March 31, 2026
Holy Week never ceases to amaze me. And I was this many years old when I realized that Jesus’s most intense parables, often referred to as the Apocalyptic Parables, all occurred between Palm Sunday and the Cross – he just wedged them into Holy Week somehow!. These include the Parable of the Two Sons, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, the Parable of the King’s Son’s Wedding, The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, The Parable of the Talents, and The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. In these parables there is a right side to be and a wrong side to be and the wrong side ends up in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the right side? They were faithful, honest and caring. Just before suffering rejection and the cross Jesus gives his followers a way to make sure they are on the right side of judgment – kindness. Not building cathedrals. Not doing cartwheels on the pinnacle of the temple. Not leading dazzling worships. Just being thoughtful and decent human beings. If Jesus told these parables in his last hours of life then they must have a crucial lesson…….I reckon.
Let Us Pray: Father in Heaven, free us from selfishness and self-absorbed religion and strengthen us to be decent and caring human beings. In Jesus’s Holy Name, Amen.