Holy Week calls every faith community to a special time of reflection on the mysteries celebrated over the course of that week. *CELEBRATING THE LECTIONARY* offers a variety of resources to help a community prepare.

The Junior/Senior session for Passion Sunday invites the participants to encounter the characters of the Passion Story as they relive Jesus' final week at eight stations. The session uses Scripture, symbols, and interviews, punctuated by verses from "Were You There?" This plan will work well with a youth group or can be adapted to prepare for a lenten reconciliation service. The session is too lengthy to include here, but you can request a copy by calling Resource Publications, Inc., at 1-888-273-7782.

Another element included among the *CELEBRATING THE LECTIONARY* resources is the Homily Resource, provided weekly. Here we offer the Homily Resource for Passion Sunday to invite everyone in the faith community to reflect personally on this week and perhaps to see with new eyes how others might be witnessing the events of this week.

For Personal Reflection

• With which person in the passion story do I identify? Jesus? Peter? Pilate? The woman who anoints Jesus? One of the soldiers?
• Which liturgy during Holy Week do I find the most difficult? Why?
• If I were to speak to Jesus after the Last Supper, what would I want to say to him?
• How do I make Holy Week alive and real for myself and for those to whom I minister (e.g., parish, family, coworkers)?

For Community Reflection

• Who has been involved in court cases, either as defendants, prosecutors, law enforcement officials or judges? How might they hear the Gospel?
• Who is suffering and undergoing a "living passion" in this community? Who consoles and supports them?
• Are there people who have betrayed the community present at the liturgy?
• Who responds to the suffering Christ present in the needs of the poor, the sick, and the forgotten?
• How does the parish validate the passion of those ill with cancer, AIDS, or some other devastating illness? How does it console and support its care givers?
• Who may feel that God has abandoned them? What can be done to help them? Who will do it?

The following materials assist further reflection:

General: There is a small step between "Hosanna" and "Crucify him." What happened between Sunday and Friday? What would it have been like to be hailed and condemned within five days? How did Jesus keep his balance and his faith in God?

Jesus chose to be obedient to the cross just as he chose to stand firm against the temptations in the desert. People around him came and went. Some supported him and accompanied him through his last difficult days in Jerusalem; others did not; still others actively opposed him.

Jesus was truly a "man of steel," someone who was as hard as flint. He stood firm in his commitment to God despite the betrayal of his closest friends, the repudiation of his religious leaders, the accusation of treason, and the ridicule of the crowd that so recently praised him. Though it seemed that everyone abandoned him, he did not abandon God.

Adults: Where would adults most likely find themselves in the passion story? Would they be Jesus' friends who quickly leave when the climate heats up? Would they be part of the crowd that swings its vote with every wave of opinion? Would they stand on the edge of the road, wondering why the Romans have such a horrible way of punishing their prisoners? Would they hide out, away from Jerusalem, frightened that anyone might connect them with Jesus and kill them, too? Would they be among the women who stand and look at Jesus from a distance, committed but still not ready to make it public? Would they be like Jesus, hung out to suffer, misunderstood and rejected? Would they lend their influence to help as Joseph of Arimathea did?

It helps adults to rehear the passion story if they can recognize themselves somewhere in that story.

Teens: Where would teens find themselves in the story? Would they be like Peter, quick to promise and quicker still to run away? Would they be the soldiers who greedily took what they could from someone who was going to die anyway? Would they carry the cross for Jesus, feeling sorry that they could not do more? Would they be part of the crowd that ridiculed Jesus for his faith in God? Would they be one of the criminals hanging on either side of Jesus? Which one? The one who refused to repent or the one who asked for forgiveness? Would they be like Jesus, innocent and suffering?

Children: Where would children find themselves in the story? Unfortunately some are like Jesus, innocents who suffer for the sins of others.

Children who are old enough to follow the story may feel sad at Jesus' death and wonder why he was crucified. They may also wonder what happened to his friends and family.

If you would like further information on CELEBRATING THE LECTIONARY, please call (888) 273-7782 or e-mail info@rpinet.com.