-Susan Coolidge
Have you ever realized that even though the world has such an intense contempt for Catholics, it is because of us that we have three of the biggest and largely celebrated holidays. They are all just holidays with Catholic origins that the world has completely twisted around in order to make some monitary gain from it. So if you really think about it, Catholics are a the main reason for the huge influx of income especially around Christmas. That's something for you to chew on.
Now right now I am sitting in the complete dark while my roomate is snoring above me and for some reason I cannot sleep at all. I started reading passages from the bible of The Last Supper and immediately stopped once Judas had dipped his bread into the same cup Jesus dipped His into. You know the one where Jesus says he will be betrayed by the one who dips into the same cup as Him. The disciples become appalled and each deny that they will betray Him. Then all of sudden Judas dips into the same cup as Jesus. Whoa, SPOILERS!!! Jesus then tells him to do what he must do and Judas leaves. Then the most astonishing thing happens. The apostles actually wonder where he is going and what he is supposed to do. Were all they all blinking at the exact time Judas dipped with Jesus. How did they not see that??? Jesus just should have said, "The man whose name is Judas will betray me." At that point the apostles will start asking eachother if their name was Judas. This whole thing made me laugh a little but and I kind of wish I was there to see it all go down. My second thought was that the disciples must have had such an immense rush of emotions that week. I mean, first off, their savior whom they had followed for about three years is killed in one of the gruesome ways possible right in front of them. Then a few days later He is no longer in His tomb and He appears before them in a locked room. Talk about doing a complete 180. First they are completely devestated and all of a sudden they are filled with an intense joy. That emotional roller coaster must have been worse than a teenage girl.
So after chuckling quietly to myself, as to not wake up my roomate, I started reflecting on Holy Week and what this entire week means. Just as Jesus used the week leading up to His death to make his final preparations for Himself and His apostles, we also need to use this week to prepare ourselves and our souls. We should spend this week deep in prayer reflecting on how Jesus has worked in our lives and how His sacrifice has affected our lives. Before Jesus gave His own life to save ours, we were like the thieves that were dying with Him. But as He was put onto that cross He gave us the choice to be like the thief who repented and ultimately was saved on his dying breath. We must use this week to repent for all of our sins.
Right now close your eyes and go back 2,000 years to Good Friday. Pretend you are in that crowd of people that are persecuting Jesus and repeatedly yelling "Crucify Him!!!" If one of those people came up to you and asked if you were a follower of Christ would you be like Peter and deny Him or would you proudly say "Yes, I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I will follow Him anywhere, even to my death." Would you really say that? Because, to be honest, I do not know if I would have the guts to say I would be willing to die for Him. I like living, alot. Now you are staring at Him as He is being nailed to the cross. You can see His pain as blood and sweat run down his face. You realize that you are the reason He is up there and you do not know whether or not to feel completely loved by Him or ashamed for causing His pain. Maybe if you had converted more people or been a better person early on His life would not be draining out of His body before your eyes. Now it is Saturday and you had laid Jesus to rest in His tomb the day before. What is going through your mind and what do you think was going through the mind of the apostles as they locked themselves, scared, into that small house. Would you be thinking of revenge against the state or would you want to continue Christ's ministry that He started. You still cannot get that image of a bloody and tortured man out of your head. It is now Sunday and you have just recieved news that Mary had found the tomb empty and that Jesus was gone. What would your first thought be? Would you believe Jesus has actually conqued death and risen from the grave or would you side with Thomas needing proof that He is alive. After all, Jesus did raise Lazarus from the dead, why couldn't He do that to himself. When Jesus entered into the room filled with disciples what would be the first thing you would say to Him. I don't know about you, but I think the first words out of my mouth would be, "I'm sorry." And at that point He would hold me close and say "You have been forgiven. Did you not see that whole thing with the cross and being crucified? It was a very long and extremely painful process. I wouldn't go through all that for nothing, only for my Father's greatest creations :)"So as you prepare yourselves for this week and for the last three days, just remember who died for you and why He died. Try to go to confession sometime this week and if you have a difficult time trying to go, just remember that all you have to do is tell someone what you did and be sorry. You do not need to die for them, someone already did that for you.
-Bearded Harmony
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
-1 Peter 1:3
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