The Story of Holy Week
The Bible tells us that Jesus had many friends. He liked to be with
them. He taught them many things. Yet the time came for His
“Passion.” That meant it was time for Him to suffer and die to pay
for the sins of the whole world. That’s what Holy Week is all
about. On Sunday of Holy Week Jesus entered Jerusalem. He rode on a
donkey. Many people were there. They took branches and waved
them. Some took off their coats and laid them on the road.
The people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the
one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest
heaven!” Then Jesus went to the temple. When He got there, He threw out
the people who exchanged money and sold animals for use in the
temple. He said, “Scripture says, ‘My house will be called a house
of prayer,’ but you’re turning it into a gathering place for thieves” The next few days Jesus continued to teach both His friends and the crowds who came to listen. He continued to speak against the wrong people did. Many of the religious leaders didn’t like what
Jesus said since they thought He was talking about them. They decided to find a way to kill Jesus. Since Jesus knew He would soon die, Thursday evening He shared a special meal with His friends. Christians call this meal The Lord’s Supper. This is what the Bible said happened at the meal. “While they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it. He broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said, ‘Take this, and eat it. This is My body.’ “Then He took a cup and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He gave it to them and said, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood, the blood of the promise. It is poured out for many people so that sins are forgiven’ ” Then Jesus went with His friends and followers to the Garden of
Gethsemane. He asked His disciples to stay awake and pray for Him. He prayed
to God the Father, asking the Father if there was another way to save us besides dying on the cross. Yet Jesus ended this prayer with, “… let Your will be done rather than Mine” Just then Judas, one of Jesus’ followers, came with a large crowd. He came and kissed Jesus on the cheek. This was a sign to tell the guards who they were to arrest. They came and arrested Jesus. All Jesus’ followers ran away. The next day they took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. They told Pilate that Jesus should die. Pilate finally agreed
to it. After the soldiers made fun of Jesus, they led Him to Golgotha. That’s where they crucified Him. They hung Jesus on the cross with nails pounded through His
hands and feet. A criminal hung on each side of Him. Jesus
suffered terribly for over three hours on the cross. Many people
made fun of Him. Finally Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” You might think that meant
He was about to die. But it meant more than that. It meant that
right then Jesus had paid off the debt of all our sin. That’s why He
had to die on the cross—to pay for all our sins. You see, we are
responsible for His death. Jesus allowed Himself to be captured,
tried, and crucified so He could suffer the punishment that should
be ours. After paying for our sins He died. On Wednesday this week Father Pawel celebrated Mass with us here at St Teresa’s. 
People become good disciples of Jesus because of their relationship with him. We develop this relationship with Jesus through our reading of Scripture and our life of prayer. But most especially, Jesus promises us that he will remain in us and that we will be his disciples when we share his Body and Blood in the Eucharist.
We received ashes on our foreheads to show that we will try extra hard to make the right choices and to use our gifts and talents for the good of others.
