by Michael Podrebarac
Holy Week is soon upon us. And so, speaking for myself . . .
I am the crowds of Palm Sunday, for I have, within the same hour, both hailed Him and rejected Him.
I am Simon the Zealot, for I have valued Him from the vantage of politics.
I am Judas, for I have sold Him, when the price was right.
I am Peter, for I have boasted a loyalty to Him that he knew was hollow.
I am the Twelve, for I have abandoned Him.
I am the temple guards, for I have bound Him.
I am Caiaphas, for I have judged Him out of spite and envy.
I am Peter, for I have denied Him, again and again, out of fear and the quest for self-preservation.
I am Peter, for I have wept bitterly over my denial of Him.
I am Pilate, for I have questioned Him, mocking the concept of truth.
I am Herod, for I have dismissed Him as a faker.
I am the Roman soldiers, for I have mocked Him, degraded him, and bruised him by my willful folly.
I am the chief priests, for I have claimed no king but Caesar.
I am Barabbas, for I have been chosen over Him by others, their champion of insurrection.
I am Simon the Cyrene, for I have been tasked to bear His cross.
I am the crucifiers, for I have been pleaded for by Him for not knowing what I was doing.
I am the first thief, for I have selfishly tempted Him to prove himself.
I am the second thief, for I have confessed Him, and have begged him to remember me.
I am John, for I have been assigned devotion to His mother.
I am Judas, for I have despaired His love, and chosen to be my own reference point.
I am the centurion, for I have acknowledged him as the Son of God.
I am Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, for I have begged His body.
I am Magdalene, for I have heard Him speak my name.
I am the disciples, locked behind doors, for I have isolated myself in fear and shame.
I am Peter and John, for I have run to Him with intrigue.
I am the disciples, for, despite locked doors, I have seen Him risen and bidding me his peace.
I am each of these, for I have been loved by Him, who gave Himself for me.
May your participation in the liturgies of Holy Week remind you of who, and just how loved, you are.
