Approaching Holy Week

If we want to be truly Christian
This next week ought to be a time
When we share in a special way
In the passion of Christ .
We do this, not so much by indulging
In pious feelings
But by bearing the burdens of our life
With simple
Fortitude and modesty.
For we share by faith
In the passion of our Lord
Precisely by realizing
That our life is a participation
In His destiny.
We often find this difficult
Because we fail to understand
That the bitterness and burdens
Of our own life do-or-should-
Give us a mysterious share
In the destiny of all human beings....
If we were aware of this...
We would understand that his passion
Is the unique acceptance
Of the passion of humankind,
In which it is accepted, suffered, redeemed, and freed
Into the mystery of God.

Karl Rahner


Reading: Mark 14:1-10

Let us pray: O Jesus, stretch forth your wounded hands over your people to heal and to restore, and to draw us to yourself and to one another in love. Amen.