Companions on the Journey

Holy Week

Monday March 29, 2021

Saint Paul's Contributions to the New Testament | Britannica

The good news is that, as members of Christ’s Mystical Body the Church, we have access to the very same grace that transformed the infamous “Saul of Tarsus” (Acts 9:11) into “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ”

As we have now entered into Holy Week, the final preparation for the Sacred Triduum, let us resolve to follow the example of St. Paul and the entire “white-robed army of Martyrs” (Te Deum) so that when our time comes to depart from this life, we too may say in truth: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7).
Matt Gaspers Suffering for Christ: Reflections on Saint Paul (March 28, 2018)

Tuesday March 30, 2021

It is the cross which roots us in history, it is the cross which intersects the present and the past. The Tradition of the Church is not just the Incarnation, but the Passion, a redemptive sacrifice which is unchanging and yet made present anew with the dawning of each day. It infuses us, it grounds us, it propels us. And the world still needs its message: that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
That man, no matter how fallen, can be redeemed.
Steve Skojec, Our Unchangeable Faith: Catholicism as a Cultural Force (January 7, 2014) CatholicVote

San Damiano Cross: Telling the History of Christ's Passion | Franciscan Mission Service

Spy Wednesday March 31, 2021

Today is traditionally called “Spy Wednesday” because this is the day that Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord to the Sanhedrin. Judas became a spy for the Enemy. He watched Jesus and the Disciples and waited for the moment to betray them all, and he betrayed the Christ with a kiss.

In Matthew 26, Judas is confronted about his imminent betrayal of the Master. His reply is classic for those exposed of their crimes and sins: “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”

The Gospel narrative asks all of us hard questions. We see ourselves as far removed from Judas Iscariot, but if we are honest, are we not more like him than we would care to admit? Do we not betray our Lord in so many little ways? Is our faith strong enough? Do we see him as the Christ, the Son of God, or do we impose our own view upon him, trying to make him into our own image and desires? Do we test him rather than trust him?

In the end are we also spies for the darkness?
Matthew Bunson, Spy Wednesday: Are We Spies for the Darkness? (Apr. 17, 2019) ncregister.com

Holy Thursday April 1, 2021

Alongside the Crucifixion, the Eucharist–and specifically the Real Presence, the literal transformation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ–was one of the aspects of Catholicism which first drew me to the faith. I could tell you that it was because the Catholic doctrine seemed most responsive to the Gospels; I wrote a paper, back when I was the only atheist in my History of Christian Doctrine section, arguing that Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, when you consider His insistence in the face of horrified disbelief in John 6:52 – 57, wasn’t simply a metaphor like “I am the vine.” But I have to admit that I loved (and love!) the doctrine of the Real Presence largely because it’s visceral, bizarre, bloody-minded. It seems like the kind of overturning, catastrophic, violent thing the God of Exodus and Good Friday would do–the kind of awful thing our world and our actions would require of Love. It is hardcore.
Eve Tushnet, Breaking of the Bread (March 26, 2019 Eve Tushnet

Good Friday April 2, 2021

Watch The Passion of the Christ | Prime Video

PASSION

Oh, Holy Jesus for us died,
To kiss Your wounds when crucified
To sooth the injuries of your bleeding head
To caress your feet as they bled.

To kneel in awe at the foot of the cross
As lots for your garments they did toss.

Blood droplets fell to the ground
With piercing thorns you had been crowned.

To hear Your prayer as You died.
Oh how on this thought I have cried.

Your holy body hung up there
For anyone to stop and stare.
Your painful death was died for me.
Oh My Savior how can I thank thee?

I am wretched sinner you know.
But Lord to who else would I go?

Your sacrifice has won me life
When I’m done this exile strife
Forgiveness of my sins You have granted me.
Your mercy gives my joy and life eternally.

Holy Saturday April 3, 2021

In my opinion, Holy Saturday is the hardest day of Holy Week to really “enter into.” Is it a day of mourning? Not exactly. A day of rejoicing? Again, not exactly. The best description I’ve heard it is that it is a day of “quiet hope.” Here are some aids to cultivate a spirit of quiet hope as we make the massive transition from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, and as we commemorate Christ’s “harrowing of hell”.
Joe Heschmeyer Holy Saturday Soul Booster, Shameless Popery

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Sunday April 4, 2021
EASTER SUNDAY

Easter Sunday

Jn 20:1-9

On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.

They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.