Next week is Holy Week. It is so called because we remember Jesus’ Triumphant Entry on Palm Sunday; receive communion on Maundy Thursday; look at the Cross on Good Friday; and celebrate the Resurrection on Easter morning. All of those are wonderful things in which to participate. But what if “Holy Week” meant we did holy things. What type of things? Holy week activities could include:

• Sharing a meal with a lonely senior citizen.
• Including a single person in a gathering.
• Crying with a teenage girl whose heart is broken.
• Playing catch with a boy or girl whose dad is out of the picture.
• Praying with a teenage boy who is struggling with pornography.
• Calling on a neighbor.
• Loving a difficult person.
• Sitting in silence (because no words are adequate) with the family of a suicide victim.
• Empathizing with parents of wayward children.
• Educating oneself on the immigration crisis on the border.
• Reassuring someone with drug or alcohol issues that there is a better way.
• Cleaning the restrooms at the church.
• Writing a member of congress about gun violence.
• Listening to a person who is struggling with their sexual identity.
• Distributing Bibles in a VA hospital.
• Grieving with those who grieve.
• Learning about life from a member of a different race.
• Volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center.
• Encouraging a worn-out pastor.
• Coloring eggs with the children of a single mom so she can get out of the house.
• Sending in monies to help the Mississippi tornado victims.
• Doing yard work for a disabled person.
• Cheering for a teenager (who’s not a family member) in their school sporting activity
• Leading your family in devotions.
• Delivering care packages to the homeless.
• Visiting a prisoner.
• Inviting a friend to Easter Sunday services.

… and a million other things.

Let’s make Holy Week holy not simply because we attended a few extra services, but because we were also about the holy work of the Master.