Those of us who were not raised in a liturgical tradition, or in a faith community that observed the church calendar, often don’t know what we’re missing out on when it comes to the celebration of Resurrection Sunday — or what most of us call Easter. We may have wonderful Easter sunrise services and even meaningful Good Friday services, but we usually have not had the full benefit of putting the greatest events in Christianity in their context in a way that is both meaningful and practical.
We have not observed Lent as a season of preparation, personal sacrifice, repentance, contemplation, and longing for the glory of the Resurrection to be celebrated with joy. We have not set aside Holy Week as a time of somber prayer and reflection. We have not washed one another’s feet on Maundy Thursday, partaken in the Lord’s Supper together, and grieved the betrayal of our Savior. We have not wept on Good Friday at what our sins did to Jesus Christ, and mourned the suffering it cost Him to redeem us. We have not spent Saturday night in vigil, waiting…waiting…
The truth is that we need reminders. We need to make the gospel, the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, as personal as possible. We need to remember. We need to set aside the business of our everyday lives, and allow ourselves to walk through the events of Holy Week.
At least I do.
So today I read the old familiar passages about the Passover, both its origins and its new meaning as instituted by Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed. I read of the Last Supper, and of the betrayal. I read beautiful prayers of the Church. And I asked the Holy Spirit to allow all those words to grip my heart and break it anew and afresh. I asked Him to examine my innermost being and show me where I need to repent…to reveal to me my sins of omission and commission…to make me painfully aware of how I fail to love God and my fellow human beings as I should.
I don’t want this to be just another Easter season, one in which I live Holy Week as if it were any other week, sing a few wonderful hymns on Easter Sunday, eat a nice dinner, and then go on my merry way, untouched and unchanged by my celebration. I want to remember, and I want to be transformed by the reality. I want to truly live as one of the Easter people should. As Pope John Paul II said:
Prone to wander... 
Reblogged this on PROOF OF YOUR FAITH and commented:
Before my evangelical friends wonder if I have become Catholic, I would like them to remember that Jesus told us to remember what he did. I know the writer of this post personally and can attest to her deep devotion to Christ as her personal Savior. She emotionally reminds us to not casually dismiss what Christ did. We gratefully talk about how Christ rose from the dead. We appreciate the Miracle of His Resurrection, but do we realize what a miracle it was for Christ to suffer the way he did. Think about it. Look at the love Jesus showed in his suffering. The greater miracle was the compassion, the love, the consideration, the gentleness and the self-control that Jesus demonstrated in the midst of His incredible suffering. Could you do this? Every Christian needs to be aware and deeply ponder this incredible non-human act during this very Holy Week.
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