It was night… ~ reflex on Jn 13 for Tuesday of Holy Week

Tuesday of Holy Week. We are nearing the holiest days of the year, the Triduum, and after hearing the Gospel of the Passion last Sunday, our hearts should be aching with anticipation of the events we are called to enter into with the Lord, the one we love, the one who willingly endures all these things for you and for me.

Maybe we feel courageous this year and want to do much to remain with the Lord.

Maybe we feel squeamish at the thought of meditating on the Passion.

Maybe we feel nothing, indifferent, as if it has little bearing on our daily concerns.

If we are courageous, Jesus may warn us that we will deny him three times.

If we are squeamish, he may plead with us, “Could you not watch one hour with me?” (Matt. 26:40).

If we are feeling nothing, we may need to ask for the grace of deeper insight, so that we can appreciate the gravity of these days.

No matter what we feel, we should take some time this week to be still before Him, look on His agonizing face, and recall the prophetic words of the Psalm: “I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:20-21).

It is night. The darkness of impending death and the tomb weigh on Holy Week. Let us not be afraid to look upon Him who we have pierced (Zech. 12:10, Jn 19:37), to look on what our sins have wrought, to spend time making the quiet effort to be with the agonizing Heart of the one who gave all for love of us, because we know that on the other side of the tomb is the light of Resurrection.