From April 5: Holy week

Welcome to Holy Week! I hope to see a lot of you in the next few days (a lot as in, "many" of you, and also, "frequently!")
Triduum of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter. They are, technically, one service-there's no final blessing or dismissal until the end of the Great Vigil. The word "Maundy" comes from the Latin, mandatum, which means commandment-
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)
In the liturgy, we wash each others' feet-we are each others' servants. Men and women, older and younger-we are all called to serve each other. Is it awkward? Of course. Don't come in a skirt. It's a level of nearness we don't frequently experience with our friends, much less the person you sit behind in church. But is it holy? Absolutely. The disciples didn't understand what Jesus was doing at first, either. When Jesus kneels at Peter's feet, he says, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Peter is confused-an act of submission by his Lord? No way. Jesus says, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Does Peter get it, later? Much later, he does-after the crucifixion, after the resurrection, he understands just how different a Lord Jesus was. Not one who wants domination and power, but a Lord who wants to be on the floor, kneeling in front of us, comforting and consoling. A Lord whose only command is love.

The foot washing takes place between the sermon and the prayers of the people. The liturgy continues with Communion. After Communion, we strip the altar. All the hangings, all the chairs, all the cushions and candles come out of the sanctuary. We do this to prepare for Good Friday, to remind ourselves of the abandonment of Christ, and the utter absence and desolation of that day. Everyone who is present in the church is invited to help strip the altar-it's not just a performance by the clergy or leaders of the service; it's shared by us all.

For Good Friday at Christ Church, we follow the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer. It differs in some significant ways from the regular Eucharist we celebrate on Sundays. Instead of the Prayers of the People, we hear a series of collects (aptly named "the Solemn Collects) that offer prayers for the church and the world, for those who suffer and those who seek faith). After the collects comes the central moment, the entrance of the cross. The cross we use is not an elaborate one-it's not made of nice wood, or stained a beautiful color. It's two rough sticks, bound together, that Paula found in the woods. After the cross enters, we are all invited to reverence-to bow, to kiss, to kneel, or just to stand and wonder at the mystery of that symbol, an object of shame and violence transformed into life and love. On Good Friday we don't celebrate the Eucharist. The preacher Barbara Brown Taylor has said that Good Friday is the quietest day of the year-part of that silence is not celebrating the sacrament. In recognition of our need to be fed, however, we do share communion (the bread and wine having been consecrated at the service on Maundy Thursday).

The Easter Vigil is just that-a Vigil-we enter a darkened church, after lighting the Pascal candle from a fire outside the church and then we process in singing, and hear the stories of our salvation from the Hebrew Scriptures. Halfway through the service, Easter begins!-we ring in our celebration with bells and more light (each of us will have to bring our own bell to ring). This year we have the special blessing of sharing in baptism for Jesse Foster-Stout and Rob Atwood, so blessings to them as well! The service continues with a festive Eucharist, with incense and wonderful Easter hymns. The alleluias will be back!

Holy Week is, spiritually and theologically, the high point and center of the whole church year. I often joke that if you only come to church a few times a year, these are it-you can skip the whole year if you come now. I'm kidding, but this is what our faith is really about. Having gone through the journey of Maundy Thursday, the depths of Good Friday, the watching and waiting of the Vigil-the celebration of the Easter resurrection is that much more powerful-and honest. I'll see you tonight, when it all starts. Bring your friends!