This week is the final week of Lent. It is the Easter season, a time for reflecting on the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, a time for new life and growth. The week will be observed locally with a series of community services, beginning at noon each day at an area church with a different minister speaking. The Holy Week services, sponsored by the Carter County Ministerial Association, have been a community tradition for several years.

As with Christmas, Easter Sunday has taken on traditions that sometimes seem to overshadow the reason for the day. There is certainly a place for Santa Claus on the day of Jesus’ birth and a place for the Easter Bunny on the day of Jesus’ resurrection. But wise children also know the accompanying history, meaning they know more than Christmas trees and chocolate eggs in a basket.

Wise children know that Christ was born on Christmas and that Christ died a horrible death on the cross on Good Friday, suffering for the infinite sins of mankind.

They know that, at dawn on Easter Sunday, Jesus’ tomb was found empty, the news spread and Christ appeared before disciples before ascending into Heaven.

At its best, the solemnity of Holy Week, culminating in Easter, instructs us that suffering can have meaning, that we can be restored, and our faith made stronger through pain and sacrifice.

Regardless of one’s faith, Jesus’ actions and teachings resonate in society, and sometimes contrast with it. Among so many, two during Holy Week stand out as reminders of grace in a world sometimes lacking in it.

One of Christ’s final acts during crucifixion was to pardon a criminal who also was being executed on the cross next to him. The story of “The Penitent Thief,” who asks Jesus to remember him, and who is subsequently promised “paradise,” is well known but worthy of mention in a culture that so thoroughly castigates those who run afoul of the law.

This story continues to provide comfort and a reminder of forgiveness.

The story of Maundy Thursday, or “Holy Thursday,” and of the Last Supper and foot washing is one of the most celebrated in the Bible. Jesus washing the feet of his disciples is a remarkable form of servant leadership, as the child of God performs a duty usually undertaken by servants.

It is a beautiful story of humility and grace, and a reminder to present-day leaders and managers of the powers of modesty and courtesy.

For Christians, the dramatic and reverent stories of Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday are best remembered all year long, not just on a Sunday of spring dresses and Easter eggs.

This week, we encourage you to take time from your day to attend the Holy Week services: Monday at First Baptist Church; Tuesday at Valley Forge Free Will Baptist Church; Wednesday at First United Methodist Church; a Maundy Thursday service at 6 p.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church; and a special Good Friday service at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church.

For everyone, the events of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, during which Christ’s resurrection is chronicled, are powerful reminders of grace and peace, and well worth a read.

When all is said and done, we suffer; we celebrate; we live together.