Come to the holiest week.

The Church throws wide its doors

to all who would share in the celebration

of the week that changed the world.

 

Come to the holiest week

to sing your Hosannas

to wave your welcoming branches

and to take home your palm crosses,

not as a memento

but as a constant reminder

of the Spiritual journey you are on,

with Christ leading the way.

 

Come to the holiest week

and walk the way of the cross;

for this is the royal path of the kingdom,

this is the way to be close to the Saviour.

For us not a lonely path full of jeerers and wailers,

but fellow pilgrims sharing our burdens,

helping each other to remain faithful to the cross

that we are signed with.

 

Come to the holiest week

to be invited to the very table of the Lord,

to be sustained by the Bread of Life,

to have your feet washed,

and then to wait with Christ

in his agony in the garden.

 

Come to the holiest week;

come on your knees

so that you may be lifted up,

not just to look at the cross from a safe distance,

but to embrace it - kiss the feet of the crucified,

so that his life may flow afresh into yours.

 

Come to the most empty of all mornings,

to mark the silence of the tomb,

of the seed buried deep in the earth,

awaiting the breath of new life.

 

Come to the holiest week

to keep vigil with your brothers and sisters,

to kindle the fire of new life,

to see the light of Christ lifted up,

into the breaking darkness,

to rejoice in the Easter News.

 

So come ring your bells, sing your praises:

Alleluia, alleluia The Lord has risen.

He has risen indeed, Alleluia, alleluia.

Salvation is a present reality

not a hopeful wish!

 

See the Lord, his wounds made glorious,

embracing you with joy and peace,

embracing at every stage all who would come to this -

His and our most Holy Week.

 

C.S.