Hello,

Coming Up:

No Online book study this Wednesday, Apr. 1. It will continue on April 8. The book is called To Love and Serve: Anglican Beliefs and Practices. There is a great guest speaker each week. No need to have read the book in order to enjoy the sessions.

Tenebrae (Service of Shadows): Tuesday, March 31, 7pm at Holy Trinity, SSM

$5 Monthly Meal: Friday, April 3, fish fillets (of course – it’s Good Friday) and roasted potatoes, vegetables, and dessert. 5pm takeout and 5:30pm eat-in. Email susan.montague2@gmail.com or phone 705-254-1692 to order.

In Person Book Study – The Meal that Jesus Gave Us by N. T. Wright: We’ll gather together at Holy Trinity, SSM, 6pm on Tuesday, April 7. There is no need to read the book in order to enjoy and benefit from the study. If you’d like to purchase it, I bought it on Kindle for about $10. There will be multiple weeks of study but I’ll publish the schedule later.

Painting with Amy Williams, Saturday, April 11, 1-4pm at Emmaus, SSM; $50 per person. Call Deborah at 705-256-9760 to reserve your spot.

Elvis is in the Building! Saturday, April 18, 2-4pm in the Trinity Centre; $5 entry; $2 hotdogs; other snacks and drinks will be available too. Email susan.montague2@gmail.com or phone 705-254-1692 to get a ticket.

A Liturgical Note For You:   Palm Waving and Passion Reading

The Sunday of the Passion, with the Liturgy of the Palms:  Perhaps you are wondering why we read the Passion Narrative on the Sunday before Good Friday and then we read it again on Good Friday.  People who do not know the liturgical history of this practice speculate that perhaps we read the Passion on the Sunday for all of those people who don’t show up to the worship service on the Friday. Nope. This Sunday is named “The Sunday of the Passion, with the Liturgy of the Palms” in order to reflect the fact that the Passion actually dominates the liturgy for this day. The palms may seem to be the main part of the worship since we sing, and process, and wave palm branches around. It is highly recommended that, whenever possible, this part of the service (The Liturgy of the Palms) take place somewhere other than the church itself...perhaps outdoors if weather permits, perhaps in the church hall, or even at the back of the church (if there is room) and then everyone would process to their seats in the church behind the altar party when the Liturgy of the Passion begins. 

The Liturgy of the Palms was first introduced by the Jerusalem Church in the late 300’s but the western church did not begin celebrating this liturgy until some time in the 600’s – and they changed it from an evening procession around the city into a morning procession into the church.  

Alright, so why the emphasis on the Passion of Christ when this is not the day he died?  There is a very long history – many centuries old – to this practice as well. Reading the Passion Narrative on the Sunday beginning Holy Week turns our hearts and minds more fully to the events of the week leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross. The Passion Narrative, as a matter of fact, used to read in churches every single day during Holy Week.  Reading the Passion Narrative so quickly on the heels of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem “will not allow any theology that dwells on triumphalism. It will not let us deceive ourselves about the sort of Messiah that Jesus is. To leave Palm Sunday without the Passion narrative can leave one with the impression that Jesus is the conquering Messiah, the Messiah of worldly power. The Passion narrative reminds us that we follow the crucified Messiah, the one who gained victory precisely in defeat” (The Rev. David L. Hansen at thedigitalpastor.org). It is also a reminder that we – the church – are simultaneously the ones who shower Jesus with accolades and then demand his death. We have been made holy by Christ but we still turn from God. Creation is good but broken by sin. The kingdom is here but is not yet fully revealed. 

One final point, The Sunday of the Passion rotates through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke – never John. The first three Gospels provide the narrative of the Last Supper in which Jesus instructs us to eat his body and to drink his blood, the new covenant, in remembrance of him.  Then we hear the rest of the story of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, his death and his placement in the tomb.  John’s account of the crucifixion is always the one read on Good Friday. John shows us how to see Jesus’ death as his glorification. 

Okay, one final, final point: This week you will see red hangings and altar covers in your church buildings – and in your clergy’s vestments and servers’ cinctures. Here is what “red” indicates as a colour used in traditional icons:

Red: This is the color of heat, passion, love, life and life-giving energy, and for this very reason red became the symbol of the resurrection – the victory of life over death. The Anglican Church also associates red with the Holy Spirit as “the Lord, the giver of life.”  But at the same time, it is the color of blood and torments, and the color of Christ’s sacrifice. Martyrs (like Stephen) are depicted in red clothing on icons.  

During Holy Week: There are never any calendar observances of other prominent Christian persons or days since the sole focus is on Jesus’ journey to the cross and his resurrection.  It is during this week that we gain the cross as our particularly poignant Christian symbol and have instituted for us, by Jesus, our central act of Christian unity with each other and with God – the Eucharist that we share in lives of humble service. Jesus showed us how to be the servants of all when he, the Master, washed the feet of his disciples. 

For a very brief rundown of the origins of Holy Week along with the importance of Easter, check out p.296 of the BAS: https://www.anglican.ca/wp-content/uploads/BAS.pdf

For Your Devotions: 

As I mentioned, there are no calendar observances during Holy Week other than our extraordinarily meaningful worship services. I will (try to remember to) post information about our worship on the Deanery of Algoma website throughout the coming week.

In the hope of Christ,

Susan