BY SISTER PAT LANGE

You’ve been wearing your Lenten walking shoes for weeks! At times, you’ve stopped and looked into the mirrors of where you are and where you still need to go. You’ve been fed with the words of the Gospel to fire your journey and have drunk from the waters of Redemption to quench your thirst. You’ve carried and given away the alms of hope, compassion, forgiveness and peace in your pockets. Continue your fast from needless worry, anger and hurtful speech as you walk the last steps to Easter. You’re almost there!

Now, walk into these last days.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is the “Sunday of Welcoming!” Jesus, the Messiah, enters the dusty streets of Jerusalem. Green palm leaves wave in greeting and deafening hosannas shout to the very heavens. This was an event of hope, noisy rejoicing and a prelude to events that would change the world forever. The word “welcome” has so many facets, like a diamond of intense impeccable beauty. To welcome someone is to completely accept them. It offers them a home where hope and their hearts are safe. They are valued for who they are as persons clothed in dignity and not required to be what we want them to be. To welcome the stranger is to welcome the Redeemer.

The Passover meal

There’s nothing like a dinner with people you love and respect. The Last Supper was a meal unlike any other Passover meal. In the time of Jesus, washing the feet of invited guests to dinner was a common practice, but a practice usually done by servants. Jesus is the Servant of Servants. In washing the feet of his disciples, we are reminded that humility is central to the core of Gospel service. During the meal, Jesus took the simple bread of Passover, and looking into the faces gathered at that table, blessed the bread, broke it, and said, “This is my Body.” His hands then reached for a simple cup of wine, his eyes drawing all at the table into his words, words that said, “This is my Blood. Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus gifts us with the Eucharist, his body and blood. This gift, the Eucharist, transforms us. We become one. It is a sacrament of love and unity, the sacrament and center of our lives. We become members of the Body of Christ. Jesus doesn’t just suggest repeating this meal, he commands it. And how does he do this—this institution of the priesthood. Corpus Christi! Let the Eucharist feed your soul.

Gethsemane

Gardens can be places of serenity, beauty, prayer and refuge from the pressures of life. Gethsemane was such a place. The Greek translation of the word Gethsemane is “olive press.” These presses literally crushed olives retaining their oil. The Last Supper concluded and Jesus sought refuge in Gethsemane, a familiar place of prayer and peace. Jesus was crushed by the weight and the real cost of Redemption. Jesus was divine, but also human, and he was crushed by the knowledge of what was to come. Dread and fear surrounded him in the chilling darkness. It was here, in Gethsemane, that the “fiat” of Jesus sealed the promise of Redemption. Jesus would do his Father’s will; he would pay the cost of Redemption. Regardless of how crushing life can be, Jesus will always be there for us, in our pain, in our doubt, in our loneliness, in our darkness, in our sorrow.

Good Friday

Sacred Scripture tells us in graphic detail about the events of Good Friday leading up to the death and burial of Jesus, the Promised One, the Messiah. After his death, Jesus was buried in another’s tomb. Within that tomb his body was guarded by silence, his body prepared with tenderness and love, his wounds bathed by tears. The tomb was sealed, but nothing and no one will stop Jesus’ resurrection. The promise of Redemption will be kept!

The cost of Redemption was unbelievably high, and the symbol of that cost was, and is, the cross. But the cross is also a sign of God’s extravagant love, eternal hope, unlimited forgiveness and mercy given without question. The cross speaks to us daily: be profoundly grateful for the gift of Redemption, be givers and receivers of forgiveness, express your own failures and sorrow for wounding the God of Redemption. Let this day empower you to see with new vision the invisible crosses in our broken world.

Holy Saturday

This day is the day of quiet reflection, the anticipation of what is to come. Holy Saturday is the bridge between the sadness of Good Friday and the absolute joy of Easter. The dusk of this night welcomes the Easter Vigil in all its majesty. The Pascal candle is lit, a flaming symbol of Jesus, the Light of the World. The Exultet announces the Resurrection while the readings map our Salvation History. Baptisms welcome new members into the Body of Christ. Baptismal promises are renewed. The Eucharist is celebrated. Lenten—buried alleluias now rise from their hidden spaces of Lent and speak their message of joy in words and song. Now, take off your shoes and rest—we are on the sacred ground of Easter. Alleluia!

Easter

On this day, our celebration doesn’t pause or stop—it continues. We celebrate the Mass of Easter. Our hearts, our churches and our homes are dressed in Easter. We are RESURRECTION PEOPLE! We breathe the joy of Easter. Jesus has risen as he said. Death has no home. Redemption has been gifted. Easter calls us, beckons us, challenges us to be Jesus’ messengers, his witnesses of hope. Our walk to Easter is not the end of the journey—it is the beginning. Speak and live the message of Resurrection. May each day of your life be a loud, proud, unending ALLELUIA!