We are entering the climax of our Christian existence. Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week.

I wrote this poem while at Adoration.

The Way of Pain

Peter stood as He passed by

Not once, not twice, but three times he denies.

When the cock crows he cries.

His Mother met Him and held Him tight;

She knew very well His terrible plight;

The way of pain was not yet done.

Not knowing He was the One

A man named Simon helped the Son.

The soldiers whipped Him and spat on His face,

But Jesus kept His place.

The women wept as He passed them by,

But one in particular caught His eye.

She ran in haste to wipe His face

And on the cloth His image stayed.

The crowd, with fists raised high, in unison sang the same death song,

“Crucify Him!“ “Crucify Him!”

It was finished, the work was done.

© Lynda Ciriza

Palm Sunday

Following in the footsteps of Jesus as He made his triumphant entry into the city, one can truly imagine the joy in the hearts of His followers. Experiencing this as a pilgrim, my eyes recorded this joyous event and I stored them deep within my heart.

Why did Jesus ask His disciples to bring Him a colt? This was done to fulfill the prophecy in Zechariah.

In Matthew 21:7-8, the people spread their cloaks over the animals because this was a tradition of the Israelite kingship to reestablish a Davidic line. It’s also important to understand that there were two groups of Jews: the Jews who joined Jesus for His triumphal entry and the Jews who lived in Jerusalem. The Jews who lived in Jerusalem knew very little if anything about Jesus; these were the ones who joined forces with the Romans to demand Jesus’ crucifixion.

Monday

On this day Jesus curses a fig tree for not bearing  fruit. What good are we if we are not bearing fruit, or if our fruit is tasteless?  As  disciples of Jesus, we should always bear good fruit. This was also the day that Judas Iscariot negotiated with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus (Mat 26:14-16).

Tuesday 

The chief priest, scribes and Pharisees form a pack against Jesus and attempt to entrap Him. They organize an ambush but Jesus evaded their trap. Jesus’ harsh word against them:(Mat 23:24-33)

Wednesday

The Bible does not say what Jesus did on Wednesday but Bible scholars believed He spent the day resting in Bethany in anticipation of the Passover.

Holy Thursday, The First Day of Triduum

The word Triduum comes from the Latin meaning three days  in preparation for a great feast.

In the Upper Room, Jesus took on the role of a servant and washed the feet of His disciples. Washing the feet is part of the Aaronic priesthood (Ex 30:21).

While they are eating the Last Supper, Jesus announces that one of them will betray Him.

The bread and wine is the institution of the Holy Eucharist.

On Holy Thursday Jesus instituted the priesthood over his apostles at the Last Supper (Mt 26:26-29). This is commemorating the celebration of the first Mass. At every Mass we recall what great sacrifice Jesus did for us by dying on the Cross.

Good Friday, Second Day of Triduum

While Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas arrives with the chief priest, scribes and elders.  Judas has done his dirty deeds and received thirty pieces coins. We know that Judas hanged himself, but before that, he returned the money he received for the betrayal of Jesus to the high priest (Mt 27:3-10). This too was in fulfillment of the prophet Zechariah.

The chief priest requests that a guard be placed at the tomb of Jesus. The guarded tomb is secured and sealed. This was done so that Jesus’ body could not be stolen,  allowing His disciples to later claim that He had risen from the dead. These guards were assumed to be Roman soldiers because Jews had no authority to perform an executions (Mt 27:62-66).

Holy Saturday is the great Easter Vigil, this is always an evening service. The church will be in complete darkness – representing the tomb. Fire is lit from outside of the church followed by a procession. The Paschal candle is lit – representing the light and life of Christ. This candle is used throughout the year for celebrating baptisms , First Holy Communion, Confirmation and funerals.

Easter Sunday

As the women who loved our Lord come to anoint His body, they discover an empty tomb.  Jesus entrusted the great news of His Resurrection to women! (Luke 24:1-9)  Alleluia, Christ the Lord is Risen!

