'Let us resolve to listen to the Scriptures'
In the course of this Mass we have traced the main events of the last week of Jesus’ life. We have walked with him in his last, triumphal, entry into Jerusalem; we have sat with him at the Last Supper; and we have followed – probably at a distance – as he made his way from the garden of Gethsemane to the High Priest; and then to the Prætorium; and finally to Golgotha, the place of execution, just outside Jerusalem. We have heard of the death of Christ and have seen him laid in the tomb.
The Church has related these events to us at the beginning of this week so that we can reflect upon them and so prepare for the Sacred Triduum at the end of this week. She asks us now to rededicate ourselves in these final days of Lent so that we may celebrate Easter with joy.
What does it mean to rededicate ourselves at the beginning of this last week of Lent? Let us turn first prophet Isaiah: ‘Each morning he wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple. The Lord has opened my ear. For my part, I made no resistance’ (Isaiah 50.4b-5b). At the beginning of this last week of Lent let us resolve to listen to the Scriptures – opening ourselves so that we can hear the Lord addressing himself to us. We do not need learned commentaries at this moment, we simply need a text of the Sacred Scriptures. This is a moment for us to sit and pray with the sacred text and allow the Lord to address us as he thinks best. I would particularly encourage you to read the Scriptures sent for the sacred liturgies of the Triduum so that you come to these liturgies with minds and hearts prepared to hear what the Lord has to say to the Church.
As we read the Gospel narratives we are forced to ask ourselves, ‘how can one make sense of the brutal judicial murder of Jesus?’ Let us pursue the route taken in the early Church by the Apostles: The Apostles discovered that they could make sense of what happened by reflecting upon the words of the Old Testament and seeing the life and death of Jesus as the fulfilment of the Old Testament worship and prophecies. It is for this reason that we find the psalms and the prophets being cited in the Passion narratives. Let us, in the week that lies ahead, make our own careful exploration of Gospel narrative of the Passion the culmination of our Lenten preparation for Easter. If we prepare in this way I think we may be sure that the Lord God will bring us to true joy on Easter morning.