Author: Msgr. Charles Pope

One option for the gospel for Easter Sunday morning is from John 20:1-8. And like most of the resurrection gospels it paints a portrait of a journey that some of the early disciples have to make out of fear and into faith. It shows the need to experience the resurrection and then come to understand it more deeply.

I have blogged before on the Matthean gospel option for Easter Sunday morning (HERE). This year I present John’s. Let us focus especially on the journey that St. John makes from fear to faith. While the gospel begins with Mary Magdalene, the focus quickly shifts to St. John. Let’s study his journey.

I. REACTION MODE – The text begins by describing everyone as being in a reaction mode, quite literally running about in a panic! On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

Notice that the text describes the opening moments as “still dark.” And it is likely that John is doing more than telling us the time of day. The deeper point is that there is still a darkness that envelops everyone’s mind.  The darkness makes it difficult for us to see and our fears and sorrows can blind us.

Notice also that she looks right at the evidence of the resurrection but presumes and concludes the worst: grave robbers have surely come and snatched the body of the Lord! It doesn’t even occur to her to remember that Jesus had said that He would rise on the third day and that this was that very third day. No, she goes immediately into reaction mode instead of reflection mode. Her mind jumps to the worst conclusion; by reacting and failing to reflect, she looks right at the blessing and sees a curse.

And often we do this, too. We look at our life and see only the burdens instead of the blessings.

1. I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings instead of thinking, “Thank you, Lord, that I can hear. There are many who are deaf. Thank you that I have the strength to rise; there are many who do not.”
2. Even though the first hour of the day may be hectic: socks are lost, toast is burned, tempers are short, and the children are so loud; we ought to be thinking, “Thank you Lord, for my family. There are many who are lonely.”
3. We can even be thankful for the taxes we pay because it means we’re employed, for the clothes that fit a little too snugly because it means we have enough to eat, for our heating bill because it means we are warm, for the weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means we have been productive.

Every day millions of things go right and only a handful go wrong. What will we focus on? Will we look right at the signs of our blessings and call them burdens or will we bless the Lord? Do we live lives that are reactive and negative or do we live reflectively, remembering that the Lord says that even our burdens are gifts in strange packages. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Do we know this, or are we like the disciples on that early morning, when it is still dark, looking right at the blessings but drawing only negative conclusions, reacting and failing to reflect?

II. RECOVERY MODE – The text goes on to describe a certain subtle move from reaction to reflection. So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

We start in reaction mode. Notice how Mary Magdalene’s anxiety is contagious. She comes running to the apostles, all out of breath, and says that “they” (whoever “they” are) have taken the Lord (she speaks of Him as a corpse) and “we” (she and the other women who had gone out) don’t know where they put Him (again, she speaks of Him as an inanimate corpse). And Mary’s panic and reactive mode triggers that same reaction in the Apostles. Now they’re all running! The mad dash to the tomb has begun.

But notice that they are running to verify grave robbery, not the resurrection. Had they but taken time to reflect, perhaps they would have remembered that the Lord had said He would rise on the third day and that this was the third day. Never mind all that; panic and running have spread and they rush forth to confirm their worst fears.

But note a subtlety. John begins to pick up speed as he runs. And his speed, I would argue, signals reflection and hope. Some scholars say it indicates merely that he was the younger man. Unlikely. The Holy Spirit, speaking through John, is not likely interested in passing things such as youth. Some of the Fathers of the Church see a greater truth at work in the love and mystical tradition that John the Apostle symbolizes. He was the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the disciple who knew and experienced that love of God. And love often sees what knowledge and authority can only appreciate and affirm later. Love gets there first.

There is also a Bible verse that I would argue decodes John’s  increasing strength as he runs:

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Is 40:31).

Perhaps John ran faster as he began to move from reaction to reflection and remembrance. When you run fast you can’t talk a lot, so you get alone with your thoughts. There is something about love that enlightens and recalls what the beloved has said. Perhaps John begins to think, to reflect and recall.

1. Didn’t Jesus say He’d rise three days later?
2. Isn’t this that day?
3. Didn’t my Lord deliver Daniel?
4. Didn’t He deliver Noah from the flood?
5. Didn’t He deliver Joseph from the hands of his brothers and from the deep dungeon?
6. Didn’t He deliver Moses and the people from Egypt?
7. Didn’t He deliver David from Goliath and Saul?
8. Didn’t He deliver Jonah from the whale?
9. Didn’t He deliver Queen Esther and the people from wicked men?
10. Didn’t He deliver Susanna from her false accusers?
11. Didn’t He deliver Judith from Holofernes?
12. Didn’t Jesus raise the dead?
13. Didn’t He promise to rise?
14. Didn’t God promise to deliver the just from all their trials?
15. Ah! As for me I know that my redeemer liveth!

Something started to happen in John. And I have it on the best of authority that he began to sing in his heart as he ran,

“I don’t feel no ways tired. Come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy but I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me.”

Yes, John is in recovery now. He’s moved from reaction to reflection and he is starting to regain his faith.

The text says that he looked in and saw the grave clothes but waited for Peter. Mystics and lovers may get there first but the Church has a Magisterium that must be respected, too. John waits, but as we shall see, he has made his transition from reaction to reflection, from fear to faith.

