You Will Follow Later April 11

Prayer

God, the Way of the Cross is hard. Even though we were not there with Jesus, you give us losses so that we will know what your son experienced that first Holy Week.

Give us the fortitude not to deny you with our lifestyles and our words.

Give us the peace to calm our anger so we can constructively tackle the problems around us.

Give us a rational mind if we try to bargain with you so we can seek and find solutions to the problems of the world.

Give us uplifting that depression may not weigh us down.

Give us acceptance as Joseph, Mary and Jesus accepted your call. Show us where we fit into this plan of yours. Then, let us be at peace with being present to you and doing your will. Amen.

Study

Our Holy Week Walk continues…
http://www.usccb.org/nab/041206.shtml

“You will follow later.”

Christ tells Peter that he can’t go with him now. So in one sense, Christ is speaking metaphorically about passing through death to forgive our sins. However, literally, we also know that Peter will be crucified later. Jesus’ statement also predicts that we will follow Jesus -- as a teacher and through all the stages of grief and sadness that Jesus passes through this week. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross outlined the stages of grief that we pass through after experiencing a loss…the death of a loved on, divorce, property destruction, unemployment or others. During the Holy Week Walk with Jesus, we share in each of these stages.

Denial. At the first stage, the loss is not acknowledged so realities (and pain) sink in slowly. Peter is told of his pending denial and denies that he will deny Christ. Even Judas says, “Surely it is not I who will betray you.” Christ prays in the Garden to let this cup pass if it is the Father’s will. So, as the salvation story is about to come to a climax, we see denial on the faces and in the actions of all the leading characters.

Anger. Next, our fears are replaced by sadness and anger. Christ gets angry in the garden to repeatedly find the disciples asleep when he asks them to stay awake. Then, we see anger in Simon Peter turns to violence despite all that Jesus has taught about peace. After Simon Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus, Jesus heals the wound to help us pass through violence and into peace.

Bargaining. Like the traders that we are, we then try to rationalize the situation and bargain our way out – As if life is the return counter at Target the day after Christmas. Peter and Christ get into a little debate over washing of the feet or washing the whole body. Jesus tries to bargain with God about taking the cup. Pilate tries to bargain with Christ just as Satan challenged Christ at the beginning of Lent in the desert. Pilate than bargains with the crowd to identify a prison to be released on the Passover. The good thief bargains for his soul. Judas gets his pieces of silver from the bargain with the Jewish and Roman authorities. The soldiers bargain for Jesus’ clothes by casting lots. The only one who seeks no bargain is God.

Depression. Kubler-Ross says that we next pass through the stage of depression. The Johns Hopkins website explains that “There is acute awareness of the reality of the loss and its meaning, the disruption in everyday life, the loss of feelings that the world is safe and fair. This stage is temporary but very painful.” During depression, the risk of suicide is greatest. Perhaps such a depression came over Judas when he hung himself for his final act. The disciples scatter and go into hiding just as someone with depression might isolate themselves or lock themselves away in their room. We see the sadness on the faces of those Jesus meets along the Way of the Cross -- in the face of Veronica and the women from town. Also, Jesus has this experience on the cross when he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”

Acceptance. Finally, our Holy Week grief passes through the acceptance stage as we see Jesus accept the fate when he says, “Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?” Jesus’ acceptance of God’s will also is evident in the debates with Pilate. Finally on the cross when Jesus says, “It is finished.”

Jesus separated us from our past lives of sin. He replaced it with a new covenant, new relationship and new laws. He changed everything from his Incarnation to his Resurrection and beyond.

Action

Can you reach out to someone who has experienced a loss in the last year and see if you can walk with them through whatever stage of grief they are experiencing? Remember, when you do this to the least, you do it for Jesus.