Notice the change in colors on this Palm Sunday. We’ve changed from purple to red. Holy Week has arrived.
Let me state the obvious: blood. The rest of this Holy Week is all about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is His blood that saves us.
May the vestments that I am wearing be a symbolic reminder that each of us as Christians ought to be soaked in the blood of Jesus Christ. This means that His sacrifice permeates our worldviews, mindsets, imaginations, hopes, decisions, dreams, and strengths. This means that His sacrifice permeates our fears, worries, anxieties, sins, misconceptions, failures, and weaknesses.
Today’s wonderful Passion narrative reminds me of the stained-glass window at St. Mark’s Seminary in Erie, Pa. The window depicts what we just heard and proclaimed in the Gospel. It’s the moment of the Last Supper.
The window has the color red radiating out from the center. The message could not be clearer for the young seminarian training to be a priest: the blood of Christ must be at the center of your life.
Quite interestingly, the outside edges of the window are purple and dark. Again, the message could not be clearer for the seminarian: darkness and despair are for those separated and distant from the blood of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, of course, is covered in red. He is the one who both offers sacrifice and is sacrificed. He is the lifeblood of one’s vocation. Yet, there are two other figures in the window that I would like to discuss. Judas is on the far right of the window and the Virgin Mary is on the left side.
Judas is covered in dark purple which indicates the spiritual life detached from the Eucharist. It’s a life of anxiety, despair, and confusion. Judas is also holding a bag of money indicating that he has chosen finite treasure over eternal rewards. Also, there is a noose next to Judas. The message could not be clearer for the seminarian: freely choosing to distance oneself from the Eucharist is spiritual suicide.
On the other end of the window is that of the Virgin Mary. Of course, she is close to Jesus Christ. Quite interestingly, her feet are red and she is looking forward toward a red road.
The message could not be clearer for the seminarian: the Virgin Mary walks the path of Jesus Christ. Therefore, her feet are soaked in the blood of Jesus. Her eyes look forward to the path of salvation, which is coated in blood.
This red road reminds me of a lesson that I learned in seminary. Everyone knows the line from The Wizard of Oz, “Follow the yellow brick road.” For Christians, it has always been “follow the red brick road.” The saints show us that the path of salvation is covered in red. It’s the path of sacrifice, service, and humility. It’s the path of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the apostles, the martyrs, and all the saints.
I mentioned earlier that there is an obvious change in today’s liturgy. We now see red everywhere. May our minds and hearts reflect what we see in this liturgy. May we be soaked in the blood of Jesus Christ.
+ Fr. Ben Daghir