We are exposed to an extraordinary level of violence especially physical violence.
So much of our news is marked by violence in various forms.
So much of our entertainment is graphically violent.
It is so pervasive that we’ve lost or risk losing our sense of the suffering that this violence inflicts on others especially the innocent.
It has become easy for us to focus on the spectacle and forget the cruelty of intention and the evil purpose of the perpetrator.
This coming Holy Week is marked by violence and cruelty to the point of death by crucifixion. It was typical of its time.
Behind every conflict or war there are forces of control and oppression that press on the weak, innocent and vulnerable.
These are powerless over their oppressors.
This is the original story of Holy Week – we see it replicated in so many parts of the world – not least in the land on which Jesus walked among us.
The righteous one, the cause of right is always under threat – because their integrity and goodness ever irritates the holder of power.
This week affords us a new opportunity to meditate and pray with the Lord through the mystery of courage, love, generosity and self-sacrifice that vindicates that violence or death are not the last word about us.
The suffering Servant of Isaiah (1st Reading) is a model of the suffering Jesus would encounter. What makes Holy Week so special is all Jesus has taught us through what he said and did on his way to Calvary and beyond.
It is for us to join the suffering of the world to his and know that the lowly and innocent with and through him will win the crown of life.