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Now the feast of Unleavened
Bread, called the Passover, was
drawing near and the chief priests
and the scribes were seeking a
way to put him to death, for they
were afraid of the people.
A justice and peace meditation for Palm Sunday
They paid him thirty pieces
of silver.Shall we betray Jesus today?
When the hour came, he took
his place at table with the
apostles. He said to them, I
have eagerly desired to eat
this Passover with you before
I suffer. . .Holy Thursday Meditation
Gethsemene, Judas, Pilate a literary harmony of the Gospels
When they
came to the
place called the
Skull, they
crucified him
and the
criminals there,
one on his
right, the other
on his left.
The Seven Last Words a literary harmony of the Gospels.
a Justice and Peace meditation
But at daybreak on the
first day of the week they
took the spices they had prepared and went
to the tomb.
During this week when we remember the passion of our Lord, it appears as
though cruise missiles will rain down upon Serbia. More killing people who kill
people to show that killing people is wrong. And if you always do what you
always do, you will always get what you always get.
There are many such tragic, unjust, and apparently intractable situations in the
modern world. Sometimes it seems there is so much to be done that it can be
hard to decide what to do. Mother Teresa answered this question with an
Albanian word, "Ek", which means "this one". She was not physically capable
of reaching out to every person who needed assistance in Calcutta, but she could
reach out to "this one." It's like the story told about the boy throwing starfish
back into the water after a storm. There are too many for him to save them all,
and someone passing by and asks the kid, "What are you trying to accomplish?
It doesn't matter how many you throw back into the ocean, you can't save them
all." The kid reaches down, throws another one into the ocean and says, "It
matters to him."
Our work for justice and peace is rooted in our own personal
Christian conversion, which happens moment by moment,
day by day. As we practice virtue, we grow in the gospel.
As we practice the works of mercy and justice and peace, we
grow in our understanding of the meaning of the universal
call to holiness..
As we consider how to change unjust
structures and bring about peace and reconciliation, during
Holy Week we are reminded that these intractable situations
are reconciled through the conversion of life and manners of
living that is available to every human being through Jesus
Christ. We are called to holiness not only our personal lives,
but also in our social and economic lives. The structures of
sin, which hurt so many for the benefit of the few, must be
redeemed as structures of beauty and goodness.
Only God's grace can bring this to fruition.
I hope and pray that all who visit here will be touched by the
power of this Week, so that the One whose journey we
remember may become a living reality in our lives. May we
find the strength and joy that is necessary to live the
mysteries of Holy Week every day of our lives. May Jesus
who gave His life for the world be resurrected in our lives.
May His spirit give us hope and creativity for daily life and
for living the works of mercy, justice, and peace.
Come, let us go and be with Jesus the
son of Mary on this
journey.
* Two Hearts + One Love *
Robert Waldrop, Justpeace webservant,