Holy Week: A Faith Journey

04-13-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week. Wherever you are this Holy Week, whatever you do to observe it, just do it all with love and gratitude to God, who loved us so much He sent His only Begotten Son, who suffered greatly, died, and rose again for you and me.

All our prayers, fasting, and acts of charity throughout Lent lead to this week. It is a week filled with high emotion and drama—the PASSION of the Son of Man, who suffers and dies a cruel death, only to rise three days later to give us new life. The Passion narrative reveals God's immense love for us and offers hope for our situation. Now, God invites us to embark on a journey of faith, a way of life, or a new level of existence. As Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, explains: “Being Christian is a path or, better, a pilgrimage; it is to travel with Jesus, to journey in the direction He has pointed out and is pointing out to us.” May this Holy Week be an opportunity for all of us to follow Him, know Him better, and love Him more.

The Father invites us to journey through Holy Week by following Jesus’ way of the cross. The WAY is about surrendering to the Will of God—suffering, dying, rising, giving one’s life out of love, and bringing life to others. It is a way of becoming one with God. He created us with the intent of eternal communion with Him. The WAY comes to us as the likeness of God, received as a GIFT of LOVE. The second reading gives us a perfect model when Jesus Himself walks the way of the passion: “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:6-8).

I invite everyone this Holy Week to take a journey of faith with Jesus—to walk with Him and get to know Him better! Join Him during the institution of the two sacraments, Priesthood and the Eucharist, on Holy Thursday. Be with Him in the garden of Gethsemane, spending the night as He embraces the cup of suffering. Walk alongside Him as He carries His cross to Mt. Calvary, feeling His pain and agony, and hearing His voice as He utters: “It is finished” (consumatum est) as He breathes His last. To experience these realities this Holy Week, we must slow down, be still, silent, and attentive. I pray that you find quiet moments of prayer with the Lord this week.

Let this journey of faith during Holy Week be a shared one. In practical terms, let us joyfully and generously share our time, talents, and treasures with those in need—the last and the least among us. Let us not turn Holy Week into a mere observation, attending traditional practices and rituals without being fully absorbed, moved, and changed.

Set aside your personal agendas this Holy Week and enter the Solemn Triduum, aligning yourself with the program of God. Consider making a sacrifice of switching off your temporal and personal priorities and switching on to God. Be active participants in the unfolding story of love this Holy Week.

Be pilgrims, not tourists. Let God speak to us, rather than us speaking to Him through our scripted devotions and prayers. If things don’t go as planned, may we remember, “Lord, I am a pilgrim, not a tourist!”

Lord, let our earthly journey not be about going fast or far but about drawing closer to Your heart. Amen.