Fr. Paul Lyons explains the significance of Holy Week

From New Testament times onwards the heart and the centre of the Christian faith and life has been the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. St Paul sums up the Gospel message in saying ‘Christ died for our sins… and was raised on the third day according to God’s promises”, and our participation through baptism and faith in that same mystery is central to our pilgrimage.

The Church does not wish us simply to watch the events at a distance – but to be deeply involved in them: to be drawn into Christ’s surrender to the Father. It is only through participating fully in the liturgy and worship of each of the great days of Holy Week that we are enabled to share in the Passover of Christ.

Through this week, the Church celebrates ONE mystery: the saving mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, which we call the Paschal Mystery. What is the Passover of Christ? It is the action through which the man Jesus gives himself to God in his life, in his suffering, and in his death on a cross, and is accepted by God and raised to a new and transformed life in the resurrection.

In passing over from this world to the Father, Jesus overcomes for himself, and for his people; he gains a share in the undying life of God himself. It is the sacrifice offered, transformed and accepted through which humankind is united with God. It is the event by which the Son of God in our human life and history overcomes death and enters into life through surrendering himself completely in love.

Each of the great days of Holy Week reminds us of the separate events of the first Holy Week.

On a deeper level, on each of these days we celebrate the ONE mystery of Jesus’ offering of himself, and his acceptance by God – each celebration views the mystery from a different angle.