Holy Week – Yep, I Got that Right!

Any religious-based calendar will tell you that Holy Week is the week before Easter; the days that stretch from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday and incorporate Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. We call it Holy Week because the days take us on Jesus’ walk to the cross. Several of those days are marked at the church with Christian ritual. But I sometimes that the days after Easter are pretty sacred too. I like to think of this week, as we continue to reflect on the mystery of resurrection and new life, as holy days. This is the POST-Easter Holy Week.

Like any holiday event stores promote early and long before the day and once midnight strikes everything of the moment disappears and they are on to the next holiday. Dollarama already has an abundant display of all things Canadiana for the Canada Day celebrations on July 1st. But, as I like to do at Christmas, I want to linger a bit with the celebration and enjoy Easter for a while – after all there is still lots of chocolate at our house so I think there should also be some pensive moments to reflect on the story of Jesus and what the Easter event means for me.

The resurrection is central to the belief of Christianity yet for me it is an event filled with mystery. Someone asked me on Sunday, “Why did Mary not recognize Jesus? Was his face different?” One other time someone asked, “Where exactly did Jesus go between his death on the cross and his resurrection?” Others rightly ask, “What actually happened to a broken, beaten and dead body such that it could come back to life?” All very good questions and in my reflection the answer is always mystery. It is a mystery what happened and how it happened. It is much like the mystery of why we fall in love and who we fall in love with. The practical, physical questions are a bit of chasing down rabbit holes. The story is told, each version with its different emphasis, to point to the astounding love of God that brings life out of death. That answer is often not enough for our practical scientific mindsets but for me that is the wonder of the tale. Wonder and mystery combined to say that God works against all obstacles to bring about joy and hope and love. Yes, we are left with questions but life is filled with questions and I am content to leave those questions as unanswerable. I put my hope and trust in the story that God defeats hate with love and death with life.

Happy Holy Week.

About Nancy

Nancy is a United Church minister. She has been in ministry over for 40 years navigating the changing waters of faith and culture.
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