A PAUSE

"Walk the Way
With Jesus"
The last week of Lent we call Holy Week. This week we remember the events the gospel writers describe as Jesus’ last days. It is the feast of Passover that draws him to Jerusalem, David’s royal city. The significance of this last week in Mark’s view is suggested by the relative length of his description of the last days of Jesus’ earthly life. Of the sixteen chapters in the gospel six of them or three-eights of the whole are devoted to this last week.

Again we hear Jesus addressed by various names. Again we see the confusion about who he is. Both enemies and friends misunderstand his true nature. A week that starts on such an upbeat note (We call it the “triumphal” entry.) ends in crucifixion, death, and the grave. In one week we travel the long course the past years, the past weeks, have led us. Quickly we must see, comprehend, and respond. Emotions are high—it is festival time—hopes are flying—maybe this is the one. A roller coaster ride could not bring any more ups and downs than this week does.

I invite you to enter the fray, to be there with the crowds, to walk with Jesus’ disciples, to hear Jesus’ names. I pray that as you experience the week you will hear your name, your being, for as we come to know who Jesus is, we come to know who we are, and we come to know our part in God’s good creation.

Following Jesus this week will be difficult; we will all fail. And yet we will all rise on Easter morn, for we are loved by God—God who comes to all of humanity in Jesus of Nazareth, Rabbi, God’s Beloved, Son of Man, the Christ

Picture: Via Appia, Rome