Live Holy Week with Love
By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 4/13/06)
The following homily was given by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde on April 9, Palm Sunday, at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington.
Permit me to begin by sharing
with you a brief reflection written by Father Peter John Cameron, O.P.,
and printed in the Holy Week 2006 edition of Magnificat. “Holy Week,
with its focus on the end of Jesus’ life, always takes us back to
our beginning: to what truly matters in our life … to the actions
that make the otherwise impossible happen … to the hope that does
not disappoint … to the encounter with the Other whom we find in
the depths at our core. There is nothing more central to our life than
the cross of Jesus Christ which is presented to us this week to kiss.
A kiss means nothing if there is no love behind it. That love is the way
to live this Holy Week.”
Let us live this Holy Week with love for Jesus and for one another. This
love is reflected by our continuing the three great works of Lent: prayer,
fasting or penance, and almsgiving or deeds of mercy. Our prayer must
be more intense, especially as we take part in the sacred liturgies of
the Easter Triduum, which, taken together, insert us into the reliving
of the Paschal Mystery: the Dying and Rising of Jesus. Yes, on Holy Thursday,
Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Day, let us be united with Jesus,
Whose death destroyed our sins and Whose rising restored our life. Moreover,
each day this Holy Week must find us in prayerful union with Jesus as
we ponder His Word in the Scriptures, reflect on His Life and that of
Mary in the Rosary, and trace His steps in the Stations of the Cross.
Fasting or penance must remain a priority this week, helping us to turn
away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel as well as to make reparation
for our sins. Almsgiving or deeds of mercy must continue to be evident,
revealing to others God’s mercy and love to ourselves.
Love this week should also be reflected by our desire to be faithful to
the Lord, available and open to what He asks of us each day. Earlier,
we heard in St. Mark’s Gospel the description of a faithful disciple.
Jesus said, “If anyone should say to you, ‘Why are you doing
this?’ reply ‘The Master has need of it … .’”
What a faithful friend to Jesus that person must have been! All Jesus
had to say was “I need it … I need you,” and that person
replied in faith, “Here it is … . Here am I.” You and
I must more and more seek to live this way: in loving and faithful availability
to the Lord. That attitude and willingness truly is a disciple’s
love, the love we want to live this Holy Week.
Yes, on each day of this Holy Week and especially during the Easter Triduum,
let us live with this kind of available, faithful, persevering love, passing
with Jesus from death to life. If we do, then, with His grace, we shall
continue to live this love for Jesus and for one another all year long,
all life long. Amen.
Copyright ©2006 Arlington Catholic Herald. All rights reserved.
