Holy Week summons us to the most somber hours of our liturgical life. From Passion Sunday through the Triduum, we "watch and pray" for the fulfillment of our hope. It does not disappoint. Easter awakens us to the promise of life.

Philippians presents Christ’s self-emptying as a model for disciples—”Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”

The gospels are often described as the four biographies of Jesus in the secular media. Nothing could be further from the truth. What kind of biographer would practically disregard the first 30 years of a person’s history, to concentrate one fourth to one third of his pages on the last week of his subject’s life?

I first met her at Mass. She walked into church and welcomed me to “her” church. She walked slowly with an ornate cane. She told me about her arthritis and other maladies and that they would soon keep her from coming to church.

Early in my marriage I had the horrible habit of becoming extremely drowsy whenever my wife wanted to deal with a difficult issue. It was a highly inappropriate psychological coping mechanism, and I had the hardest time overcoming it.

We stand at the beginning of our celebration of the Passion of our Lord. We have followed him through Lent, and now we turn to him and ask him to show mercy on his people.

But Palm Sunday tells us that it is the cross that is the true tree of life.