III. REASSESSMENT MODE – In life, our initial reactions must often be reassessed as further evidence comes in. Peter and John must take a fresh look at the evidence from their own perspective. The text says, When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths [lying] there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Mary Magdalene’s assessment had been, in effect, grave robbers. But the evidence for that seems odd. Usually grave robbers were after the fine linens in which the dead were buried. But here are the linens and gone is the body! Strange.

And there is something even stranger about the linens. If it had been grave robbers they wouldn’t have taken the time to unwrap the body of valuable grave linens. The Greek text describes the clothes as κείμενα (keimena) – lying stretched out in place, lying in order. It is almost as if the clothes simply “deflated” in place when the body they covered disappeared!

Not only that, but the most valuable cloth of all, the σουδάριον (soudarion), is carefully folded. Grave robbers would not leave the most valuable things behind. And surely, even if for some strange reason they wanted the body rather than the linens, they would not have bothered to carefully unwrap and fold things, leaving them all stretched out in an orderly way. Robbers work quickly; they snatch and leave disarray in their wake.

Life is like this: you can’t simply accept the first interpretation of things. Every reporter knows that “in the fog of war the first reports are always wrong.” And thus we, too, have to be careful not to jump to all sorts of negative conclusions just because someone else is worried. Sometimes we need to take a fresh look at the evidence and interpret it as men and women of hope and faith, as men and women who know that though God may test us He will not forsake us.

John is now looking at the same evidence that Mary Magdalene did. But his faith and hope give him a different vision. His capacity to move beyond fearful reaction to faithful reflection is changing the picture.

We know little of the reaction of Peter or Mary Magdalene at this point; the focus is on John. And the focus is on you. What do you see in life? Do you see grave robbers? Or are you willing to reconsider and move from knee-jerk fear to reflective faith?

Does your resurrection faith make you ready to reassess the bad news you receive and look for blessings even in crosses?

IV. RESURRECTION MODE – And now, though somewhat cryptically, the text focuses on the reaction and mindset of St. John. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

At one level the text says plainly that St. John saw and believed. Does the text mean only that he now believed Mary Magdalene’s story that the body was gone? Well, as is almost always the case with John’s Gospel, there is both a plain meaning and a deeper meaning. The context here seems clearly to be that John has moved to a deeper level. The text says that he ἐπίστευσεν (episteusen); he “believed.” The verb here is in the aorist tense, a tense that generally portrays a situation as simple or undivided, that is, as having a perfective (completed) aspect. In other words, something has come to fruition in him.

And yet the text also seems to qualify, saying, they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. It is as if to say that John came to believe that Jesus had risen but had not yet come to fully understand all the scriptural connections and how this had to be. He only knew in his heart by love and through this evidence that Jesus was risen. Deeper understanding would have to come later.

But for our purposes let us observe that St. John has gone from fear to faith. He has not yet seen Jesus alive but he believes based on the evidence and on what his own heart and mind tell him.

At this moment John is like us. He has not seen but he believes. Neither have we seen, but we believe. John would see him alive soon enough and so will we!

We may not have an advanced degree in Scripture but through love we, too, can know that He lives. Why and how? Because of the same evidence:

1. The grave clothes of my old life are strewn before me.
2. I’m rising to new life.
3. I am experiencing greater victory over sin.
4. Old sins and my old Adam are being put to death.
5. The life of the new Adam, Christ, is coming alive.
6. I’m being set free and have hope and confidence, new life and new gifts.
7. I have increasing gratitude, courage, and a deep peace that says that everything is all right.
8. The grave clothes of my old way of life lie stretched out before me and I now wear a new robe of righteousness.
9. I’m not what I want to be but I’m not what I used to be.

So we, like John, see. We see not the risen Lord, not yet anyway. But we see the evidence and we believe.

St. John leaves this scene a believer. His faith may not be the fully perfected faith it will become, but he does believe. John has gone from fear to faith, from reaction to reflection, from panic to peace. This is his journey and, prayerfully, ours too.

Nearly all of the Resurrection accounts in the Gospels present the Apostles and disciples on a journey to deeper faith. In stages, they come out of the darkness of despair and of this world into the light of faith. Matthew’s account (28:1-10), which is read at the Easter Vigil this year and can also be read at Masses during the day, is no exception. I have also commented on the Johannine Gospel that is often read on Easter morning (From Fear to Faith).

Let’s look at the Easter journey that Mary Magdalene and Mary (likely, Mary the mother of James and Joseph) make out of darkness into light. Mark (16:1) adds that Salome, the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John, went with them. From Luke (24:10) it also appears that Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward Chusa, was with them. Hence, though Matthew only mentions two women by name, it would seem that our analysis should include these four women. As these women journey through the events of Easter morning we see their faith deepen and brighten. In a condensed sort of way, we see in this a microcosm of the whole life of the Christian. In a similar way we, journeying in stages, come to a deeper faith and a brighter vision of the Paschal mystery that is our life.

Let’s observe their journey in four stages.

Stage One – Disturbance at Dawn

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men.

Note that in this first stage it is still quite dark. The text here says, with hope, that the new day was dawning. The Greek word actually used, however, properly means as the first day “approached” or drew on without specifying the precise time. Mark (16:1-2) says that it was very early in the morning (at the rising of the sun), that is, not that the sun “was risen” but that it was about to rise or that it was the early break of day. Luke (24:1) notes that it was “very early in the morning” (in the Greek text it was “deep twilight” or when there was scarcely any light). John (20:1) says that it was “very early, while it was yet dark,” that is, it was not yet fully daylight nor had the sun risen.