My Prayer

Dear Jesus, as we walk through Holy Week with You may our hearts be filled with sorrow and gratitude for what You have done for us. May we never deny Your existence. Teach us to carry our crosses as You did with great dignity. Lord reveal to us, in the spirit of Simon of Cyrene, to help those whose crosses are to hard to bear. May we come alongside them in prayer. Thank You, Lord, for Your glorious Resurrection! Amen.

We have all told a lie at one time or another.

Lying is first mentioned in Genesis 3:1-24 when the serpent deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden.

God Is Truth

God knew when He created the human race that by nature man would fall short. So to better understand this subject of lying is to know that God is truth (John 14:6-7). The basis of  Christianity and why we are Christians  is because we believe in God’s truth. Truth is fundamental in our walk with Christ; we should all be seeking His direction in every area of our lives.

One Of The  Ten Commandments

Thou Shall not bear false witness is the ninth commandment. To the Lord the truth is so consequential that He made it into a commandment.

God Is Our GPS

On Sunday I gave  our grandson Lucas and three other friends a ride to the movies. Lucas entered the address on Waze, an app for driving directions. Waze got us there but because, I was not accustomed to using this app, I could not shut it off. All the way home it continued to inform me to make a U-turn. There was little I could do to stop the noise. Finally when I got home, Jacob, our other grandson, shut down the voices that were driving me crazy.

Although  I knew my way home because of this device, I got a little disoriented. “Am I going the right way?” I asked myself. If we truly believe God is our modern day GPS,  the Holy Spirit will alert us to all the untruths that penetrate our minds.

Teach The Truth 

The students I teach have been well catechized about telling the truth. I remind them, “If you are lying, your heart will beat faster. That is God reminding you to always tell the truth. Remember the Devil is the Father of Lies.”

When a parent or role model lies and their lies are accepted as truth, this becomes problematic. People who lie, especially compulsive liars, lack conviction deep within their souls. They have become so accustomed to their lies that it’s part of their nature. This habitual behavior is all they know. So perhaps it may not be a generational curse, but is it a learned behavior?

For instance, if a child’s father was an alcoholic and beat the child’s  mother, this abusive behavior could be passed on to the child. It’s the same with lying.

The Danger Of Lies

When we owned our tortilla factory the position of Human Resources fell under my responsibility. I did all the hiring and disciplinary action if we had problems with employees. I hired a friend of ours to deliver our product out of state. This person was a long haul driver.

Whopper Lies

One day I was notified that the man I had hired, this personal friend, failed to show up for work. When I called him he told me that his pregnant wife was in a car accident. I felt so bad and totally dismissed his absence. In those days we had handwritten applications with phone numbers for emergency  contacts. I was concerned about  his wife and the welfare of their baby. On his application he had listed his mother-in-law as a contact. When I called his mother-in-law and asked about her daughter, the woman was confused. She told me that her daughter was never in an accident and that her daughter had just left her house.

The Outcome

This unsettling news about this  horrific lie did not sit well with me. So I called out the lie to the driver. But instead of being apologetic, he became enraged. Shortly after that incident notes were left on my desk with images of tombstones with my name written on them saying R.I.P.  Needless to say the man was fired. This happened in the 90’s and messages like these were not considered that threatening; nevertheless, this man’s actions made me very uncomfortable.

2483 Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead into error someone who has the right to know the truth. By injuring man’s relation to truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of man and of his word to the Lord.

2484 The gravity of a lie is measured against the nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the intentions of the one who lies, and the harm suffered by its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it becomes mortal when it does grave injury to the virtues of justice and charity.

2485 By its very nature, lying is to be condemned. It is a profanation of speech, whereas the purpose of speech is to communicate known truth to others. the deliberate intention of leading a neighbor into error by saying things contrary to the truth constitutes a failure in justice and charity. the culpability is greater when the intention of deceiving entails the risk of deadly consequences for those who are led astray.

I believe that The Catechism of the Catholic Church overview offers a deeper meaning on the dangers of lying.

 

This is From Psychology Today