What is Holy Week to me? – Buddy Monahan

The fish are bitin’, wild onions are ready to be picked, dogwood trees are blooming, new clothes are bought, and the grass needs to be cut.  Those were the sure signs that Easter Sunday was a week away.  I didn’t really know the meaning of what is now seen as “Holy Week”.  Being raised in southeast Oklahoma and attending Mt. Fork Presbyterian Church in Eagletown, OK, a Presbyterian Native American congregation, we had our own spring-like activities that we considered “Holy” as we approached Easter.  The day of celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior was very important to our family and community.  The above mentioned events were all part of getting ready for Easter and we did most of it during the week before Easter.

We knew many people would be in attendance for Easter Sunday service and we planned to be great hosts as we worshiped and fellowshipped together.  We had to make sure our little church was all spruced up and the grass cut to look nice and prepare for the big community Easter egg hunt.  Some of the Dogwood tree limbs were cut so they could adorn the communion table for the service and the eating table for our potluck.  As we prepared for the church potluck, we picked and cooked wild onions, which was a commodity for our community during this time of the year.  Fried fish is also something people look for on the potluck table as spring arrives.  Then we spent our time looking for new clothes to wear so we are decked out as we celebrated the Resurrection of our Risen Lord.  I can now appreciate all the work that was put into the preparation of our Easters during those years.  It was a full day of praying, singing, worshiping, eating, laughing, hunting, and fellowshipping in such a spiritual setting.  Although I never called it such, I can now see that it truly was a “Holy Week” in its own way.

Today I no longer reside in that beautiful setting and my “Holy Week” has a new meaning.  As Chaplain of Menaul School, a 6^th-12^th grade racial ethnic independent school associated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), we know that week also as “Mission Week”.  Each grade spends that week of giving back to our community.  We have always seen ourselves as a mission school, in the sense that many churches and individuals assist us financially as we minister in an educational setting.  We acknowledge that mission is a two way street and instead of always receiving then during this time we share with our community through our gifts of labor.  Grades 6^th-8^th usually stay in town and work among different agencies to assist individuals and community.  This usually includes volunteering at shelters, preschools, and nursing homes.  9^th graders travel about an hour away and have a one night stay with a congregation in which they are cleaning, painting, or doing construction work in that particular church.  Our 10^th graders travel a little farther doing the same type of work for another congregation or community.  The 11^th grade has traveled to Denver, CO to work in a more extensive urban setting than Albuquerque and to experience more of an inner city mission work.  The senior class has traveled to Phoenix painting churches, Oklahoma to work at a Presbyterian school, and New Orleans to assist with cleaning of Hurricane Katrina. They have also traveled and led interactive discussions with churches about Prejudice and Racism and how to live in community with one another.  This year they will be traveling to Joplin, MO to help with the rebuilding of the tornado damage that happened two years ago.  So during “Holy Week” the entire Menaul community is out doing mission in our community.

We also have the season of Advent impact our Lenten journey and “Mission Week”.  The past few years we have had the honor to host a display of Christmas lights known as the “Bugg Lights”.  A family with the last name of Bugg had a huge house with a light display and it became overwhelming for a particular community due to the high traffic volume, so they asked if we could host it on our campus.  For 12 nights we decorate our campus, turn on the lights and welcome many visitors to our campus during the blessed season of advent.  We don’t charge although we do graciously suggest donations that will assist our students going on mission trips during our “Mission Week”  So we provide a positive spirit filled experience during Advent for the community and use the gifts toward a meaningful Lenten experience for our community during “Holy Week”.

Yes, for me, “Holy Week” is about being community and understanding our place as believers within the church.  It’s not just attending the services on particular days to acknowledge the Lord has risen but by also being the church in action.  Whether it is preparing to be great hosts for all of God’s children as we celebrate Easter or giving back to our communities through labors of love, that is what the church is about.

As we journey together this Lenten season and especially during “Holy Week”, may God continue to remind us the sacredness of being in communion with our Lord and one another.  What better way is there to encounter the Holy than through the hearts of each other in all of our relationships?  So as we worship, cook and eat meals, fish, cut the grass, get new clothes, volunteer in our community, or plan and preach the worship services, may our week be filled with the Holy.  My heart and eyes are filled with tears recalling my time at Mt. Fork Presbyterian Church.  It is with the same passion I begin to prepare for our Mission trip to Joplin, MO.  Have a blessed “Holy Week”.

Praise be to God!

The Reverend Buddy Monahan is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Maricopa. He serves as Chaplain of Menaul School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he also teaches middle school and high school religion courses and coaches football and basketball. Buddy enjoys traveling with his wife, Dyanna to support their kids, Jordyn, Brandyn, and Ashdyn as they play their sports.