So the point is that it is still quite dark but dawn is near! And all this creates an air of great expectation for us who read the account. An old song in the Taizé Community says, “Within our darkest night, you kindle a fire that never dies away!”

Next, there is a great earthquake! Sometimes God has to shake things up to open new doors and new vision. And in our lives, too, there are often violent shakings. But remember, we are at the dawn of a new day. In just a few short years, if we are faithful, we’ll be with God. And so it is that this earthquake is not unto destruction but is unto the opening of the tomb that has claimed our Lord and unto the opening of tombs that have claimed us emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. This earthquake, frightening though it may seem, serves only to draw these women deeper into the Paschal mystery and toward the risen Christ.

Now notice that they haven’t seen him yet or even heard that he is risen; there is only this earthquake, but it has a purpose. Yet for now, it is barely dawn and things are still very unclear to them.

Stage Two – Declaration: Do Not Be Afraid

Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Note that the angel summons them to deeper faith. He exclaims, “Do not be afraid.” Now to most of us this may seem to be almost a “throwaway” line, one we often hear when we are perceived by others to be anxious. And frankly, when others say this to us, it is both annoying and unhelpful. But in this case the angel presents a basis for their faith to grow and their anxiety to dissipate.

That they should not be anxious or afraid is firmly rooted in the Lord’s promise and in His Word. The angel is reminding them that the Lord had promised to rise on the third day, and that He has done just as He said. The Lord, who had raised others from death and healed multitudes, has now done exactly what He promised.

Hence, the angel summons them to grow in their faith by pondering the Word of Jesus Christ and by coming to trust in His promise.

The angel also presents evidence to them: the empty tomb. He invites them to connect the dots between the promise of Jesus and the present evidence of an empty tomb.

So it’s getting brighter, by the power of God’s Word and the application of that Word to the present situation.

We, too, must journey through this stage as we become more deeply immersed in God’s Word and apply it to our present situation. As we grow in knowledge and remembrance of God’s promises and His Word, our anxiety begins to diminish. This happens especially when, like these women, we begin to connect God’s Word with what is actually happening in our life. We start to notice the empty tombs, the many signs of God’s favor and blessing. Things start to add up and we begin to connect the dots between faith and experience. And as we do this, it gets brighter and our faith grows stronger.

Stage Three – Deepening Dispatch

Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”

Learn by teaching – Having been instructed in the Paschal mystery and grown deeper in their faith, they are sent by the Lord to inform others. An interesting aspect of teaching is that we often learn more by teaching than we ever learned as a mere student. Hence we grow in our faith as we begin to teach and testify to it. The acts of teaching and witnessing cause us to grow.

But note the text, “Behold, I have told you.” The true faith is received from God. St. Paul says, “Faith comes by hearing.” Do NOT go off and invent your own faith; that is a very bad idea! We receive the faith from God through the Church and through the Scriptures approved by the Church. These women had first been instructed by God’s angel and only after that were they told to go and tell the disciples. We, too, are instructed by the Church. Our faith comes from what we hear; then we pass on what we have heard.

So these women are sent. And as they go, we shall see that they have a great breakthrough. But prior to that breakthrough they are sent to witness, to proclaim. And this very act, for them and for us, deepens faith even more.

There is one final stage that they must attain, for they are still only able to pass on what others have said. They have not yet personally seen the Risen Lord; that comes next.

Stage Four – The Discovery that is Definitive

Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Here we see an important and powerful stage—one that too many Christians ignore. Note that in this moment they go from inference to experience. Inference is a form of knowledge based only on what others have said; experience includes personal witness. Experience means that I myself can personally vouch for the truth of what I proclaim. As we have seen, inference is a necessary stage of our faith (do not go inventing your own religion). But the Lord invites us deeper to more personally experience the truth of what the Church has always proclaimed and what her Scriptures have always announced.

From inference to experience – These women have heard from the angel that Jesus is risen and they receive the teaching with joy. But on the way, on the road of their lives, they come to personally meet the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Suddenly the truth of what they have been taught is made quite personal to them and they experience it as real; they have gone from inference to experience. And now they will tell not only what they have heard from others but also how they have personally experienced its truth.

We, too, are invited to do the same. I need to be able to say that in the laboratory of my own life I have come to personally experience as true all that the Church and her Scriptures proclaim. I am now a firsthand witness to Jesus for I have experienced Him personally in my life. I have met Him in my prayer and in my experience. He is alive and real to me and He is changing my life. I have done more than just hear about the Lord; I have met Him. I do not merely know about Him, I know Him.

Do you know the Lord, or do you just know about Him? Have you met Him or have you just heard about Him? On Easter Sunday morning we have observed a group of women go from the darkness of this world to the light of the normal Christian life. And what is the normal Christian life? It is to be in living, conscious contact with God and to know, personally, the Lord of all glory. It is to be in a living and transformative relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Painting above: The Resurrection by Annibale Carracci

When I was younger, and through my seminary years, I had usually seen the crucifix and Jesus’ suffering on the Cross in somber tones. It was my sin that put Him there, had made Him suffer. The Cross was something that compelled a silent reverence and suggested to me that I meditate deeply on what Jesus had to go through. I would also think of Mary, John, and the other women beneath the Cross mournfully beholding Jesus as He was slowly and painfully dying. These were heavy and somber notes but deeply moving themes.

