Entering Into Holy Week

And so it begins... the week that changed everything for everyone of us. Holy Week begins with Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He enters this city to joyful shouts of Hosanna. Five days from now, He will leave it, carrying the weight of our sins, to the hateful shouts of Crucify Him!
But between these two events, the Master still has more to teach those who follow Him. He still has more He wishes to share with them. On Thursday, He will share the meal He has so desired to share with them. One last Passover with His closest friends and followers. In washing their feet, He will teach them and us what it means to follow Him, and what it means to serve, not only Him, but others as well. For as He has done for them and for us, we are to do for each other.
I often wonder what it must have been like for the Apostles, Mary Magdalen and Our Lady during this first Holy Week. What were their thoughts, their fears, their prayers? Our Blessed Mother shared every part of Her Son's Passion with Him. The Apostles and Magdalen, well they were still human beings with sinful and fallen natures. They needed Our Lady and her strength to live this week that Jesus had told them of several times in the course of His ministry. Yes, He spoke of it, but they just couldn't seem to wrap their hearts and heads around it.
I am very much like the Apostles and Magdalen. I too need Our Lady to walk these steps with Jesus. Walking with her, I know just where those steps will lead. I will find myself with her next to Jesus as He prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, is scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns, embraces His Cross and is then nailed to it. I will find myself next to Our Lady, John and Magdalen standing beneath His Cross as I shed tears of sorrow for my sins and gratitude for His gift to me of salvation and eternal life with Him.
And all I know is there is no where else I want to be.