Homeless During Holy Week

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #15

April 18, 2022

Homeless During Holy Week

In the Christian community we refer to the week between Palm Sunday and the Sunday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus as “Holy Week.” By tradition it is a time of contemplating Jesus’ suffering and death as well as introspection about our own sin in preparation for the joyous celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. This Holy week I had more than enough suffering to contemplate.

On Monday of Holy Week a man from Pennsylvania opened fire on passengers on a subway in Brooklyn. Several of the victims will spend Holy Week in the hospital and will not spend this time at home with their families.

On Tuesday, the next day, a house in my neighborhood caught fire. Despite the very professional work of our volunteer fire company, the house  is no longer inhabitable. A family affiliated with the local Roman Catholic church will now spend Holy Week without a home.

On Wednesday, my childhood friend, Lidia T. Hawryluk, posted videos and pictures of a new wave of refugees from Ukraine who have been displaced by Putin’s war. They too will be homeless for Holy Week.

This news is quite depressing and my heart goes out to these people suffering to this extent. But I know that Holy Week isn’t over yet. The lesson of Holy Week and the day of Jesus’ resurrection is that God gets the last word. Yes, these people are suffering and this suffering will continue, but not forever. As bad as Holy Week is, Resurrection Day is coming.

Sometimes it appears that the bad is winning, but we who have faith in Jesus know that as bad as things can be, Jesus’ resurrection trumps everything bad. No matter what we have endured, they are insignificant compared to the glory that Christ’s people will see.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the troubles of the world, draw close to Christ and feel his presence and his peace. It isn’t over until God says it is.

If you would like to contribute to help care for Ukrainian refugees please contribute by this link: https://www.rca.org/give/2022-european-crisis-response/

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

# Ukraine                                                                   #Russia

# LidiaTHawryluk                                                     #UkrainianChildren

#HolyWeek                                                                #Jesus’Resurrection

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/