Entering into Holy Week

Beloved people of God at Gloria Dei, 

As we gather on this 6th and final Sunday in Lent, we will hear the story of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, followed by the story of his passion and death.  Some have wondered and asked, “why do we commemorate both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday on the same day?”  There has been a popular misconception that the primary reason was out of a concern for the low turnout at Good Friday services. “The Lectionary people” it was thought put the Passion narrative into Palm Sunday so that more people would have a change to hear it.  But that is not the case. The two narratives from a theological whole - Christ enters Jerusalem triumphantly, but his kingship is elucidated in the Passion, the Cross is his throne. And the reading of the Passion narrative this Sunday can be thought of as an overture into the events of Holy Week.  Palm/Passion Sunday in fact inaugurates Holy Week, a time of more intense fasting, reading, and prayers in which we pay particular attention to the final days, suffering, and execution of Jesus.

Holy Week is more than Palm Sunday and Easter—it’s a transformative journey. Furthermore, Holy Week is not meant to be observed in isolation. It is meant to be a communal experience.  Here at Gloria Dei, we do that by gathering on Maundy Thursday for a simple soup supper followed by a liturgy of Holy Communion in which we remember Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples and meditate on his commandment to love one another as God has loved us. And then on Good Friday we will come together again to meditate on the Cross and a Love that forgives even our deepest betrayals. As we have done in the last couple of years, we will meditate on the cross by walking and praying the Stations of the Cross, expressing our solidarity with those who feel abandoned by God - victims of war and famine, those who live in fear do to unjust laws  and other oppresssed people. We will also meditate on our betrayal of the earth itself - undergoing an eco-crucifixion because of our neglect and exploitative practices.   

And then on Easter morning we will gather once more and proclaim that death, sin and destruction do not have the last word, and that Life rises and is made new again even in the midst of sorrow and tears. 

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!