Today's theme: Making Holy Week truly holy.
God is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? - Psalm 27:1
Do you remember the last time someone who really matters to you passed away?
Let’s reserve a moment to evoke that person in our heart. ...(silence)
Now perhaps, let’s visualize his or her name? Perhaps, whisper the name.
Now do you remember how your heart, mind and body responded to that loss?
Would you like to help me here. Would you like to share with the congregation? (People shared with the congregation)
The Covid pandemic has interrupted the way we mourn. I have lost so many beloved friends and relatives in this past year and the circumstances haven’t given me the chance to properly mourn and to process the losses.
The pandemic has created in some of us the awareness about how important the process of mourning is. The concept appears in the bible several times and remind us that mourning is often necessary, not for abiding in sadness but because of the recognition of the loss of someone you love profoundly.
The book of Ecclesiastes (3:1-4) says:
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
The process of mourning has to have a time to end, so we don’t abide in the sorrow, but find hope and joy to continue life.
Some theologians says that mourning and grief isn’t only about losing someone we love, but it’s also for:
This weekend, we mark two years since the beginning of the pandemic. All these statements weigh heavy on us because we have had so many losses in this past two years, that we felt like we couldn’t dedicate time to mourn one, neither all. As a result, we move forward, avoiding the grief and burying our pain.
However, that is not a healthy decision. We are in a journey filled with lifetime transitions and when one happens, we must stop and process the loss.
I recall when my father died when I was just six years old; in the following weeks, I was unable to remember what his face looked like or what his voice sounded like. That’s called ‘Grieving Sensory Memory’.
Sensory memories are tied closely to a person’s physical presence, and, in the beginning, there’s nothing you want more. Arguably, the loss of these sensory experiences is one of the first secondary losses a person will experience after a death.
Most of us fight these losses by doing things like holding onto a loved one’s unwashed clothing, looking at their handwriting, listening to their voice on recordings, and frequently looking at pictures of them. These efforts won’t fully bridge the gap, but very little could stop us from trying.
Now, let’s talk about the importance of Holy Week for the first Christians and for us who are here today.
In the beginning of Jesus Movement, his disciples suffered a profound trauma, the death of Jesus Christ, followed by his Resurrection and ascension.
All that means, abrupt separation followed by rough awakening. Everything they believed was centered in the person of Jesus, who in his last days, was scorned, humiliated, beaten, place by criminals to die in a cross.
The object of their love and hopes, were now reduced to nothing by the political powers of the society.
However, the plans of God were bigger and glorious, not only to Jesus Christ but to all humanity.
Bringing Jesus back from death to life, God states that death no longer has power over his/her Creation. We are already in eternity.
The first Christians, we call that the Early Church, discovered ways to deal with their grief. Instead of letting the ‘Grieving Sensory Memory’ hit them, they create a mechanism to remind us of the great wonders of God in people’s lives. That mechanism is what we call today, the devotions of Holy Week.
The rituals of Holy Week we will experience at St. James this year are rooted in the actions of the first Christians whose desire was to not forget our beloved Master. And when you love someone, your bring back all the memories of your beloved through sensorial experiences.
That’s why Holy Week liturgies are the most important sacred actions of the year. It’s the reason this is called: Holy week.
The walking (or processing), the smells of food or incense, the kissing, the washing of the feet, the bowing, or the kneeling, the carrying of symbols, like palms or bread, fire; these are essential sensorial actions to evoke God among us. Our beloved companion, Jesus Christ, is not dead. He is living God among us.
In the fourth century, a woman called Egeria went to Jerusalem to experience Holy Week. She carefully took notes of what the church was doing and how they were celebrating that week. Her notes are now recognized as some of the oldest documents that gave origin to the rituals of Holy Week.
This year, when you participate in Holy Week, participate fully. Think about your life and the lives of those early followers of Christ. Engage with your five senses in these rituals. When you come to each liturgy, instead of thinking too much, let your body freely and openly connect with the spirit of the Early Church, through your senses.
Ash Wednesday was just the beginning. To make this time of the year, holy, you need to engage all your senses to see God through the salvific events of Jesus’ last week on earth.
Come and participate fully in what we call the Holy Triduum, meaning Maundy Thursday, Good Friday celebrations and the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening, just like it was done in the first centuries of the church. That way, our mourn will be transformed into joy, and then we can truly say that death has no power over us. That the victory is on God’s hands. Amen