From Lententide to Eastertide

If it were that year now - the year when Jesus died and resurrected, we would be counting hours for his resurrection now during these darkest hours of Jesus' death - only if we understand what Jesus meant when he foretold his death.During the darkest hours from the death of Jesus to his resurrection, it is fitting to reflect meaning of Lent and its connection to Easter. For us to appreciate Easter, it is indispensable that we understand what our Lenten journey means. 

Remember, when Jesus and his disciples were still in the region of Galilee, at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked them who they think he is. Peter was the only one, who gave the correct answer, saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”(Matthew 16;16), as aided by the divine power (Matthew 16:17). This confession of Peter on Jesus as the Christ led to Jesus’ foretelling of his death, to which Peter protested but rebuked by Jesus (Matthew 16:21-28). Then, after 6 days from this, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, to Mt. Tabor and let them witness his Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13).

This strain of events in Galilee actually foreshadows the death and resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem. The Gospel narrative of Matthew 16:21-28 is very important to reflect the meaning of Holy Week, as Jesus not only foretells but also explains what it means to follow him, as the discipleship requires self-denial and taking up our own cross, in these verses. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”(Matthew 16:24), said Jesus, hoping that his disciples would be loyal to him, even though he must go to Jerusalem  to suffer greatly and be killed but to be raised on the third day (Matthew 16:21) to fulfill the Messianic prophesy (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).

As disciples of Jesus, we not only rejoice over the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, waving palms, spreading royal cloaks, and shouting, “Hosanna in the highest!”(i.e. Mark 11:10)  on Palm Sunday, but also we follow him all the way on Via Dolorosa to the foot of the Cross. Otherwise, we would turn ourselves into these mobs, shouting, “Crucify him!”(i.e. John 19:15) , even though we had thought Jesus entering into Jerusalem on donkey on Palm Sunday as the fulfillment of the coming of the Messiah King in Zechariah 9:9.  Or, we could be like Peter, who said, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you”, and the disciples who said likewise (Matthew 26:35), but denied him and ran away from him, upon his arrest, thus failing to walk with him on Via Dolorosa.

Now, having passed Palm Sunday, we are deep into the darkest hours of Paschal Triduum. It is the darkness of our sins that bring this darkness toward the end of the Holy Week. Tenebrae factae sunt, tenebre peccatis nostris. Our sinfulness that has brought this darkness of the hours is associated with a lack of strengths in our faith, as it fails us to follow Jesus on his Via Dolorosa to the foot of his Cross. Because weak lukewarm faith is easily plagued by fear, we flounder to keep our promise to follow Jesus – as such feeble faith is subject to various temptations, therefore, committing sins.

In order to make our Holy Week experience meaningful, as the consummation of our Lenten journey – to make our Easter experience truly joyful, we must remain loyal to Jesus as his disciples and walk on Via Dolorosa with him all the way to the Cross. 

Since Ash Wednesday, throughout these 6 weeks of Lententide, we have been on training ourselves to walk through Via Dolorosa with Jesus as his loyal disciples, though we may die with him. As long as we keep our strong faith in Christ, we understand what it means to remain loyal to him to the point of dying with him, as Paul writes in Romans 6:8, “If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” to rejoice the victory of eternal life over death. This eternal life has been promised by Jesus, “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live; and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die (John 11:25-26).  Namely, even though we die with Christ at the end of Via Dolorosa, in fulfilling our loyal discipleship, we live with him in the Resurrection.

Has our Lenten journey, which Fr. Michael Sparough, S.J., in his Ash Wednesday homily juxtaposes to “marathon training”, made your faith stronger – strong enough to complete Via Dolorosa with Jesus to the Cross?  Or, does the prospect of dying scare us off and makes us abandon Jesus in his Passion and run away from Via Dolorosa and the Cross?

In the past 6 weeks of the Lententide, we have confessed our sins and reconciled with God. Have our acts of penance and reconciliation not only brought us closer to God but made our faith strong enough to carry our cross on Via Dolorosa with Jesus?

At 3 o’clock in the afternoon on Good Friday, we must find ourselves at the foot the Cross, as we have completed journeying on Via Dolorosa with him.

To the faithless and those whose faith is weak, the Cross is seen as a defeat and an object of mockery, as one of the two crucified criminals along Jesus, contemptuously said, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us”(Luke 23:39). On the other hand, to those who are faithful, the Cross means salvation, as the other criminal said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”(Luke 23:42), to whom Jesus replied, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:43).

We, the faithful, are not like Peter, who denied Jesus three times, out of fear. We are not like the crowds of Jerusalem, whose Palm Sunday joy to welcome him turned into powerful hatred to demand his crucifixion, either.  Not to mention, we are not like the crucified criminal, who mocked crucified Jesus. We come to the Cross with Jesus to die with him in our sins so that we may live a new life with the risen Christ. This is why Easter is renewal. We have been committing ourselves to “marathon training” for this Easter renewal upon completing Via Dolorosa with Jesus at the foot of the Cross. Therefore, during the Eastertide, we can continue on with our “marathon training” all the way to its completion on Pentecost Sunday. Thus, our life as loyal disciples of Jesus is well said by Paul in these words:

 “For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me” (Galatians 2:19-20).

At the foot of the Cross, the phase I of the “marathon training”, which started on Ash Wednesday, has completed. From the Upper Room, where the risen Christ appears, we begin the phase II of our “marathon training” starts and will complete on Pentecost. Let us continue running with our cross and self-denial into the Eastertide!