On the Christian calendar, today begins the last week of Lent.1 The forty days between Shrove Tuesday, at the end of Mardi Gras, and the Saturday before Easter are intended as a time for prayer, meditation, reflection, and repentance. Generally speaking, the serious nature of Lent makes it emotionally a rather dreary time. During Holy Week, the mood moves from dreary to downright lugubrious.

Next Sunday morning, of course, we will awake to the joyous news that “Christ the Lord is risen today. Alleluia! He is risen indeed.” We are not, however, there as yet. To get to Easter, we have to go through the events that led up to the resurrection. The point I want to make this morning is that the difficult journey through this week has the potential to drive our spiritual lives from deep unto dee…