Holy Week Reflections - Fr. John Cullen

God our Father:

As we journey through Holy Week beyond the Cross and into your Resurrection,
May we remember the wonder of who you are for each of us.
Beyond our sins, your love is unconditional.

Beyond our brokenness, your forgiveness is poured out for us.
Beyond our betrayals and denials, your grace is freely given to us.

Beyond our death, you offer us a life that is unimaginable.
Beyond our human understanding, your ways are not our ways.

Holy Thursday

We receive Holy Communion, not because we are perfect,
but because we could be and do better.
We receive Holy Communion, not because we have arrived,
but because we are pilgrims together.
We receive Holy Communion, not because we have the right answers,
but because we are searching.

We receive Holy Communion, not because we are divine,
but because we are human.
We receive Holy Communion, not because we are fully satisfied,
but because our hearts and souls have a deep hunger.

Good Friday

The Bible begins with a story of creation and the Tree of knowledge.
The Bible ends with the image of the Tree of life that unites heaven and earth.
The Cross becomes a Tree, where loss becomes gain,
darkness becomes light, weakness becomes strength,
wounds heal, sin meets grace and death opens into new life.
Isaiah reminds us that we are APPALLED and ASTONISHED by the Suffering Servant (Is 32 : 13-15).

Easter: Life will win over death. Light will win over darkness.

The cruelty of violence takes only a moment to maim, to kill and to destroy.
A cruel word can cut to the heart and the bone.
Cluster bombs shatter lives, homes and dreams.
It was thought that Crucifixion could cancel Compassion on Calvary.
Remember that forgiveness came before crucifixion.

We know that healing and recovery take time, and for some people - this can be for a lifetime.

Easter healing is slow, gentle and almost unseen, like the unfolding buds of Spring,
like the silent breath of every new dawn, like the un-noticed dew fall that moistens the ground,
and like the unexpected kindness of strangers.
We must wait, and wait, patiently for the Easter tide to turn and return.

The resurrection of Jesus is unseen. It happens in the dark.
The stone is rolled away.
The Risen Jesus does not speak words of revenge or recrimination.
Instead, he whispers words of courage, comfort and consolation.

PEACE BE WITH YOU. DO NOT BE AFRAID.

So many people in our world know pain and poverty.
Easter reminds us that there can be, there must be,
there will be hope.

Resurrection is never dramatic or instantaneous.
It is me and it is you. It is in listening. It is in speaking.
It is in forgiving.
It is in trusting that there is a reason to hope,
a reason to believe, a reason to love.