AECI Lenten 2025 Reflection: 'Steer Us From Hardness Of Heart' (Easter Triduum - 'The Treasure Of New Life')

AECI Lenten 2025 Reflection: 'Steer Us From Hardness Of Heart'

Easter Triduum - 'The Treasure Of New Life'

Holy Thursday

Amidst a turbulent political and social context in Jerusalem and amidst the genuine hardship and burdens that human beings faced then - as they do today - Jesus gathers his 'friends' together for a final meal, saying '... I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you' (Luke 22:15).

Giving thanks, he broke bread and gave it to each of his disciples, then in a similar fashion took a cup of wine, gave thanks and distributed it. Speaking of 'the new covenant' he looked into the hearts and the minds of each of his followers present. He knew of Judas' act of betrayal. He knew of the plot to kill him. He knew of human intransigence and wickedness, of human 'hardness'.

He knew also of human possibility and potential, of faith and promise.

Today we gaze into the 'upper room' and we allow our hearts to be touched by two things.

The outstretched hand of service, of sharing, and the reaching hand of unity. of belonging.

Easter Triduum - 'The Treasure Of New Life'

Good Friday

'For it is from within, from the human heart,

that evil intentions come'

(Mark 7:21)

Jesus encounters the powerful groups of his day early in his ministry. He is under no illusion as to their motivations and their intentions.

In chapter 7 of the Gospel of Mark, we read of how he quotes, before the Pharisees and 'scribes' who had come from Jerusalem to question him, the words of the Prophet Isaiah: 'This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me'

He implores the crowd gathered '... let anyone with ears to hear now listen'.

Over the course of these last six weeks or so , we have sought to 'examine the heart', to look specifically at our life experience and motivation , our spiritual direction and priorities.

Today we step away from our own context, and that of first century Palestine.

We shall purely 'behold the man' (John 19.5)

ECCE HOMO

The man who now is subject to those evil intentions and manoeuvrings that spring from the heart.

FALSE ACCUSATION

RIDICULE

ABUSE

VIOLENCE

CRUCIFIXION (Salvador Dali)

How often do we fail to see the victim and the vulnerable because we hurl and we throw so many 'nails'?

Easter Triduum - 'The Treasure Of New Life'

Holy Saturday

'Shabbat', or the Jewish tradition of the 'Sabbath Day', is observed from sunset on Friday to nightfall on Saturday evening. It is a weekly opportunity to reflect on the scale and the wonder of Creation and to dwell on the guiding 'light' of faithfulness and love, the ways of the Lord in the history of the Jewish people. In prayer and in observance, individuals, families and communities cultivate a sense of intimacy and connection with the Divine.

It is a day distinct from other days as it allows our human faculties to be refreshed by pondering on the liberating power of God. Again there is an element of time and space taken to journey again to that 'holy place', to ascend the hill of the Lord in seeking the God who loves beyond our understanding.

Those journeying must be ready with 'clean hands and a pure heart ... and not swear deceitfully' (Psalm 24)

A STONE HEART

A stone is rolled across the entrance of the tomb where the body of Jesus lies. We might use stones to hide or to disguise something within our gardens or our homes. To separate in the form of walls or barriers. To keep something from rising up as a 'press'. To stop something being opened or released. We might describe a person's lack of compassion, empathy or understanding as originating from a 'stone heart'.

'Remove the stones' , cries the Prophet Isaiah. 'Raise a banner for all the nations!'

A SACRED HEART

Over the course of the last five hundred years or so, a tradition of devotion and reliance on the 'Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ' has arisen within the Roman Catholic faith. There have been several 'visions' around the pierced heart of Jesus, most notably Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647 - 1690) who claimed to have received revelations in the French village of Paray-le-Monial.

If one is to think of our own hearts as being 'wounded' or weakened through life experience we might look to the 'heart of Jesus' as a source of healing and strength through the sheer outflowing power of the love he retained right until his final earthly moments. His heart unites our brokenness, even in great suffering, as we see with his message to his own mother and 'the disciple he loved' before the Cross (John 19: 26-27).

Today we consider some of these lasting traditions, customs and habits, without judgement.