On the occasion of Palm Sunday, 2015:
On Palm Sunday, our Gospel reading begins with Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem and ends with the Passion of Christ, the story of Jesus' suffering and death. Passion means suffering.
Holy Week has begun.
On Maundy Thursday we begin the Triduum, the three day period when we remember and re-experience in a series of services the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
It would be so much easier to simply skip this week and move directly to the joyful celebration of Easter.
Instead on Thursday, we sit with the disciples as they have their last meal with Jesus and we hear Jesus trying to prepare them for his death. Like a parent having what he knows is his final conversation with his children. He will remind them what is important and given them a way to practice together remembering.
We will wash each other's feet and share a meal that night. After our meal, we will clear the altar of all that represents Christ's presence with us.
The Tabernacle which holds bread and wine which has been blessed and not used during the service will be emptied at the Eucharist on Thursday night and the light on the wall which is always lit to signify Christ's presence will be extinguished.
After the clearing of the altar, we will depart the church in silence.
On Thursday night, a few will stay to keep watch through the night. This vigil represents the vigil of the disciples with Jesus at Gethsemane. If you wish to keep watch on Thursday night for an hour or for the night, speak to me after the service.
We will be reminded in that watch keeping as we pray and doze of the disciples. Though Jesus had washed their feet and cared for them, they too were unable to stay with him through his suffering.
On Friday at sunrise we will walk the Stations of the Cross as we remember Jesus' suffering at the hands of his accusers. In the evening, we will pray the solemn prayers in a darkened, quiet church.
The disciples did not know that Christ would be resurrected. Though he tried to tell them many times, for them, he was simply gone. On Friday we will experience with the disciples the terrible sadness of Jesus' absence.
We will, at the end of that service, have the opportunity to pray at the wooden cross which is a way of remembering and participating in Jesus' suffering.
Saturday morning, we will begin to prepare the church for Christ to return. We remember the burial of Christ and honor those who came forward to care for his body in death.
As they prepared the tomb for this final moment of Jesus' experience in his humanity, so we prepare the church to experience Christ's resurrection.
Saturday evening, after sunset, many will celebrate the first service of Easter. The Easter Vigil has four parts - the lighting of the Paschal candle, the lessons, the renewal of baptismal vows and the celebration of the first Eucharist. In the lessons we tell our story as God's people. The liturgy of this service dates to the second century and is one of the most ancient of the Christian church.
We have come full circle...From triumphant entrance into Jerusalem through suffering and death to the resurrection...the invitation to each of us to participate in a new creation.
As we make this journey, it reminds us of the patterns of human life - loved ones depart, sometimes through death and sometimes in endings that leave us broken and hurt;
innocent people are harmed and sometimes killed;
we may see in this story our own failures to stand by or stand up for someone who deserved our care and attention.
Our lives have suffering, sometimes of our own making and sometimes as innocent bystanders; and in our humanity we fail those most deserving of our care and attention.
Participating fully in Holy Week may open wounds and memories. So much easier to skip the Passion and jump into Easter without lingering in the suffering and death and difficulty of the story.
This story invites us to come face to face with our own sadness and frailty, with bitterness and grief.
This story invites us into the possibility of healing, of being healed.
It is exactly because of the Passion - the suffering and death of Jesus that the salvation of the world is now; that we are invited to participate in a new creation today.
I invite you to participate in every moment of the coming week...to walk through the valley with Jesus and the Disciples...to invite healing into your own life...to prepare to live in God's new creation.
On Palm Sunday, our Gospel reading begins with Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem and ends with the Passion of Christ, the story of Jesus' suffering and death. Passion means suffering.
Holy Week has begun.
On Maundy Thursday we begin the Triduum, the three day period when we remember and re-experience in a series of services the suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
It would be so much easier to simply skip this week and move directly to the joyful celebration of Easter.
Instead on Thursday, we sit with the disciples as they have their last meal with Jesus and we hear Jesus trying to prepare them for his death. Like a parent having what he knows is his final conversation with his children. He will remind them what is important and given them a way to practice together remembering.
We will wash each other's feet and share a meal that night. After our meal, we will clear the altar of all that represents Christ's presence with us.
The Tabernacle which holds bread and wine which has been blessed and not used during the service will be emptied at the Eucharist on Thursday night and the light on the wall which is always lit to signify Christ's presence will be extinguished.
After the clearing of the altar, we will depart the church in silence.
On Thursday night, a few will stay to keep watch through the night. This vigil represents the vigil of the disciples with Jesus at Gethsemane. If you wish to keep watch on Thursday night for an hour or for the night, speak to me after the service.
We will be reminded in that watch keeping as we pray and doze of the disciples. Though Jesus had washed their feet and cared for them, they too were unable to stay with him through his suffering.
On Friday at sunrise we will walk the Stations of the Cross as we remember Jesus' suffering at the hands of his accusers. In the evening, we will pray the solemn prayers in a darkened, quiet church.
The disciples did not know that Christ would be resurrected. Though he tried to tell them many times, for them, he was simply gone. On Friday we will experience with the disciples the terrible sadness of Jesus' absence.
We will, at the end of that service, have the opportunity to pray at the wooden cross which is a way of remembering and participating in Jesus' suffering.
Saturday morning, we will begin to prepare the church for Christ to return. We remember the burial of Christ and honor those who came forward to care for his body in death.
As they prepared the tomb for this final moment of Jesus' experience in his humanity, so we prepare the church to experience Christ's resurrection.
Saturday evening, after sunset, many will celebrate the first service of Easter. The Easter Vigil has four parts - the lighting of the Paschal candle, the lessons, the renewal of baptismal vows and the celebration of the first Eucharist. In the lessons we tell our story as God's people. The liturgy of this service dates to the second century and is one of the most ancient of the Christian church.
We have come full circle...From triumphant entrance into Jerusalem through suffering and death to the resurrection...the invitation to each of us to participate in a new creation.
As we make this journey, it reminds us of the patterns of human life - loved ones depart, sometimes through death and sometimes in endings that leave us broken and hurt;
innocent people are harmed and sometimes killed;
we may see in this story our own failures to stand by or stand up for someone who deserved our care and attention.
Our lives have suffering, sometimes of our own making and sometimes as innocent bystanders; and in our humanity we fail those most deserving of our care and attention.
Participating fully in Holy Week may open wounds and memories. So much easier to skip the Passion and jump into Easter without lingering in the suffering and death and difficulty of the story.
This story invites us to come face to face with our own sadness and frailty, with bitterness and grief.
This story invites us into the possibility of healing, of being healed.
It is exactly because of the Passion - the suffering and death of Jesus that the salvation of the world is now; that we are invited to participate in a new creation today.
I invite you to participate in every moment of the coming week...to walk through the valley with Jesus and the Disciples...to invite healing into your own life...to prepare to live in God's new creation.
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