In addition, the crucifix reminded me that I must carry my cross and go through the Fridays of my life. I needed to learn the meaning of sacrifice.

Liturgically, I also saw the crucifix as a way of restoring greater reverence in the Mass. Through the ’70s and ’80s, parishes had largely removed crucifixes, often replacing them with “resurrection crosses” or just an image of Jesus floating in mid-air. I used to call this image “touchdown Jesus” since He floated in front of the Cross with His arms up in the air as if signaling a touchdown. In those years we had moved away from the understanding of the Mass as a sacrifice and were more into “meal theology.” The removal of the crucifix from the sanctuary was a powerful indicator of this shift. Many priests and liturgists saw the Cross as too “somber” a theme for their vision of a new and more welcoming Church, upbeat and positive.

This “cross-less” Christianity tended to lead to what I thought was a rather silly, celebratory style of Mass in those years and I came to see the restoration of the crucifix as a necessary remedy to restore proper balance. I was delighted when, in the mid ’80s and later, the Vatican began insisting in new liturgical norms that a crucifix (not just a cross) be prominent in the sanctuary and visible to all, and further, that the processional Cross had to bear the image of Christ crucified (it could not just be a bare cross).

Balance Restored – I was (and still am) very happy about these new norms because they restore the proper balance in seeing the Mass as making present the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. It is also a sacred meal, but it is the sacrifice that gives it its power. I also thought that such a move would help bring proper solemnity back to the Mass; to some extent this has been true.

All of this background is just to say that I saw the Cross, the crucifix, in somber, serious tones, a theme that was meant to instill solemnity and sobriety, a meditation on the awful reality of sin and our need to repent. And all of this is fine and true.

But the Lord wasn’t finished with me yet. He wanted me to see another understanding of the Cross. He wanted to balance my balance!

In effect, He also wanted me to experience the “good” in Good Friday. For while the Cross is everything described above, it is also a place of victory and love, of God’s faithfulness and our deliverance. There’s a lot to celebrate at the foot of the Cross.

It happened one Sunday in Lent of 1994, one of my first in an African-American Catholic parish. It being Lent, I expected the highly celebratory quality of Mass to be scaled back a bit. But, much to my surprise, the opening song began with an upbeat, toe-tapping gospel riff. At first I frowned. But then the choir began to sing:

Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!

Ah, so this WAS a Lenten theme! But how unusual for me to hear the Cross being sung of so joyfully! (You can hear the song in the video below; try not to tap your toe too much.)

It was something quite new for me. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been but it was. The Catholicism of the ’70s and ’80s had found it necessary to remove the Cross to celebrate. But here was celebration with and in the Cross! Here was the good in Good Friday.

The Choir continued,

I am so wondrously saved from sin,
Jesus so sweetly abides within;
There at the cross where He took me in;
Glory to His name!

Congregation and choir were stepping in time and clapping, rejoicing in the Cross, seeing it in the resurrection light of its saving power and as a glorious reflection of God’s love for us. Up the aisle the procession wound and the last verse was transposed up a half-step in an even brighter key:

Oh, precious fountain that saves from sin,
I am so glad I have entered in;
There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean;
Glory to His name!

Yes, indeed, glory to His name! A lot of dots were connected for me that day. The Cross was indeed a place of great pain but also great love; there was grief but also glory; there was suffering but also victory.

Please do not misunderstand my point. There is a time and place for quiet, somber reflection at the foot of the Cross. All the things said above are true. But one of the glories of the human person is that we can have more than one feeling at a time. We can even have opposite feelings at almost the same moment!

The Balance – Some in the Church of the ’70s and ’80s rejected the Cross as too somber, too negative. They wanted to be more upbeat, less focused on sin. And so out went the Cross. There was no need to do this; it was unbalanced. For at the Cross the vertical, upward pillar of man’s pride and sin is transected by the horizontal, outstretched arms of God’s love. With strong hand and outstretched arms the Lord has won the victory for us: there at the cross where he took me in, glory to His name!

The balance is for the individual and for the Church. Some prefer a more somber meditation on the Cross to prevail while others feel moved by the Spirit to celebrate joyfully at the foot of the Cross. The Church needs both and I suppose we all need some of both experiences. Yes, it right to weep at the Cross, to behold the awful reality of sin, to remember Christ’s sacrifice. But we should rejoice, too, for the Lord has won victory for us right there: Down at the Cross. There’s a lot of good in Good Friday.

Here is the song I heard that Sunday in 1994, sung in very much the style I remember.

The Last Supper is, strangely, a sad study in the kind of affliction the Lord had to endure from His own disciples. Of all the meals the Lord must have shared with them, this was the one that should have gone beautifully and perfectly; it did not. From one moment to the next the blows just got worse. There were inept responses, distractions, bullheaded debates, and rebukes directed against Jesus … and then of course betrayal. It was nothing short of a disaster. The ineptitude would be almost comical if it weren’t so sad. If ever the Lord needed His disciples’ attention and understanding, it was at the Last Supper. But to a man, they let Him down. There was squabbling, misunderstanding, argumentativeness, and betrayal, all packed into one evening.

