What is holy about Holy Week? What is holy about denial, betrayal, rejection, and, ultimately, death? During this week, which we call ‘holy’, cheering crowds will lavish praise on Jesus of Nazareth. They will raise him to the status of a long-awaited messiah – the one they believe will finally break their yoke of oppression by an occupying foreign power. They will acclaim him as King, even though he is seated on a humble donkey rather than robed in majesty (Psalm 93).

Ironically, in that same crowd are Jesus’ fondest friends and fiercest foes who would just as eagerly deny, betray, and abandon him at a moment’s notice before the cross – not counting the many times they would succumb to slumber, totally oblivious to the pain and anguish of Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane. On the face of it, Holy Week is anything but holy.

Yet again, we find ourselves on Palm Sunday, on the cusp of one of the greatest stories of defeat and triumph, sacrifice and victory ever told – what we call the Paschal Mystery. As Catholics, the power of this story is enthralling. We do not idly stand by as unconcerned spectators; we are swept into the vortex of this week’s momentous events. We are part of the story; we are in the story – Jesus’s humiliation, sacrifice, suffering, defeat, and crucifixion are ours as well.

Moments like Holy Week are ripe for Ignatian contemplation, where Saint Ignatius of Loyola invites us in the Spiritual Exercises to taste, hear, smell, see, touch, and feel every facet of this drama of life unfolding before us. If we learn to pray through the solemn events of this momentous week, we can taste the sweat and tears of Jesus in our own vulnerabilities; we can hear the cry of Jesus in the lamentations of people burdened by poverty and violence; we can smell the stench of death on the cross, oozing from countless senseless wars and conflicts; and we can touch in the wounds of Jesus the broken flesh of women, men, and children disfigured by despair, abuse, and misery. Above all, we can feel the power of God laboring tirelessly to bring about our redemption and salvation, as Saint Ignatius tells us in the Spiritual Exercises(107).

So, what is holy about Holy Week? The holiness of Holy Week does not lie in the pious and devotional retelling of the all-too-familiar story of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The holiness of Holy Week is in our story, writ large in the passion and triumph of Jesus of Nazareth. This week calls us to focus our gaze on Jesus and to follow him closely along the way. If we do so, we discover an immense treasure: a life of total self-giving that trumps selfishness; a gift of self-sacrificing love for the weakest and most vulnerable among us; a fullness of life that neither death nor despair can threaten, steal, or destroy.

Wherever we find ourselves on our journey this week, let us be comforted by the thought that we are not alone. This week is holy because Jesus the Risen Christ has purchased our redemption, for by his stripes we are made whole and human again (Isaiah 53:5). With humility and hope, confidence and joy, let us join Jesus Christ on his ride into the loving embrace of our victorious God. Amen.