Holy Week

"Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?" Matthew, 26: 53-55

Holy Week is the most significant seven days in the Catholic liturgical calendar. It opens with Palm Sunday, depicting Jesus' humble yet triumphant arrival into Jerusalem; moves to the Last Supper, His betrayal and arrest, and ultimately His crucifixion on Good Friday and resurrection on Easter.

I struggled mightily with the scriptural stories of Jesus' crucifixion as a child, knowing an innocent man was being put to death. Part of me still recoils to this day, feeling the pain of seeing Divine who became Man treated so brutally and then killed.

That's why the above passage from Matthew is so important to me. It's a reminder that it had to be this way, that this is why God became Man - to rescue us from the bondage of sin, of slavery to Satan in a sense.

He suffered and died for our sins........for my sins.......for the sins of all who lived before me and all who will come after me - until He returns in glory. My sins helped put Jesus on the cross. My sins added to His suffering. It's humbling to recognize...humbling to the point of silence. And it makes what Jesus did on that devastatingly painful Friday all the more powerful.