This Sunday we celebrate the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, and with it we enter Holy Week. For centuries upon centuries Christians have been gathering together to retrace the last steps of the Christ. This is what we do when we gather on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday to prepare for the joy of Easter Day. We believe that these last three days cannot be separated one from another, and so we celebrate them all as one liturgy. From Maundy Thursday through to the Great Vigil there are no dismissals, only pauses until we gather again. From the intimate, humble service we offer each other on Maundy Thursday, to our time spent in contemplation at the foot of the Cross on Friday, to the new light piercing the darkness at the Feast of the Resurrection on Saturday, these services stand as one like an ancient guidepost which brings us to the Easter morning with hearts open to receive God’s miraculous love.
I don’t make promises lightly. But this I will promise you. If you come to all of the services of the Triduum – the three great days – and enter in and be present, you will be transformed. Every year this has been my experience, and that of countless others. It’s why for centuries upon centuries Christians have been gathering together to retrace the last steps of Christ: so we will be ready to step into the world with hands ready to serve and heart open to all in the name of Christ.
Yours in God’s peace,
Kristin+