I am mindful that the unleavened bread Jesus took in His hands that evening was called “the bread of affliction.” Scripture says, You shall eat [the Passover]  with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt (Dt 16:3).

Indeed it was an evening of affliction! It was so awful that one could hardly have faulted the Lord for saying, “That’s it, Father. I’ve had it with them; I’m coming straight home!” Praise God that He chose to stay and die for the likes of us. And further, He takes this “bread of affliction” we dish out to Him and lifts it to the glory of the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.

Lest we be too critical of The Twelve, remember that we are often like them in many ways. Indeed, they are we and we are they. And the Lord loved both them and us to the end.

So on Holy Thursday, let’s examine the sequence of events at the Last Supper. It illustrates pretty well why the Lord had to die for us. We will see how earnest the Lord is about this Last Supper, how He enters it with an intense love for His disciples and a desire that they (we) heed what He is trying to teach them. We shall see, however, that they (we) show forth a disastrous inattentiveness and a terrible lack of concern for the Lord.

Here, then, are the movements of the Last Supper. Watch how things begin with the loving and careful attentiveness of the Lord and end with a selfish, inept, and unloving response from the Apostles (us?).

1. COMING CLOUDS – Jesus knows that His hour has come; this will be His last meal. Judas has already conspired and been paid to hand Him over. Scripture says, Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come. He always loved those who were his own, and now he would show them the depths of his love. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over (John 13:1). Thus in the gathering storm Jesus plans His last meal, which will also be the first Holy Mass. He instructs His Apostles to prepare the meal: He sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us” (Mark 14:13-15).
2. CARING CONCERN – This last supper was obviously important to Jesus. Luke records the heartfelt words of Jesus: And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16). Yes, this was to be a very special moment for Jesus.
3. COSTLY COMMUNION – Jesus, reclining at the table, will now celebrate the Holy Eucharist for the first time. But this was to be a costly communion. He had already lost many disciples for what he taught on the Eucharist (cf John 6:50ff). After the first consecration, Jesus looks into the cup at His own blood, soon to be shed, and He distributes His own body, soon to be handed over. Yes, this is no mere ritual for Him. Every other priest before Jesus had offered a sacrifice distinct from himself (usually an animal, sometimes a libation). But Jesus the great High Priest will offer Himself; it is a costly communion.
4. COLLABORATIVE CONDESCENSION – During the meal Jesus rises and then stoops to wash the disciples’ feet. He instructs them to see in this action a model for those who would collaborate with Him in any future ministry. John records it this way: He rose from the supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded (John 13:5). Jesus then teaches the Disciples: Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you (John 13:12-15). Just moments from now, we will see them demonstrate a complete disregard for what Jesus has just tried to teach them. Now things get bad.
5. CALLOUS CRIME– Back at table after having taught them that they must wash one another’s feet, Jesus suddenly becomes troubled in spirit and says, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me (John 13:21). This causes a commotion among the Apostles, who begin to ask, “Who can it be?” As the anxiety around the table builds, Simon Peter motions to John and says, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Jesus, he [John] asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. “What you are about to do, do quickly” Jesus told him (John 13:24-30).
6. CONFOUNDING COMPETITION – But as Judas takes the morsel of bread and heads out into the night, no one even tries to stop him! Despite the fact that Jesus has clearly identified His betrayer, no one rises to block the door or even utters a word of protest! Why not? Luke supplies the answer: A dispute arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest (Luke 22:24). They should be concerned about Jesus’ welfare but instead they debate which of them is the greatest. How confounding and awful! Yet is that not our history? Too often we are more concerned with our own status and welfare than with any suffering in the Body of Christ. So much that is critical remains unattended to because we are concerned with our own status, position, comfort, and welfare. Jesus had just finished teaching them to wash one another’s feet, but in an amazingly inept response, they end up arguing as to who among them is the greatest. Jesus patiently reminds them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:25-27). Meanwhile, due to their (our) egotistical ineptitude Judas has escaped into the night.
7. CAUSTIC CONTENTIOUSNESS – Jesus continues to teach at the Last Supper. At this moment He surely wanted to impress upon them His final instruction. How He must have longed for them to listen carefully and to deeply internalize what He was teaching! Instead, all He gets are arguments. Both Thomas and Phillip rebuke Him. John records this outrage: Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” But Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him. So Thomas rhetorically rebuked the Lord by saying, in effect, “We have NO IDEA where you are going; when will you show us the way?” Jesus answers, but Phillip will have none of this promise to see the Father and boldly says, “Lord, show us the Father, and then we shall be satisfied.” Jesus, likely saddened at all this, says to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:1-9) His own Apostles are being argumentative and contentious. They are caustic and seem to rebuke the Lord. This supper isn’t going so well!
8. COMIC CREDIBILITY GAP – Undeterred, Jesus embarks on a lengthy discourse (recorded by John) that has come to be called the priestly prayer of Jesus. At the end of it, the Apostles remark, perhaps ironically, perhaps with sincerity, Ah, now at last you are speaking plainly, not in any figure! Now we know that you know all things, and need none to question you; by this we believe that you came from God (John 16:29-30). But Jesus knows their praise is hollow and will not withstand the test. There is a great credibility gap in what they say, so much so that it is almost comical. So Jesus replies, Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone (John 16:31-32). Peter protests, saying, Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Here is another almost comic credibility gap. Jesus says to Peter, Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. Still insistent, Peter replies, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples (John 16:33-35). Well, you know the story, and you know that only John made it to the Cross. Their credibility was, by this time, a dark comedy.
9. COMPASSIONATE CONSTANCY– But you also know the rest of the story. Jesus went on and died for the likes of them (us). I wonder if He had some of this Last Supper in mind when He said to the Father, “Forgive them, they know not what they do.” It is almost as if to say, “They have absolutely no idea what they are doing or thinking, so have mercy on them, Father.”

