From Sunday, March 25th to Saturday, March 31st, Christians around the globe will be celebrating Holy Week. The cool thing about Holy Week is that we are commemorating events that actually happened historically in the Bible. The following is an outline of the timeline of events that actually happened 2,000 years ago!

Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday remembers the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem as King. People stood on the side of the road like a parade, praising him and treating him like royalty. Kind of like the 2017 Patriots Parade after they won the Super Bowl. Instead of “Hail, TB12!”, they chanted, “Hail, Jesus.” See John:12 in the Bible to read the whole story.

Holy Thursday: Holy Thursday celebrates the Last Supper. This is also where Jesus established Communion and He instituted the Eucharist. When the Priest at Mass says, “This is my body,” and “This is my blood,” those are the same words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper. There is a special Mass on Holy Thursday night, where the Last Supper is especially commemorated. There is also Adoration that night that often goes late into the night, depending on the church. My family has a tradition of making a visit to Seven Churches on Holy Thursday night, representing the apostles keeping Jesus company in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Good Friday: Good Friday remembers the Passion and Death of Jesus. This can be most clearly and directly seen in the Stations of the Cross. This day is a day of fasting and sacrifice to unite ourselves with Jesus’ suffering.  There are accounts of the Passion in all of the Gospels, but the Gospel of John has a very detailed account. Praying the Stations of the Cross is the best way to unite with Jesus on Good Friday.

Easter: Easter is the Resurrection, when Jesus miraculously rose from the dead! Easter is a day full of celebration, but it continues into an eight day Easter octave. This way, we have eight days of feasting and celebrating after 40 days of fasting and sacrifice. Easter is the biggest celebration of the Christian church, because it shows that Jesus is in fact God through the biggest miracle in history.

Holy Week is like a walk through history. Just as we have Independence Day, Easter celebrates Jesus’ resurrection 2,000 years ago. Amid egg hunts, jelly beans and pastel colors, remember what Easter really celebrates.