Holy Monday

source: mb.com.ph

Holy Week is considered to be the most important week in the calendar of the Catholic Church. For five weeks of Lent, Christians have been preparing spiritually for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ.

On Palm Sunday, we opened the week with the commemoration of our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem. This is an invitation for us, too, to welcome Christ into our hearts, our homes, and in our social life.

The Holy Week is a time for us to pause and reflect on the mysteries of God’s love for us and discern how faithful we have been to His call to each one of us.

The Gospel readings today tell us that there are people who rejected the coming of the Messiah. People wanted to get rid of Jesus because He was a threat to their religion when in reality, He just wanted to expose the complacency of the religious leaders during His time in the midst of the abuses of the Roman Empire. Jesus exposed their lavish lifestyle and called them many names because they were not faithful to what they were preaching.

At times, we, too, are like the Pharisees.

We do not want to move away from our comfort zones to serve others. We want to be on the safe side, unmindful of the plight of the poor in our midst.

Like Mary, the sister of Lazarus in the Gospel reading today, may we discover the importance of having Jesus in our midst. He is the only person who can make us truly happy.

This Holy Week, let us recall the moments when we felt close to God’s presence.

Let us also strive to make a place for Jesus in our lives. Let us learn to focus more on the more important things in our lives. May Jesus forever live in our hearts and homes.

source: mb.com.ph