Living Holy Week is to enter into the heart of God
If Holy Week has a gateway, it is the Friday of Sorrows—a day marked on the calendar to remember and contemplate Mary’s suffering in the face of her Son’s Passion. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, we are called more actively to deepen our faith and live it with joy. With the strength of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we set out on the Lenten journey of conversion.
On the threshold of Holy Week, let us be enveloped by the message of love and trust that flows from the Cross, and let us become faithful witnesses of the heart of the crucified Christ. Let us ask God that, like Mary, we may learn to accompany the suffering of our brothers and sisters not from afar, but with a close embrace—an embrace that transforms lives and changes the world, because it is the embrace of incarnate love.
To live Holy Week is to enter into the heart of God: the heart offered on Maundy Thursday, the heart pierced on Good Friday, and the heart risen on Easter Sunday. Mary, with her heart pierced by the sword of sorrow, is the best guide and teacher on this path of hope and transformation. Let us allow her to help us live this Holy Week with a renewed spirit.
Amen.
Fr. José Francisco Orozco CM
International Spiritual Advisor, SSVP