What a grim picture of us the Last Supper was! A disaster, really. But the glory of the story and the saving grace is this: the Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross anyway. Seeing this terrible portrait of them (us), can we really doubt the Lord’s love for us?

May your Holy Thursday be blessed. I hope you will attend Mass and the Last Supper/First Mass will be made present to you. Never forget what Jesus endured!

Wednesday of Holy Week is traditionally called “Spy Wednesday,” since it was on this day that Judas conspired with the Temple leadership to hand Jesus over. He would not accomplish his task until the evening of the next day, but this day he made the arrangements and was paid.

One way to reflect on this terrible sin is to consider that Judas was among the first priests called by Jesus. We see in the call of the Apostles the establishment of the ministerial priesthood. Jesus called these men to lead His Church and minister in His name. But one of these priests went wrong, terribly wrong, and turned against the very one he should have proclaimed.

We also see great weaknesses among the other “first priests.” Peter denied Jesus, though he later repented. All the others except John deserted Jesus at the time of His Passion. Yes, I am sad to say, only one priest, one bishop made it to the foot of the Cross. All the rest fled in fear. And so here we see the “sins of the clergy” made manifest. Christ did not call perfect men. He promised to protect His Church from officially teaching error but this does not mean that there is no sin in the Church, nor that those who are called to lead are without sin. The story of Judas shows that even among those who were called, one went terribly wrong.

In recent years there has been much focus on the sins of Catholic priests who went terribly wrong and sexually abused the young. The vast majority of priests have never done such things, but those who did so inflicted great harm.

There are other sins of the clergy that have nothing to do with sexuality but that also may have caused great harm. Maybe it was an insensitive remark. Perhaps it was a failure to respond at a critical moment such as a hospital visit. And how many of you have lamented deeply the scandal of silent pulpits, the silence of so many clergy in the face of a moral meltdown? Whatever it might be that has harmed or alienated you, please don’t give up on God or on the Church. If a priest or a Church leader has caused you grief please know that there are other priests, deacons, and lay leaders who stand ready to hear your concerns and offer healing. Let the healing begin. Ask among your Catholic family and friends for recommendations about helpful and sensitive priests or Church leaders who can listen to your concerns, address them where possible, and offer another opportunity for the Church to reach out to you with love.

On this “Spy Wednesday” pray especially for priests. We carry the treasure of our priesthood in earthen vessels; as human beings we struggle with our own issues. We have many good days, but some less-than-stellar moments, too. The vast majority of priests, though sinners, are good men who strive to do their very best. But some among us have sinned greatly and, like Judas, caused harm to the Body of Christ. Some of us may have caused harm to you. Please accept this invitation to begin anew.

If you have stayed away because of some hurt caused by any leader of the Church, strive on this “Spy Wednesday” to still seek Christ where He is found. He is among sinners and saints, in the Church He founded. The Church is perfect in her beauty as the Bride of Christ, but consists of members who are still “on the way” to holiness.

After all my verbiage, here is a music video that presents this message better than I ever could. If you have ever known someone who has been hurt, or been hurt yourself, allow this powerful video to move you.

At tonight’s Chrism Mass, the Cardinal chose to focus his remarks to the more than 300 priests in attendance on the beauty of the Sacrament of Confession and the power of mercy. What a magnificent gift the Lord gave His Church through the ministry of priests, that we can hear His blessed words, I absolve you from your sins … go in peace.

My mind goes back to a beautiful story of St. John Paul II and a certain bishop (not of my own diocese). The story was told by the homilist at the funeral of this bishop over a decade ago and I was in attendance. Sadly, the bishop had a fall from grace and was forced to resign after an affair he had with a woman had come to light. Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation but within a month asked the bishop to come to Rome for a meeting. It was with some trepidation that the bishop made the journey. He was led into the meeting room by the usual Vatican staff, but, strangely, they all stepped out of the large, ornate room leaving him quite alone for a few minutes. The door opened and in walked Pope John Paul II, not with his usual entourage, but alone. The bishop was apprehensive, not knowing what to expect. He had let the Holy Father and God’s people down and a thousand nervous thoughts rushed through his mind. As he drew close, Pope John Paul II extended his large, muscular arms and put a hand on each shoulder of the bishop. He looked him in the eye and said, “Are you at peace?”

Relief and a profound sense of mercy flooded the bishop’s heart; his eyes often filled with tears as he recounted the story years later. None of us who heard it at the funeral failed to be moved either. The rest of the meeting with the Pope was never related by the bishop, who held that close to his heart, but he emerged reconciled and at peace. He spent his remaining years quietly ministering to several cloistered religious communities.

