In God’s Hands

^{Written by Sister Therese Ann Rich in 2014}

For most of us,  Holy Week unfolds like many others: work, school, preparing meals, doing laundry.

But Palm Sunday begins an unusual week – one that concentrates on the ultimate meaning of our lives.

We’re invited to reflect on these questions: Why are we here? What have we been called to do? What are we willing to die for?

We have journeyed from Ash Wednesday to this day. This week, we will experience the last hours of the life of Jesus. We must slow down and make choices so that this week does not go by without our taking time to enter into its meaning.
 
In our Gospel today, even in the midst of great suffering, Jesus extends his compassion to others, so total, that he willingly empties himself to the point of death. As we enter this week, let us pray that our self-emptying for the good of others will be so total.
 
We celebrate in the liturgies of this week what we live every day – all the dying to self that characterizes our faithful discipleship. The triumph of this week is in doing our tasks with joy, being kind to those around us [even those cranky folks], meeting setbacks as paths to learning.

Then, with Jesus, we can commend ourselves into God’s hands.