Holy Week is usually a time to turn away from the world and return to the mystery of Jesus Christ who died and rose again nearly 2,000 years ago.

But we should forget our present world as we celebrate Holy Week?  If we do, we may fail to understand what this mystery is really about.

Last night on PBS’s Frontline, there was a story about international bribery called “Black Money,” a sordid tale of bribes by international corporations and governments paid secretly to powerful individuals and government officials to get deals done.

International treaties have been signed against the practice, of course, but when the “national interest” or the “corporation’s interest” is a stake, people find ways to evade the law.

Petty thieves may get 10 years or more in prison for breaking into a store; governments and corporations mostly get off free for  enormous crimes of bribery.

Jesus died for the sins of the world. Doesn’t this kind of sin, which produces a chain of other injustices, have a place in his death? Herod and Pilate, the powerful clique in charge of the temple in Jerusalem were also “there when they crucified my Lord.”

If Jesus was stood up against them when he died, shouldn’t we stand up to this world of injustice?