On Holy Monday Mary the sister of Lazarus, and Judas appear on the liturgical stage. Mary's brother Lazarus was raised from the dead; she knew it was the Messiah at whose feet she sat listening to his words and knew him to be God. She anointed the feet of Jesus with very expensive perfume. The love she felt could never be repaid by anything she had to give, but Judas didn't have these feelings and saw only the waste of money and without these feelings, it was truly a great waste. We often see the same event but our thoughts and memories are quite different consequently the responses.
Holy Tuesday we find the twelve with Jesus at the Last Supper. Our Lord tells them he will be betrayed by one of them. He is deeply moved and we have the reaction of those at the table. Judas is feigning ignorance and Peter makes clear he would die for Christ but is told that before the morn he would deny Jesus three times. We are weak individuals, trusting in ourselves without humility is not always wise, we easily make fools of ourselves.
Wednesday is often called Spy Wednesday because of the place of Judas in today's Gospel from Matthew. After hearing that one would betray him each asks is it I? As if they did not know their own minds on such a serious issue. As we know Peter the next morning denied knowing Jesus with an oath and Judas betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. We know from Matt. 27:3-5 that Jesus when condemned to death Judas returned to the high priests and confessed that he did wrong in handing an innocent man over to death. He threw the money into the temple and hanged himself. Remorse is not everything; hope of forgiveness is required. We need to be delivered from Despair.
On Holy Thursday, we have the end of Lent and the beginning of the Easter Triduum. All the disciples are at the Last Supper where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. John's Gospel is the last one written and since the church was familiar with the other synoptic Gospels he mentions what was not mentioned in the other three Gospels and shows the importance of the 'mandatum' the command to wash each other's feet as Jesus did that evening—to love. The Eucharist is the sign of God's love and our willingness to wash the feet of others is our response. Christians spend some time during the night before the Blessed Sacrament meditating on this meaning.
On Good Friday we don't have the Mass but come together to meditate on the passion. The Gospel is always the passion Gospel of St. John. Several incidents make us reflect deeper on what happened. We hear about Simon from Cyrene a place in North Africa. He may have been an ethnic Israelite or a foreigner who accepted the Jewish religion; we just don't know but for some reason, he was forced to help Jesus carry the cross and we even know the names of his two sons which we can surmise is another untold story. He is mentioned in all three Synoptic Gospels but not in today's Gospel. What is even more surprising is the first evangelizer on that day was Pilate who put the nameplate on the cross against the wishes of the Sanhedrin: the acronym INRI Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. And we have two of the more powerful Pharisees with whom Jesus was always in conflict receiving the body and anointing it for burial in the tomb they had prepared for Jesus. Things are often not what they seem. All the twelve except for John had disappeared.
Holy Saturday is the Easter Vigil Mass the high point of the Liturgical Year. Traditionally the time for baptism and renewal of our baptismal promises. We enter a dark church. The celebrant is outside the church prepares the fire from which the Easter Candle will be lit. As he enters the church walking up to the altar three times he sings: "Christ Our Light". From the Paschal Candle the candles held by the Christians are lit and the entire church is blazing with the light from the Easter Candle.
When the Easter candle arrives in the sanctuary, the celebrant or deacon sings the Exsultet, from its first word in Latin, 'Rejoice'. Readings are read, from both the Old and the New Testament, and God’s marvelous plan is unfolded.
If members of the community are prepared for baptism we have the blessing of the water and the baptisms if not the congregation will renew their baptismal vows.
The liturgy concludes with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, in which the newly baptized will partake for the first time. And the congregation thanks God for the gift of grace able to celebrate the liturgy together with the community of faith. We are alleluia people and the liturgy is how the Church leads us to remember that God in Jesus has given us meaning and joy in life. Happy Easter!
