Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the day that begins “Passion Week,” Jesus’ journey to the cross.

“Passion,” to borrow Christian pastor and author Louie Giglio’s definition, is “the degree of difficulty we are willing to endure to reach the goal.”  In His final walk to the cross, Christ gave the world the ultimate demonstration of single-minded, whole-hearted, God-centered suffering and passion.  Yet in the joy and celebration leading up to Easter Sunday, Christ’s journey of passion is often one we tend to forget. 

Traditionally, the week before Easter, Passion Week, is part of what is known as Lent, a season of preparation and reflection known in the Orthodox church as Bright Sadness.  This season is sad because it is a time of reflecting on the depth of our sin and what it ultimately cost Christ.  But it is also bright because we know that beyond the cross lays the empty tomb. 

To help us enter into the significance of this week, each day I will post:

• a Scripture to read
• a face from the journey of the cross on which to reflect
• a prayer to pray
• a practice or suggested discipline to carry out

Walk the road of Calvary as Simon of Cyrene carries the cross, listen as Peter faces his fears through the cross, and watch as Nicodemus is transformed by the cross. Prayerfully, each step of passion will take us closer to the joy of Resurrection Sunday.  Walking through the sadness of this final week will make the brightness of Sunday morning dawn with that much more intensity.

This week, join me in the journey to the cross.