The Way of the Cross: The Week That Holds Everything

Week Seven: The Final Threshold

A Word for the Way: Guiding Scripture for the Week

“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
— John 13:1b

This Is the Week Everything Turns

This is not just the week of suffering.
It is the week of unsparing, unwavering love.

We have walked through longing and wilderness.
We have tended what flickered.
We have named what aches.
We have stayed with the scent of oil on skin.

And now—we enter the week that holds the whole story.
The week of betrayal, and of bread.
Of silence, and of surrender.
Of crucifixion, and of love that does not flinch.

This is Passion Week—a descent into the heart of God’s tenderness and pain.
It is not a week of comfort.
It is a week of presence.
Of walking with Jesus—not around suffering, but through it.
Of staying close, even when the crowd changes its tune.
Even when the night falls.
Even when it feels like death is winning.

This is not a week to rush.
Not a story to glance over.
This is the threshold of everything—
and it deserves our full attention.

A Practice to Carry: The Way of Staying

Each day, light a candle or touch your heart.
Say aloud:
“I will not turn away.”

Let this be your anchor as you walk through the week.
Let your nearness be enough.
Let your breath stay steady.
You do not need to fix this.
You only need to stay.

Inhale: “Love to the end.”
Exhale: “Even here.”

A Shared Practice: The Threshold Table

On Holy Thursday or Good Friday evening:
Set a simple place at the table.
A piece of bread. A small cup of water or wine.
Light a candle.
Sit in silence.

Read aloud John 13:1–17, or simply say:
“He loved them to the end.”

Then kneel.
Touch your own feet or hands.
Pray: “Let me learn to love like this.”

Stay for a few moments.
No rush.
Let the presence hold you.

The Invitation of This Week

This is the week where:

Love is betrayed and still breaks bread.
The divine is bound, beaten, and buried—and still forgives.
Hope seems lost—but is not extinguished.
Death has its day—but not the final word.

Let this week invite you to:

✢ Walk with Jesus into the places you’d rather avoid
✢ Stay near when it would be easier to flee
✢ Let your body feel what your spirit cannot carry alone
✢ Trust that even the silence of Holy Saturday is held by God
✢ Remember that resurrection does not rush

This is not the week of answers.
This is the week of staying.