As early as the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom referred to Holy Week as The Great Week
am: Ps 51
pm: 69:1-23
Lam 1:1-12
2 Cor 1:1-7
Mark 11:12-25
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: As early as the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom referred to Holy Week as The Great Week, “Not that it has more days in it than other weeks, or that its days are made up of more hours than other days; but we call it great, because of the great mysteries which are then celebrated” [Homily 30, on Genesis]. In other Christian cultures we find the week before Easter referred to by several names such as the Painful Week because of the sufferings of the Christ and of the fatigue and physical sacrifice required of the faithful in observing them. It has often been said that the purpose of the days of Holy Week from Palm Sunday through Spy Wednesday, is not to recall the events of the week in the life of Jesus but rather to discern who we are in this cosmic story. For the Christian today the challenge for us with is our ability to be open to the ultimate meaning of Pascha and to prepare us to the understanding and acceptance of it.
This reality is brought to us in the liturgical lessons appointed in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, with the story of the fig tree, offered for our reflection as a symbol of the world created to bear spiritual fruits and failing in its response to God (Matthew 21:18-43); while at the Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified Gifts, the great eschatological discourse of Jesus tells us clearly of the signs and announcement of the End Time calling us to ponder who we are as we consider eternity.
MEDITATION OF THE DAY:
The lessons appointed today from Lamentations call us to ponder a prayer of pain and petition. The opening words “how lonely sits the city that once was full of people” strikes an image that resonates with many given the economic shifts and meltdowns from Europe to North Americas. Because of the economic crises we have cities empty of people, images of homes, businesses, and places of worship devoid of the spirit and souls that once filled them. The mages of complete and total destruction; of ways of life and life itself lost sound extreme but are not far from us. When one reads the book of Lamentations and considers the changes and chances of life, it is difficult to miss in our prayers in Holy Weeks the world’s many sorrows and sinful atrocities. This Holy Week we are called to give a witness that resists the despair that the world easily falls into. This lesson like the trajectory of this week calls us beyond ourselves. It calls the church to be a visible communion gathered as the body of Christ and willing to be taken, blessed broken and given with Christ for the healing of a lamenting world.
PRAYER OF THE DAY: Grant we beseech you, Almighty God, that we, who amid so many adversities do fail through our own infirmities, may be restored through the Passion and Intercession of your Only- begotten Son, Who lives and reigns, with you and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “A weak minded person is frequently diverted toward pursuing exterior happiness when the breath of popular favor accompanies his good actions. So he gives up his own personal choices, preferring to remain at the mercy of whatever he hears from others. Thus, he rejoices not so much to become but to be called blessed. Eager for praise, he gives up what he had begun to be; and so he is severed from God by the very means by which he appeared to be commendable in God. – St. Gregory the Great
Holy Week Discipline –Who have you cheered on in your life? Who have you affirmed and celebrated? Does that esteem still stand today? If not, is it a good reason by God’s standards or yours? If, only yours, list how can you make amends for changing your assessment based on your standards which perhaps you have placed over the Lord’s? Choose a day this week to implement those amends.