Embracing a Different Kind of Holy Week, However We Can, Wherever We Are

Embracing a different kind of Holy Week, however we can, wherever we are Dear friends, Tomorrow, we enter Holy Week, and in a way we never have before. Though it will be different, for sure, I truly believe the glory of God will be revealed in this most holy season in ways that are as meaningful as ever, perhaps even more. Along with worshiping together virtually through the week, here are some ideas for how you and your family can be involved wherever you may be. PALM SUNDAY – Online worship available beginning at 10 a.m. Our standard order of palm branches and palm fronds arrived before we knew that we would not be able to use them this year. It was deemed unsafe to distribute them in any way, so instead, we will save them, let them cure through the coming year, and at some point burn them, as is the old custom, so their ashes can be used next Ash Wednesday. The crowds in Jerusalem gathered palm branches and laid them on the path Jesus took on his way into the city. Though we won’t re-enact that scene together on campus as we usually do, you still can gather some green branches wherever you are – they don’t have to be palms! – and use them a couple of ways: o During the procession part of the service on Sunday, wave your branches and process around the room or even through your house, shouting “Hosanna!” o After the service, display your branches on your front door to serve as a sacred reminder of the palm and passion story throughout Holy Week. HOLY WEDNESDAY – Online worship available beginning at 5 p.m. Like our prior Evening Prayer services on Wednesdays, this will be a solemn, spoken service. This week, however, we arrive at the Last Supper, and the scene that begins the series of events leading to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion…his betrayal. o Before, during or following the service, consider those times you have been betrayed, and how that felt. Consider those times when perhaps you betrayed someone else. Reflect, or even journal, about your feelings surrounding those events. Consider how Jesus identifies with the way you feel. If necessary, pray in the name of Christ for forgiveness, and/or the ability to forgive. MAUNDY THURSDAY – Online worship available beginning at 7 p.m. With the foot-washing, the Eucharist, and the stripping of the altar, Maundy Thursday is perhaps the most dramatic, visual and experiential liturgy in our Christian tradition. This year, we will miss those rich elements of this service due to the fact that we simply cannot be together. Our worship, therefore, will focus on the Word, the act of service Jesus so beautifully demonstrated to his disciples, the act of love and vulnerability he calls us all to emulate. Still, there are a couple of ways you can experience the dramatic acts of Maundy Thursday yourself: o Wash each others’ feet. This, of course, would be for those for those with family members or loved ones in the home. There are no words or prayers or special movements to remember – just fill a basin with warm water, grab a towel, and take turns administering this sacramental gesture to each other. o Strip the table. Consider enjoying an extravagant dinner at home, replete with a table dressed to the nines…fine tablecloth, cloth napkins, candlesticks…even pull out the fine china and silver, if you have it. After dinner, or perhaps after the online service, clear it all away…slowly, reverently…until you’re left with a single candle on the bare top of the table. Dim the lights, and gather around the candle in silence. After a while, extinguish the candle. o Spend a “Holy Hour” with Jesus. Those who have helped keep the vigil before the Blessed Sacrament know how special this act can be, but we can spend time with Jesus at home, too. Consider making a special place, perhaps even a little garden (indoors or outdoors) where you can pray for an hour on Thursday night, in response to Jesus’ invitation to stay awake an hour with him. GOOD FRIDAY – Online worship available beginning at noon Though the online format requires us to do it all a bit differently, we will as usual offer worship that includes the Stations of the Cross and the Good Friday liturgy of solemn prayers. At home, Good Friday can be observed in a couple of ways: o Fasting. This is the most traditional personal observance of Good Friday. There are various interpretations for how to do it, and everyone should abide by their own dietary requirements. But fasting doesn’t have to apply only to food, as perhaps we’ve all learned over these recent weeks. Maybe there’s something else – an activity like TV or the news! – that we would do well to consider taking a break from. o Devotion. One particular aspect of Good Friday worship is the reverence of the cross. Of course, this can be done anywhere you have a cross. Following the online stations and liturgy, pull out your favorite one – any shape or size, either a “resurrection” cross or crucifix – and place it where it is comfortably in view, then gaze upon it for a while as you consider what it symbolizes, what it conveys to you about the grace and love of God displayed through Jesus’ suffering and death. EASTER SUNDAY – Online worship available beginning at 7 a.m. o Though we are separated, we still can ring out our joy together virtually on Easter Day by submitting a little video. Send in a short clip of you and your family saying the Easter proclamation – “Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!” Our plan is to assemble these and share them as part of our worship experience on Easter morning. § Two technical tips: Be sure to use the landscape orientation of your camera (turned so the picture is horizontal); and keep it short so as not to overload our files. § Send your video clip to [email protected]. o While we have no need for contributions toward music and flowers for Easter Sunday this year, we ask that you consider two offerings: § A special Easter offering in addition to your usual giving. We make this appeal each and every year, but in the midst of the current pandemic, this is especially appreciated as we make our way through this difficult time. § A specific contribution to help those in desperate situations owing to job loss or sickness or other unfortunate circumstances. Make checks to St. James, marked “COVID-19 discretionary fund” in the memo line. Yes, this Holy Week will certainly be different from any we’ve ever experienced. But yes, in this way, our celebration this year just might be closer than ever to that time Jesus entered Jerusalem 2,000 years ago…a time also overrun by uncertainty, anxiety and fear. As we walk through the coming week, we cling to the One whose own suffering and death offers us hope and light and life, not just through this difficult time, but always. Yours, in Christ, Jerald+ .

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