HOLY Week??

Here we are at the midpoint of Holy Week. Holy? No, I’m not joking. It was in the 4^th century that Christians first described this week between Palm Sunday and Easter as holy. But how can we label these days as “holy” when power hungry people lord it over the poor? When children as young as two or three are sold into sexual travesty? When women are still seen as property to be used, abused, and tossed away as disposable property? When storms ravage homes?

A local writer and journalist recently penned these words: “At their core, Christmas and Easter are reminders that God can do anything with anyone at any time and for any reason at all.” While that’s perhaps a statement prime for theological debate, it set me to thinking about the reason this week is called holy if we understand its definition: dedicated or consecrated to God. 

I try to set aside specific times for worship and quiet during these days even as the schedule includes medical appointments, zoom meetings, handyman work in the kitchen and all else common to my life. I could envy those 4^th century women and men of the church as they secluded themselves in silence and prayer and music of the psalms. But then I consider that they likely had interruptions common to the period that perhaps frustrated their more spiritual attempts. If they lived in an agricultural community, cows needed milking and chickens demanded food. If they were scribes, hours were spent with pen in hand to faithfully copy scripture. (Or draw the sacred images that exist still today.)

And so I move ahead with determination—and only intermittent frustration—in this 2025 Holy Week. I daily read portions in the New Testament that describe Jesus’ actions in this last week of his life. I weep again as I re-read my well-worn copy of Calvin Miller’s allegorical The Singer. Tomorrow night I will join others to remember Jesus’ last meal with his friends and quietly taste of the bread and wine. The Friday that is mysteriously good will be a time of wondering and worship. In the midst of 21^st century life, I will live Saturday in silence as much as possible.

And finally, FINALLY, on Sunday I will celebrate the hope-answering resurrection of Jesus! I will celebrate because I believe that God can do anything with anyone at any time and for any reason at all. That’s what faith even in the unholiest of weeks is all about.