Time to think: Easter is much more than chocolate and lamb
Easter eggs have been on sale since last Christmas
THE month of April has begun with splendid sunshine and blue skies.
This is a beautiful time of year as nature awakens within us all a time of hope and new beginning. On 13 April, Palm Sunday heralds the beginning of Holy Week. The past few weeks of Lent have moved quickly by. These days, we are invited to indulge in a wonderful promise that our God conquers darkness, transforming fear into hope, sadness into joy, anxiety into a deep confidence, and that in Christ, all will be well.
There is no shortage of bad news, we live in a turbulent and troubled world. Our economy is exposed by US tariffs and we are very vulnerable, despite huge progress in recent years.
Images across the world of war, famine and devastation caused by natural disasters make us all somewhat fragile. It is precisely in this context, at a particular moment of time, where Jesus in his final days lived and witnessed every aspect of human vulnerability.
Often, people ask how God allows such bad things happen? As we journey through life, our human experience teaches us words or answers to the why of human suffering. Jesus doesn't give an answer to the why of human suffering, but his example offers each one of us a great sense of empathy as he himself carried the cross.
As we enter Holy Week, we walk with Jesus through the most sacred and challenging moments of his life. This is a time to pause, reflect and open our hearts to the mystery of God’s love. From Palm Sunday’s triumphant entry to the silence of the tomb, we see a journey that mirrors our own – moments of joy, betrayal, suffering and ultimately resurrection.
So, this Holy Week, let’s journey with him. Let’s serve like him, endure with him, wait with him, and rise with him. For in his passion, we find our salvation; in his rising, we find our joy.
This Holy Week – seven days filled with religious symbolism and rituals, from washing feet to venerating the cross – tells the hopeful story of Jesus’ great love and resilient compassion. A free love given in an absolute fashion. A love told powerfully by a God who ‘laid down his life for his friends’.
On Holy Thursday, we witness Jesus washing the disciples’ feet – a radical act of humility.
He shows us that love is not just a feeling but a service, a giving of oneself. How often do we hesitate to serve, to forgive, to kneel before others in compassion?
Jesus in Gethsemane reminds us that we are not alone. His fragile and very vulnerable experience of doubt, frustration and extreme anxiety is a powerful solidarity with so many who are uncertain and overwhelmed. I think especially of those who live with anxiety, ill health, bereavement and the horrible reality of war and violence, especially Christians being persecuted across the world.
Good Friday confronts us with the cross – raw, real and heavy with the weight of human suffering. Yet, it’s not the end. Jesus’ cry of abandonment becomes a cry of trust: ‘Into your hands, I commend my spirit.’ In our own crosses – our struggles, losses, or fears – can we trust that God is near, even when we feel forsaken?
The Prayer of Abandonment by Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916) is a profound expression of trust and surrender to God’s will. He was a French Catholic priest, hermit and missionary, who lived a life of simplicity and devotion, particularly among the Tuareg people in the Sahara desert.
Though he didn’t formally compose this prayer as a standalone piece, it is derived from a meditation he wrote in 1896, reflecting his spirituality of self-abandonment – letting go of personal control and entrusting oneself entirely to divine providence.
The prayer is often presented as follows:
Then comes Holy Saturday, a day of waiting. The tomb is sealed and silence reigns. It’s a reminder that faith often means holding on in the dark, trusting that light is coming.
Finally, Easter dawns. The stone is rolled away and death is defeated. This is our hope: that no darkness is final, no wound beyond healing. Christ’s resurrection invites us to rise, too, – to new life, new purpose, new love.
Holy Week is an invitation to pause, reflect and nourish our spiritual selves. In a secular world, Easter eggs have been on sale since last Christmas. Easter is much more than chocolate and lamb. Holy Week is indeed seven very sacred days.
I pray that the grace and love of God will accompany you throughout these special days.
