Here it is, Palm Sunday, when we triumphantly enter Jerusalem with the Christ. By the end of the week, we will be shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
I was in Fort Collins last night, searching for a new tie for Easter (but instead I got new black slacks) and stopped in at Barnes and Noble. My trips to bookstores used to take me to the philosophy section; now I always check out the religion stacks.
Here, on the eve of the holiest days of the year, Barnes and Noble had packed the shelves with fiction and non-fiction books that cry out not only "Crucify him!" but also "He is not Lord! The Catholic Church has lied about who he is!" These books include Misquoting Jesus, What Jesus Meant, The Jesus Papers, The Templar Legacy, The Last Templar, The Gospel of Judas, Holy Blood Holy Grail, Angels and Demons, and a huge table devoted entirely to The Da Vinci Code. Apparently these are the recommended books for Easter.
Yet nowhere could I find the new Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a 200 page Q and A summation of the essential truths of the Faith.
Fine. Set out books that attempt to dash Christ and His Church to bits; all I ask is that we are given equal representation.
If you want to see who Jesus really was, if you want to know what the Church really teaches, then attend the great liturgy of the Holy Triduum this week. Rejoice in the gift of His Body and Blood on Holy Thursday; weep for your sins that crucified Him on Good Friday; cry "Alleluia!" on the Night of nights, Holy Saturday Easter Vigil; proclaim His Resurrection on Easter Sunday morning.
No book will teach you the truth of Jesus of Nazareth. To know Him, you must enter into the Week that changed the world.
