Following are a series of readings and prayers to guide personal prayer and reflection for Holy Week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter)
Palm Sunday
The Entry into Jerusalem
Primary Reading: Mark 11:1-11
Other Readings: 1 Kings 1:32-40, Zechariah 9:9-17
“Remember finally, that the ashes on your forehead are created from the burnt palms of last Palm Sunday. New beginnings invariably come from old false things that are allowed to die.”
– Richard Rohr
“Christ never asks for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. No, he calls disciples. It is not adherents of a teaching, but followers of a life that Christ is looking for.”
– Soren Kierkegaard
Lord Jesus Christ, on this Palm Sunday,
as we remember your entry into Jerusalem,
let us also remember the path that lay before you.
Fill our hearts with the humility and faithfulness.
Teach us to follow your example of selfless love,
to praise you in our hearts and with our lives,
as we carry our crosses daily.
Hosanna in the Highest!
Holy Monday
The Anointing of Jesus in Bethany
Primary Reading: John 12:1-11
Other Readings: Philippians 2:5-11, Isaiah 42:1-9
“ As the women who anointed Jesus’ feet made direct physical contact with him, so he wants his disciples to make direct physical contact with others. Service is up close and personal; service is something others can see and appreciate; service means getting down off one’s high horse and manifesting meekness and humility. It teaches us that we are not the important ones: the ones we serve are the ones who are important. And we, in turn, might receive that same service when we need it.
– Amy-Jill Levine
Almighty God,
who took on flesh and dwelt among us in Jesus,
teach us to celebrate your image in our neighbor,
to worship with joy in the midst of the hardships of life,
and follow in the way of Jesus.
Holy Tuesday
Jesus Foretells His Death
Primary Reading: John 12:20-36
Other Readings: 1 Corinthians 1:18-30, Isaiah 52:13-53:7
We give glory to you, Lord, who raised up your cross to span the jaws of death like a bridge by which souls might pass from the region of the dead to the land of the living. We give glory to you who put on the body of a single mortal and made it the source of life for every other mortal.
– St. Ephrem of Edessa
God, your Son chose the path that led to pain before joy
and to the cross before glory.
Plant his cross in our hearts,
so that in its power and love we may come at last to joy and glory,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Holy Wednesday
“Spy Wednesday” – Judas Betrays Jesus
Primary Reading: Matthew 26:14–25
Other Readings: Psalm 70
“Judas, too, is in the image and likeness of the divine. He is not a demon, although he may seem to us to be one. He is a human being. And we cannot afford to demonize human beings. Judas calls us to conscience.”
– Amy-Jill Levine
What a mistake those who do not hope make! Judas made a huge blunder the day in which he sold Christ for 30 denarii, but he made an even bigger one when he thought that his sin was too great to be forgiven. No sin is too big: any wretchedness, however great, can always be enclosed in infinite mercy.
– Pope John Paul II
Assist us mercifully with your grace,
Lord God of our salvation,
that we may enter with joy upon the meditation
of those mighty acts by which you have promised us life and immortality;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Maudy Thursday / Holy Thursday
The Last Supper
Primary Reading: John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Other Readings: Exodus 12:1—14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
We need to take time to connect with the poor, resist our unceasing cravings, and pray. But we also need to gather with friends and family, share in God’s good provision, eat delicious food, tell stories that encourage us all, and celebrate the risen Lord.
– Chris Seay
Of all weapons, love is the most deadly and devastating, and few there be who dare trust their fate in its hands.
– Howard Thurman
Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.
– Martin Luther King, Jr
Holy God,
you are the source of all love,
Keep us awake on this night of Jesus’ betrayal,
Keep us alert throughout our lives,
so that we can see your love in the world
and write the new commandment of Jesus
on our hearts:
to love one another as Jesus loves us.
In the face of injustice and suffering,
let us be the hands and hearts
through which your kingdom breaks into this world,
through your Son, Jesus Christ,
the One who face evil without resisting
so we could witness the power of your love.
Good Friday
Jesus’ Execution & Death
Primary Reading: John 18:1—19:42
The gospel of Jesus is not a rational concept to be explained in a theory of salvation, but a story about God’s presence in Jesus’ solidarity with the oppressed, which led to his death on the cross. What is redemptive is the faith that God snatches victory out of defeat, life out of death, and hope out of despair.
– James Cone
Sing, my tongue the glorious battle, tell the triumph far and wide:
tell aloud the wondrous story of the cross, the Crucified,
tell how Christ, the world’s redeemer,
vanquished death the day he died.
– Venantius Fortunatus
“Christ is not gloriously transported from earth into heaven. He must instead go to the cross. And precisely there, where the cross stands, the resurrection is near. Precisely here, where all lose faith in God, where all despair about the power of God, God is fully there, and Christ is alive and near.”
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Almighty God,
look with tender mercy on all humanity,
for whom Jesus Christ endure suffering and the cross,
in order to show us the power of love,
and the strength of peacefulness.
God of the cross,
be present with all who suffer,
and teach us to follow in the way of the cross,
through the same Jesus,
who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
