what we see in the Gospel of today. The Gospel Reading (cf. John 20:1-9) demonstrates how the disciples of Christ saw and believed in the resurrection of Christ; inasmuch as they failed to understand the Scripture at that moment that Christ must rise from the dead. And what they saw and believed in, is what they bore witness to in the First Reading (cf. Acts 10:34,37- 43).
Put differently, the first reading presents to us Peter’s speech to the household of Cornelius, which is considered a summary of the gospels—from the baptism of Jesus by John in the River Jordan to his death on the cross, which culminates in his rising from the dead, three days later (on the first day of the week). Similarly like the early Christians, we come together on the first day of every week (a reminiscence of the resurrection of Christ) to celebrate the joy of Easter by “breaking the Bread” – the Holy Eucharist. As such, whenever we gather together like this to celebrate the holy Mass and share in the joys of Easter, St. Paul reminds in the Second reading (cf. Col. 3:1-4) to cast our minds and hearts above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God, since we have all died with Christ, and our present life is hidden in the resurrected Christ with God. ear friends in the risen Lord, the resurrection of Christ reminds us that every Good Friday certainly has an Easter; after the storm (and rain) comes the sunshine; after the pandemic of COVID-19 comes a period of joy and peace; after our sufferings, sicknesses and challenges in this present age, comes the glory of heaven. Therefore, by his resurrection, we are called to share in the Life of Christ. As the tomb and death could not hold Christ captive, so also nothing would be able to hold us captive in this life, not sufferings nor sicknesses, not even the threat of COVID-19, since the Psalmist [Ps. 117(118):1- 2,16-17,22-23] strengthens our hope “The Lord’s right hand has triumphed; his right hand raised me up. I shall not die, I shall live and recount his deeds.” Indeed, we sing and rejoice with the Psalm: “This day was made by the Lord: we rejoice and are glad”
• Rev. Fr. Chinaka Justin Mbaeri, OSJ, a priest of the Oblates of St. Joseph, Nigeria based in Paroquia Nossa Senhora de Loreto, Vila Medeiros, São Paulo, Brazil.