2026 Lenten Reflections: Holy Week, the way of the cross

Monday 30 March to Sunday 5 April - The Final Surrender

Holy week is the final week before Easter, where the Christian Church commemorates the final week of Jesus Christ’s life, including his entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, His crucifixion, and the Resurrection, serving as a time of deep reflection on His passion and sacrifice. It is held as the most sacred week in Christianity.

St Paul wrote to the Philippians:

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” - Philippians 2:8

As we reach this part of the Lent journey facing the foot of the Cross. We are reminded about a God who “emptied Himself“ for us. We call to mind one of the agricultural metaphors which Jesus used in his teachings from John 12:24-25:

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

George Herbert wrote the following poem entitled, “Love (III)”

Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back Guilty of dust and sin. But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning, If I lacked any thing. A guest, I answered, worthy to be here: Love said, You shall be he. I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear, I cannot look on thee. Love took my hand, and smiling did reply, Who made the eyes but I? Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame Go where it doth deserve. And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame? My dear, then I will serve. You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat: So I did sit and eat.

Through this reading we see the beautiful struggle of a soul trying to be “worthy,” but realise that we are the “guilty” guest. The key for us is to know that Love has already paid our debt, and that Love (Christ) insists on serving us.

Listen to "Lead Me to the Cross" by Hillsong United

As we listen to Lead Me to the Cross, we notice that taking up new habits was not about becoming “better people,” but about becoming more like the One who gave everything so we could have everything.

The challenge for Holy Week is to complete an Evening Examen. This is a nightly review of where you saw God (Consolation) and where you felt distant (Desolation). The aim is to help us see that the Cross is not just a historical event, but it is a daily reality. We can walk through our own “stations” of the day, with our own highs and lows, and see that Jesus was in both.

We end Lent not tired, but filled.

Let us pray

Lord Jesus, as we walk through this Holy Week, we are humbled by the Cross. Thank You for a love that was willing to suffer for our sake. As we look back on these past weeks, we see how You have been pruning our hearts to make room for New Life. Help us to stay at the foot of the Cross, knowing that the story does not end in the tomb, but in the glory of the Resurrection. Amen.

Lenten Reflections: Week 6 - The Threshold of the Heart

Monday 23 March to Sunday 29 March - Moving from Giving to Receiving.

Last week, in Week 5, we focused on giving (the Simple Table challenge). But during Week 6 we need to approach the Cross to learn from Christ. This week is about focusing on us as the individual to receive. Let us have a read of Luke 10:38-42:

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

Here Martha was doing a “good thing” by serving. She is doing things that are useful and important, but she recognises that she is being distracted and talks to Jesus about it. She is bringing her solution to Jesus. Here Jesus teaches her (and us) about doing the “best thing” by simply sitting at Jesus’ feet listening.

Wendell Berry writes a beautiful line in the poem, “The Peace of Wild Things”, which we can read here:

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

The poem reminds us that the world “taxes” us with worry about things we cannot control. Often, our “service” can become a way to avoid being still with God. Reflect on, “Are you serving God to avoid looking Him in the eye? “

Take some time to sit with the lyrics and performance of Jason Upton, resting in the moment, drawing closer to God, despite the busyness of life. Before we can walk the Way of the Cross, we must be able to sit quietly at His feet. We move from the “doing” of the hands to the “being” of the soul.

The challenge this week is to find 24 hours (or from sundown one day to sundown the next day) to turn off all non-essential screens. No social media, no streaming, no gaming, no TV / YouTube or streaming media watching. Use the reclaimed time to sit, read, or walk in nature. Notice the things and people round about you. Pray for them. The goal is to “un-tax” your life from the noise of the world before entering the gravity of Holy Week.

Let us pray:

Lord of the Stillness, forgive us for being “worried and upset about many things” when only one thing is needed. As we stand on the threshold of Holy Week, help us to lay down our lists, our achievements, and our distractions. Like Mary, we want to choose what is better: to simply be with You. Thank You for the “peace of wild things” and the grace that requires nothing from us but our presence. Prepare our hearts to walk with You to Jerusalem. Amen.