Category Archives: Holy Week

Nothing could have stopped this Pascal mystery of God and humanity. No amount of super-good discipleship or wisdom or hindsight would make a lick of difference to God’s determination to draw all people to God’s self through Jesus lifted high and on a cross. See, we are no different than the shouting crowds – thoseContinue reading “Holy Week: Preaching as Good as It Gets”

“While Jesus is giving the new commandment to the apostles (now eleven), Judas betrays him for thirty pieces of silver. In Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, his sideways position, shown up by the half-open door, is in contrast to the close-knit group of disciples. They are all turning the same way in thoughtful attitudes, the softContinue reading “Holy Week with Duccio: Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles”

Source: Web Gallery of Art “The Last Supper is dominated by the central figure of Jesus who, to the astonishment of the onlookers, is offering bread to Judas Iscariot (shown in other panels with the same features). An unusual experiment with space has been made with John, whose position is traditional: the head of the favourite disciple is paintedContinue reading “Holy Week with Duccio: Last Supper”

NOTE: One of the traditions of Monday-Wednesday in Holy Week is spring cleaning, which goes back to the customs of Jewish families as they prepared for Passover. In honor of this tradition, here is another look at one of CM’s posts from July, 2010. And, heavens no, he is not actually doing any spring cleaning!Continue reading “Holy Week: Another Look at “Cleaning Closets””

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. (John 12:1-2) * * * This story intrigues me. Normally, when reading John 12:1-11, weContinue reading “Holy Week: Dinner with Him Once Dead”

Source: Web Gallery of Art The Gospel reading for Monday in Holy Week is John 12:1-11. This tells the story of Mary, Lazarus’s sister, anointing Jesus’ feet at a dinner in their home in honor of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. That act of bringing Lazarus back to life is emphasized throughout theContinue reading “Holy Week with Duccio: Resurrection of Lazarus”

Source: Web Gallery of Art “The scene Entry into Jerusalem is unusual because of the attention given to the landscape, which is rich in detail. The paved road, the city gate with battlements, the wall embrasures, the slender towers rising up above and the polygonal building of white marble reproduce a remarkably realistic layout, both urbanistically andContinue reading “Holy Week with Duccio: The Entry into Jerusalem”