Holy Week invites you into the complete journey of faith, not just the celebration of Palm Sunday and Easter. You might prefer to skip Good Friday’s darkness, avoiding the cross and tomb, but there’s a profound truth to embrace: resurrection cannot exist without death. This year especially, as many experience crucifixion in various forms—transgender individuals losing rights, immigrants detained in concentration camps, universities threatened for their diversity programs—you’re called to witness these modern crucifixions and stand in solidarity with those suffering.
The tomb represents not just an ending but a place of vital spiritual work. Like Mary Magdalene who, according to her gospel, held space for Jesus as he descended into hell to free lost souls, you’re invited to enter the darkness of the tomb. This willingness to sit with suffering, to risk yourself for those being harmed, creates the conditions for resurrection. When you embrace this difficult spiritual work, the stone rolls away, light enters, and you discover that “nothing has power over death anymore.”
“If we are willing to not be afraid of the cross, if we are willing to risk our whole beings for God’s call for us, resurrection will always be there for us. That is the good news of Easter.”
This resurrection power transformed figures like Oscar Romero and Martin Luther King Jr., who knew their deaths would inspire others to rise up for justice. As an Easter people, you’re called to stand boldly with the oppressed, knowing that no matter what happens, resurrection follows. Your courage to walk toward the cross, without fearing death, becomes part of a continuing movement that embodies the way of Jesus in the world.
