The exultant waving of palms to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem marks the beginning of Holy Week—the climax of the liturgical calendar. It might as well be named as “Busy Week”. We can be engrossed by the physical preparations as to forget what “holy” in Holy Week means. We are counting down the final days in the earthly life of Jesus and the spotlight on the bitter passion of the Saviour is meant to evoke in us a profound sorrow for our sins.
Sadly, busy is better because the world is in such a dire straits. For example, collectively, many of the poorer countries appear to be facing a crisis of apocalyptic proportions. Every variation in the weather pattern is now articulated as emanating from climate change. We are repeatedly reminded that island nations will disappear as the sea level is rising. As a consequence of this urgency, the Stations of the Cross have been co-opted into promoting a greater awareness of our ecological obligations. This concern for the future of creation is laudable. However, even if our climate responses are important, they completely miss the mark that Holy Week’s spotlight shines on the Saviour alone.
The focus of Holy Week is to pay attention to the Lord’s Passion. Matthew took great pains to inform the reader that Jesus was the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. He even cited quotations that proved Jesus to be the Suffering Servant described by Isaiah. The events leading to the Saviour’s death was a result of His obedience to the will of the Father. In other words, Jesus died on account of the sin of man. He died for you and me.
Somehow this truth does not come across as urgent as we have the more pressing matter of the environment to care about. We are busy trying to save the world ourselves.[1] However, our concern for environmental justice, even though it is compelling, fails to recognise that personal sins are the causes of so many of these ecological missteps we have. As Pope Francis remarked, “our selfish system is motivated by profit at any price”. Perhaps the move to widen the concept of sin to include environmental destruction is a right step. But still what must be stressed is that sin is “selfish” more than it is “structural” or systemic. While it matters that there are unjust structures, what matters more is that I am the sinner.
Personal conversion is the only way out of our environmental mess. The path to interior change is to focus on Jesus. Perhaps one should try watching one of the older movies on the life and death of Jesus. There is less baggage in these dated films as the current offerings tend to be ideological in trying to coax us to pay attention to current issues ailing society. These virtue-signalling movies are inclined to highlight the present “isms” that must be eradicated[2] in the attempt to construct a better world without realising that we are in such a shambles simply because we have ignored the reality of sin, not structural sin but personal sin. We shy from taking responsibility for personal sin because our therapeutic mentality struggles to process guilt. It is easier and more convenient to point to some structures that require changing than recognising that necessary change must begin individually and personally.[3]
The now defunct season of “Passiontide” is indicative of the mood that we should embrace. After declaring “Before Abraham was, I AM”, the crowd wanted to stone Him and so Jesus hid, signifying the retreat of His Divinity. From now on, His humanity is on trial. It is true that He will be scourged on account of our “collective” sins but it takes a paradigm shift to go through Holy Week acutely aware that He died for MY sins. He did not die for our “collective sins” because “collective sins” do not exist on their own except through the contributions of each individual’s personal sins.
At the end of the Holy Week, what is it that we have “accomplished”, if achievement is even a proper word to characterise the culmination of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection? The aim of Holy Week is to deepen the sense that I have been saved from MY sins. His death will not make any sense if I were sinless. This is how profoundly personal the death of Christ is for me. Otherwise, we are merely undergoing therapy. Therapy at best helps us to cope. But Jesus is the Redeemer. He took my sins upon Himself. He is the Saviour and not a therapist. Therapy can change one’s mind but only Jesus Christ can change one’s heart. Focussing on my sins can help me turn to Him who, in the days to come, will be crucified for my sins. My sins, not ours, put Him on the Cross.
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[1] Many of the burning issues, the “cause célèbre” today are centred on righting the wrongs of the past. Hence the push towards DEI. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
[2] The underlying message is that you are not good enough to be “included” unless you do these things.
[3] The age of media presence is driven by the need to virtue signal. “Media presence” is possibly a cynical indication of God’s absence. Hence, if what we do is not “seen” by God, then it must be witnessed by men. Therefore this requirement to virtue signal. A good example is Lady Antebellum—a Country singing group whose name seemed to romanticise slavery. They have since changed their name to Lady A which ironically is a name used by a black singer for more than 20 years. Anyway, it was to signal their “woke” credential, broadcasting to the world how “distant” they are from the evil of slavery and white privilege. Since we no longer need God’s blessing (since He is glaringly absent), we will certainly need man’s approval.
