Today begins the most solemn week in all of Christendom: Holy Week. This year’s Holy Week will likely be one of the most memorable of all the Holy Week celebrations in my twenty-six years as a priest. We have journeyed for forty days through this season of Lent, and as we have moved through it, we have intensified our prayer, fasting, and acts of charity.

During my 30-day Ignatian retreat, my spiritual director asked if I had ever brought my anger into prayer. For nearly twenty years, I struggled with anger. Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal to throw at someone; you get burned first. The teacher who belittled me never knew the depth of my trauma. For years, I withheld forgiveness. I became an angry child and, later, an angry adult, entombed in hatred and vowing never to be put down again. Anger became my defense against threats.

The first reading narrates Israel's experience during their exodus from Egypt. While they were on their journey, they complained of a lack of water and food and blamed Moses, reminiscing about their better days in Egypt. This scene parallels the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in the Gospel of John. She comes to draw water at the well, but her physical thirst symbolizes a deeper spiritual thirst. Like Israel, she has searched for satisfaction in places that ultimately leave her empty. Jesus reveals that He alone can give "living water" that becomes a spring within, welling up to eternal life.

The Transfiguration of Jesus is both a revelation and a reassurance. On the high mountain - traditionally identified as Mount Tabor - Jesus Christ revealed His divine glory to Peter, James, and John. This moment came immediately after Jesus foretold His Passion. The disciples were confused and afraid. The Transfiguration was heaven's reassurance: the suffering to come was not defeat but fulfillment.