Holy Week: A Lived Experience

Yesterday marked the start of the holiest time of year for us Christians.  Yes, it's holier than Christmas!!  The period we call Holy Week is the holiest of times because it is not just a moment frozen in time; rather, it is a lived experience.

So what do I mean by that?  For many of my brothers and sisters the Christian experience is one in which we remember the actions of Jesus regularly, however, they are little more than just that:  remembrances.  True, Jesus said to do many things to remember him and show others that we are his disciples(e.g. the sharing of a holy meal, loving one another as Jesus has loved us, baptizing, etc.).  But what makes Holy Week different is that it is not done just to remember Jesus.  Christians--even many Episcopalians--may argue that the celebration of Holy Communion is done simply as a memorial to Jesus.  Still, there can be no argument on Holy Week.  It's NOT just a memorial!

Holy Week is a lived experience.  The late-4th century pilgrim Egeria wrote extensively about her own trip to the Holy Land during the season of Lent, and what she found was not simply services done to remember Jesus' final days but daily prayers and services in which regular folks walked with Jesus through the days of his agony and glory.  For example, Egeria notes that the Bishop of Jerusalem sat atop a donkey and rode down the Mount of Olives on Palm Sunday, embodying the actions of Jesus.  The same was true on Maundy Thursday, when the Bishop washed the feet of the city's poor.  And on Good Friday the people walked the Via Dolorosa, the path through Jerusalem that leads to Golgotha, taking each agonizing step along the way with their Lord.  This was no mere commemoration of a past event.  This was a very real experience, and Christians in the orthodox and catholic traditions continue to walk with Jesus through the Washing of Feet on Maundy Thursday to the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.

And that brings me to the point of the Pashcal Triduum.  The what?!  (Don't feel bad.  I've been an Episcopalian my whole life and only learned this term the year before I went to seminary!)  The Paschal Triduum--also known as the Three Sacred Days--is one service spread over the course of three days.  The service begins with the Maundy Thursday liturgy, continues with the walk with Jesus on Good Friday, and concludes with the celebration of Christ's resurrection at the Great Vigil of Easter on Saturday night.  It is thanks to Egeria that we have this celebration, and it is a glorious one!  And while it may be exhausting for some--especially clergy--it is spectacular.  There are churches out there who choose, for whatever reason, to only do one or two pieces of the Triduum.  Perhaps they are small in number and don't want to overload their people, or perhaps they, like me, have never heard of or seen an Easter Vigil before.  Be that as it may, this does a disservice, in my opinion, to the Church and to her people.  By not doing all three pieces of the Triduum, we severely miss the point. It is another example of us making the celebration of God's liturgy about ourselves, rather than about the lived-out experiences of Christ in His body.  We make the walk with Jesus because we are Jesus' body.  Thus, by eliminating one or two pieces of that walk, we are cutting ourselves off from Jesus' own walk through betrayal, agony, and, ultimately, glory.  We cannot get to Easter without Good Friday and Maundy Thursday!!

So this week I pray that you will take the time to put yourself right there with Christ.  You are there.  You are walking with our Lord.  You are in the upper room, in the garden, at the foot of the cross, and at the empty tomb.  Do not cut yourself off from it!  Sit with the discomfort of having your feet washed.  Let the tears flow as you kiss the tree on which the King of Glory hung.  And let your voice resound with the Alleluias of Easter's dawn.  Our Christian walk is not just one done in remembrance.  It is one we make with Christ every single day, and this week brings that to the forefront of our lives like no other.  May you know and feel Christ's presence as you walk with Him through this Holy Week.