There is perhaps no greater gift than to experience the power and beauty of mercy. Yet it is a gift that is often wrapped in pain and in the humiliation of having experienced the true weight of our sins. It is no accident that the opening words of our Lord’s proclamation were “Repent and believe the good news” (Mk 1:15), specifically in that order. For unless we know the bad news, the good news is no news. To repent is to come to a new mind that, beholding God’s glory and holiness, sees the need for mercy. But oh, the glory then of the good news: mercy is available in abundance! God will never reject anyone who calls on Him (Jn 6:37). Oh, the relief, the peace of knowing the effect of those words spoken by God through His priests: “I absolve from your sins … go in peace.”

It is one of the greatest joys of a priest to confer that peace and to say those words, knowing that by his configuration to the Lord in the sacrament of Holy Orders, they are no mere wish; they in fact confer the absolution they announce and offer the only peace that really matters: the Lord’s peace. And as a priest I, too, need to hear those words addressed to me. I go to confession once a week and have no doubt at all that the progress and peace I experience are due to the power and beauty of those words: “I absolve you from your sins … go in peace.” I also give God thanks for the glorious Sacrament of Holy Communion, for His Holy Word in Scripture and Tradition, for the power of prayer, and for the honesty of fellowship with His Church.

In the past few years I became alarmed that the number of confessions was dropping. I added a number of reminders and exhortations to my preaching, but they had only a marginal effect.

Then I remembered an admonition by Fr. Dennis McManus, with whom I studied recently. He told us (most of whom were priests) that people would know we were serious about confession not by our words, but by our deeds. He went on to recite the pathetically limited schedule of confessions in a number of parishes with which he was familiar. In most cases it was barely an hour a week. And even then, it was not uncommon for the priest to show up late. Were there exceptions? Sure. And where exceptions did exist, confessions were numerous. The conclusion was clear: when priests are serious about offering confessions, the faithful are more serious about going.

I had thought I was already generous with offering confessions. I would enter “the box” half an hour before scheduled Masses. But, sadly, I spent a lot of time reading while waiting for penitents. We are not a downtown parish, so noontime confessions did not seem to be a good solution. My parish has a large commuter component due to our specialized liturgies, so many arrive just before Mass and sometimes even a bit late. Confessions just before Mass did not seem to be proving very helpful. I began asking what might work. People said, “Father could you hear confessions after Mass?” Sure.

Some liturgical purists might object, saying that people with serious sins need to go to confession before Mass. Agreed. So I continue to hear confessions before Mass. But now it was time to offer what people needed. After each Mass this Lent, I announced that I was headed to “the box” and that a Lent without confession was a disgrace.

The result? A bumper crop! I often heard more than a dozen confessions after each Mass. With four Masses, that was almost fifty confessions a weekend. And with five weeks of Lent, that was more than 200 confessions. Fr. Dennis was right.

Was I tired? Sure. But it was the right kind of tired. God is good, and many waited patiently in line after each Mass. When they knew I was serious, they were too. I am going to keep up this practice; it will not stop with Lent. After Mass, I make a few quick greetings and then it’s off to “the box.”

I am not here to tell you or any other priest what is right for your parish, but consider these key points. Mercy is a glorious gift and must be celebrated often. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be preached in every pulpit. And the same priest who exhorts repentance must be willing to be dedicated to the celebration of the good news of the mercy that comes with that repentance. It surely means expanded confessional times for most parishes, but those times will vary. Actually asking parishioners for suggestions may seem obvious, but what is obvious is not always what is done and “business as usual” tends to prevail.

Encourage your priests. Brother priests, encourage your people and ask what will work for them. When priests are serious, the faithful are too.

Mercy! No greater gift, for it restores us to Jesus. A costly gift? Often, yes. But it’s always worth it. Such precious words: “I absolve you of your sins … go in peace.”

At the heart of our faith is the Paschal mystery: the Passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. All of salvation history leads up to and goes forth from these saving events. The purpose of this post is to describe Jesus’ final week. We call this “Holy Week” because Jesus’ public ministry culminates with His suffering, death, and resurrection.

What follows is a brief description of each day of Holy Week. I hope you will print out this flyer (Walking-with-Jesus-In-Holy-Week) and read it each day this week. Prayerfully walk with Jesus in His most difficult yet most glorious week.

Some scholars of Scripture scoff at the idea that we can construct a day-by-day journal of Jesus’ last week. There are historical gaps and things in the different accounts that don’t add up perfectly. Further, St. John posits a slightly different timeframe (shifted by one day) for the Last Supper relative to Passover. The following sequence follows the timing of the synoptic (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) accounts. Despite certain scholarly doubts, the accounts really do add up pretty well if one uses a little imagination and sees the differences not as factual discrepancies but rather only as variations in the level of detail.

So read this chronology as a likely, but not certain, outline of the last week of Jesus. It is still a great blessing to consider the Lord’s last week and to walk with Him.

Plan to attend some or all of the special liturgies of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday at your parish. By celebrating them in community, we make them present today and we learn again, in a new way, the reality of our Risen Lord alive in our midst.

PALM SUNDAY – Our celebration of Holy Week begins today as we remember and make present the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem to begin His final week and initiate His Passion. All four Gospels recount this triumphant entry that Sunday morning so long ago, but made present to us today. As you receive your palms, consider that you are part of that vast crowd. How will you journey with Jesus this week? Let the palms remind you to praise Him with your prayerful presence during the sacred Triduum. According to Mark 11:11, Jesus returned that evening to Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem. Perhaps He stayed with his friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Pray with Jesus this evening as He considers the difficult days ahead of Him.

