I. Holy Week

T-20.I.1. This is Palm Sunday, the celebration of victory and the acceptance of the truth. ² Let us not spend this holy week brooding on the crucifixion of God's Son, but happily in the celebration of his release. ³ For Easter is the sign of peace, not pain. ⁴ A slain Christ has no meaning. ⁵ But a risen Christ becomes the symbol of the Son of God's forgiveness on himself; the sign he looks upon himself as healed and whole.

T-20.I.2. This week begins with palms and ends with lilies, the white and holy sign the Son of God is innocent. ² Let no dark sign of crucifixion intervene between the journey and its purpose; between the acceptance of the truth and its expression. ³ This week we celebrate life, not death. ⁴ And we honor the perfect purity of the Son of God, and not his sins. ⁵ Offer your brother the gift of lilies, not the crown of thorns; the gift of love and not the "gift" of fear. ⁶ You stand beside your brother, thorns in one hand and lilies in the other, uncertain which to give. ⁷ Join now with me and throw away the thorns, offering the lilies to replace them. ⁸ This Easter I would have the gift of your forgiveness offered by you to me, and returned by me to you. ⁹ We cannot be united in crucifixion and in death. ¹⁰ Nor can the resurrection be complete till your forgiveness rests on Christ, along with mine.

T-20.I.3. A week is short, and yet this holy week is the symbol of the whole journey the Son of God has undertaken. ² He started with the sign of victory, the promise of the resurrection, already given him. ³ Let him not wander into the temptation of crucifixion, and delay him there. ⁴ Help him to go in peace beyond it, with the light of his own innocence lighting his way to his redemption and release. ⁵ Hold him not back with thorns and nails when his redemption is so near. ⁶ But let the whiteness of your shining gift of lilies speed him on his way to resurrection.

T-20.I.4. Easter is not the celebration of the cost of sin, but of its end. ² If you see glimpses of the face of Christ behind the veil, looking between the snow-white petals of the lilies you have received and given as your gift, you will behold your brother's face and recognize it. ³ I was a stranger and you took me in, not knowing who I was. ⁴ Yet for your gift of lilies you will know. ⁵ In your forgiveness of this stranger, alien to you and yet your ancient Friend, lies his release and your redemption with him. ⁶ The time of Easter is a time of joy, and not of mourning. ⁷ Look on your risen Friend, and celebrate his holiness along with me. ⁸ For Easter is the time of your salvation, along with mine.