HOLY WHOLLY, WHOLLY HOLY WEEK

As we enter into Holy Week, we try to imagine what happened: the glorious procession into Jerusalem; the intimate gathering in the upper room where Jesus gave his farewell talk to his followers, washed their feet and fed them with the Eucharist; the brutal crucifixion and death; and then the glorious triumph of the resurrection, it is easy to be overwhelmed.

           

It is also easy to be intimidated by it all.  Jesus did so much for us because he loved us. We do so little, it seems, in return. When we compare our good deeds to Jesus's great deeds, we come out on the short end. It's almost a holier-than-thou relationship, and we know who is holier than us.

           

But we are not asked to compare our deeds, however good or even not-so-good, with those of Jesus. Jesus was Jesus and did Jesus's thing, if I may be so colloquial. We do our thing.  Jesus was called to be Jesus and do what he was called to do. You and I are called to be who we are and do what we are called to do, whatever that calling may entail.

           

Jesus lived his life to the fullest, a life of love, of love of God, neighbor and self. He gave his all in living out this love. He gave his life. Holy Week is a stark reminder of that life,

that love, that giving of that life in love. But Holy Week is also a reminder for us that we are called to do no less: to give our life, to live our life in love of and for others. Holy Week is not a time of comparing our life to Jesus's. It is a time for examining our life.

           

People saw in Jesus someone remarkable. He was so not because he could heal the sick or even raise the dead. He was remarkable because he actually lived out in his life what he asked others to do in theirs. Jesus was wholly holy; his whole life was one of holiness of life. He was holy wholly as well; his whole being was holy. Maybe that is why they wanted to make him their king. If our leader is wholly holy, maybe we will be too.

           

The disciples saw in Jesus not only someone who could lead but someone whose leadership was based solely on a ministry of service: servants wash the feet of the master. Servants do the difficult deeds, carry the burdens, even die on the cross. Servants, not kings. Servants are wholly human.

           

From a distance we see the same. Holy Week allows us, asks us, to go back in time, to become part of those events, to see what others saw, to ask the same questions others asked. Holy Week allows us to take the time to examine how closely our life reflects the life and love of Jesus -- reflects, not repeats. We are not to be born-again Jesus's.

           

We are called to be holy wholly, holy wholly people. We are called to live the holy life of a child of God, to be wholly human. We fail to be holy all the time, of course. That's because we are not God or God's Son. It is because we are wholly human. But that does not mean we should not try to be wholly holy and holy wholly. Holy Week is a good time to examine how wholly holy we are or can become in and through Jesus who showed us how.