April 2, 2026
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
This week we journey toward the cross. The holiest of weeks: triumph and rejoicing, heartache and betrayal. Darkness and light. The Paschal Mystery giving meaning to our daily ones: a hug from a friend, a painful disagreement with a colleague, the death of a trusted mentor, the celebration of birthdays, anniversaries, and other milestones.
In it all, friends, we journey toward the contradiction of the cross.
As Tony Alonso beautifully writes in the hymn We Should Glory in the Cross:
When we love as he has loved:
When we do as he has done:
When the many become one:
Glory in the Cross!
As one thirsting at a well:
As one longing for a new sight:
As one raised again to life:
Glory in the Cross!
Though like Peter we deny:
Though like Judas we betray:
Though we often lose our way:
Glory in the Cross!
With the women at his side:
With disciples on the way:
With the world now let us say:
Glory in the Cross!
The refrain of Glory in the Cross is both challenge and support, the already and not-yet of God’s reign, the sorrow and silence of death and the healing and hope of new life.
This Paschal Triduum, let us not look away or fear the contradictions of the cross. It is there, in that sacred space, where God’s dream for us continues to give root and germinate love.
Glory in the Cross!
As our Holy Week path bends toward Jerusalem, may these days of renewal be a catalyst for an Easter faith that comes alive in us!
Prayers for peace,
Ryan J. Hoffmann, DMin
Executive Director