Monday of Holy Week – According to Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19, Jesus returned to Jerusalem this day and, seeing shameful practices in the Temple area, cleansed it. John’s Gospel also records that Jesus rebuked the unbelief of the crowds. Mark 11:19 records that Jesus returned to Bethany that night. Pray with Jesus as He is zealous in His desire to purify us.

Tuesday of Holy Week – According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus again returned to Jerusalem where He was confronted by the Temple leadership for what He had done the previous day; they questioned His authority. Jesus also taught extensively using parables and other forms. There was the parable of the vineyard (cf Mt 21:33-46), the parable of the wedding banquet (cf Mt. 22:1), the teaching on paying taxes (cf Mt 22:15), and the rebuke of the Sadducees who denied the resurrection (cf Mt. 22:23). There was also the fearful prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem if the inhabitants did not come to faith in Him: Jesus warned that not one stone would be left on another (cf Mt 24). Continue to pray with Jesus and listen carefully to His final teachings just before His Passion.

Wednesday of Holy Week – Traditionally this day was called “Spy Wednesday,” for it was on this Wednesday before the crucifixion that Judas conspired to hand Jesus over. For this he was paid thirty pieces of silver (cf Mt. 26:14). Jesus likely spent the day in Bethany. In the evening, Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus with costly perfumed oil. Judas objected but Jesus rebuked him, saying that Mary had anointed Him for His burial (cf Mt 26:6). The wicked are besetting Jesus and plotting against Him; are you praying?

HOLY THURSDAY marks the beginning of the sacred Triduum, or “three days.” Earlier in the day, Jesus had given instructions to the disciples on how to prepare for this most holy meal, which would be His last supper. Throughout the day they made these preparations (cf Mt 26:17). In the Mass of the Lord’s Supper conducted at our parishes, we remember and make present that Last Supper which Jesus shared with His disciples. We are in the upper room with Jesus and the apostles and we do what they did. Through the ritual of washing the feet (Jn 13:1) of twelve parishioners, we unite in service to one another. Through our celebration of this First Mass and Holy Eucharist (Mt 26:26), we unite ourselves to Jesus and we receive His Body and Blood as if for the first time. At this Eucharist, we especially thank God for His gift of the ministerial priesthood. After the Last Supper (First Mass), Jesus and the apostles made a short journey across the Kidron Valley to the Garden, where He asked them to pray while He experienced His agony (cf Mt 26:30). We will process in Church with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to a garden (the altar of repose) that has been prepared. The liturgy ends in silence. It is an ancient custom to spend an hour before the reposed Blessed Sacrament this night. We are with Jesus in the Garden and we pray as He goes through His agony. Most of our parish churches remain open until close to midnight. It was nearly midnight when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, was arrested, and was taken to the house of the high priest (cf Mt. 26:47).

GOOD FRIDAY – All through the previous night, Jesus had been locked in the dungeon of the high priest’s house. Early in the morning He was brought before Pontius Pilate, who transferred the case to Herod. Herod promptly sent Him back to Pilate who, sometime in mid-morning, bowed to the pressure of the Temple leadership and the crowds and condemned Jesus to a horrible death by crucifixion. In the late morning, Jesus was taken by soldiers through the city and up the hillside of Golgotha. By noon He had been nailed to the Cross, where He hung in agony for some three hours. Jesus died at around three in the afternoon. He was taken down from the Cross and hastily placed in the tomb before sundown. Today is a day of prayer, fasting, and abstinence. To the extent possible, Christians are urged to keep today free of work, social engagements, and entertainment, devoting themselves to communal prayer and worship. At noon many parishes gather for Stations of the Cross and for recollections of the seven last words of Jesus. Many parishes also offer Stations of the Cross at 3:00 PM, the hour of Jesus’ death. In the evening, we gather quietly in our parish Churches to enter into a time of prayer, as we reflect on Jesus’ death on the Cross. We also pray for the needs of the world. To acknowledge the power of the Cross in our lives today, each of us in turn comes forward to venerate the Cross with a kiss. Our hunger from this day of fasting is satisfied with Holy Communion distributed at the end of this liturgy. Consider, too, how the apostles might have gathered that night together in fear and prayer, reflecting on all that had happened.

HOLY SATURDAY – The body of Jesus was in the tomb but His soul was among the dead, announcing the Kingdom. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will Live (John 5:25). Consider what it must have been like for the dead in Sheol to awaken to the voice of Jesus! Meanwhile, the disciples, heartbroken at the death of Jesus, observed the Jewish Sabbath in sorrow. They had forgotten Jesus’ promise that He would rise. We cannot forget His promise. We cannot forget it. Tonight in our parishes, after sundown, we gather for the Great Easter Vigil, where we will experience Jesus’ rising from the dead. We gather in darkness and light the Easter fire, which reminds us that Jesus is light in the darkness. He is the light of the world. We enter into the church and listen attentively to Bible stories describing God’s saving work of the past. Suddenly, the church lights are lit and the Gloria is sung as we celebrate the moment of Christ’s resurrection. He lives! In the joy of the resurrection, we then celebrate the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist for our catechumens and candidates, who have prepared for many weeks for this night. As a Church, we sing Alleluia for the first time in forty days. Do everything you can to be present on this evening, and invite friends and family to join you. Our Easter Vigil ushers in an Easter joy that never ends!