Holy Week

The most important week on the Church's calender is now upon us. Each year I try to dig deeper into the mystery and significance of this week. In many ways it is to hard to comprehend. In this short week Jesus transformed the ritual sacrifice that the Jewish faith had been commanded to complete since the Exodus, he fulfilled the promise of Genesis 3:15; he took on the sins of mankind for all time and gave himself up to God as an acceptable sacrifice; he took an image of death, suffering and humility and made it into the tree of life; He conquered death and gave mankind a pathway to salvation and eternal life. And this list just scratches the surface.

I could go on and on about the significance of this short week and it troubles me how so many people forget this opportunity for reflection and getting closer to God. In our Catholic communities, many of us have been preparing since Ash Wednesday, but many Catholics and some of our Christian brothers do not take advantage of this opportunity.

I will pray this week for all Christians to encounter the risen Lord this week and for the unity of all Christians in the world.