A Word from Pastor DJ
We also remember that it was on this night that Judas betrays Jesus, Peter denies Him, and Jesus stands trial before the Sanhedrin of Israel. So at the end of communion, we remember Jesus being led away by transferring the consecrated Bread and Wine (needed for the Good Friday service) in a solemn procession from the sanctuary to the Altar of Reposeset up as a chapel in the classroom next door. Immediately after the procession returns, we remove all the crosses, altar clothes, reserved sacrament in Aumbry, and any movable finery from the altar area, so that all that remains is a bare altar. The Church is made ready for Good Friday.
Then the Vigil Watch begins at 9PM Thursday night and continues until 9AM Friday morning. We are invited to answer the question, Can we watch with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane one hour? We participate in the disciples’ experience told in Matthew 26:36-46 where they all went to the Garden of Gethsemane. Then Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to go pray and asks them to stay awake with him. Twice Jesus finds them sleeping. We experience a deeper level of intimacy with Jesus as we watch with him. We acknowledge that on that night in the garden, every part of His humanity wanted to run; but the divine love within gave Him the courage to stay and lay down His life in absorbing through suffering and death all the violence, evil, and rejection of the world.
A sign-up sheet has been created for the Vigil Watch to sign up for an hour slot. Please specify if you will be watching in person at the church or at your home by video. The room where the sacraments are reserved will have books and bibles as well as several chairs and kneelers. A camera with no sound will be focused on the sacrament on the altar during this time (hopefully). If you are watching online, go to our website HERE and scroll down to watch the video on this page.
On Good Friday, the holiest day of the year, we battle evil in this world and within ourselves by quenching it with the power of the Cross. From the start of Friday until the Easter Vigil, the Holy Eucharist is not celebrated. The Church greets us on Good Friday with a stark bareness encountered at no other time of the year. The wooden Cross becomes the focus of our worship on this day. In the last action of this service, we will receive Communion from the reserved sacrament that we sat with during the Vigil Watch. Any leftover reserved sacrament is consumed. From that point until the Easter Vigil service, the Risen Lord is not present in the Church. The Aumbry is left open to reveal its emptiness and the sanctuary candle is dark. All is quiet! Jesus is buried and we wait.
The Easter Vigil begins outside in darkness where we bless the new fire. The Paschal candle represents Christ, and lighting this candle from the new fire symbolizes Christ overcoming the darkness. We will all light our candles from the Paschal light and process into the dark church. Then we will hear stories of God’s plan of salvation for humankind with readings, music, and prayers. We will welcome a new person in baptism into the Christian Family. The Eucharist is the celebratory start of the Easter Season with full light, bells, and the return of the Alleluia. Our Sunday morning Easter services are a continuation of the third day of the Triduum which concludes Sunday night.
These rites are not simply a rehearsal of some past events. Rather, they bring to life the very power of those original miracles each time they are celebrated. So often in our own lives we experience moments of death and betrayal, times when the tunnel of time seems without end. Holy Week reassures us that Christ experienced that same darkness, but in the end the light of the Resurrection brought victory to Christ, and victory to us.
It’s easy for us to fall into the danger of following Jesus at a distance. “Walking in another person’s shoes” provides us the ability to empathize and better understand. Fully participating in all the Holy Week services gives us the opportunity to experience and feel what Jesus felt that last night before His great agony and to somehow enter into His passionate love for us. By walking the road to Calvary, we too find the power of Resurrection dispelling the darkness of our own lives, bringing clarity and joy to bear.
Blessings & Love, DJ+
Dear Friends,
The services this weekend beginning on Thursday night are known as the Triduum, which is a Latin word meaning “three days”. The days are counted from sundown to sundown. The services from Maundy Thursday through Sunday are intended to be experienced as one continuous liturgical movement. Therefore, the services on Thursday and Friday do not have an ending. People intentionally leave in silence with the message the service continues. To receive the full experience of our Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection, it is important to return for the next liturgical movement from Thursday night through Sunday morning.
Maundy Thursday remembers Jesus’ commandment to his disciples to love and serve. The word maundy is derived from the Latin mandatum meaning "command" and signifies for us humility, service, and the Last Supper. The liturgy begins in the usual fashion with the foot-washing occurring after the sermon. Volunteers from the congregation help us recall this act of humility by taking turns to have our feet washed then wash the feet of another person. It reminds both the congregation and the clergy that we are all called to serve and not just to be served. The Eucharist has special significance on this night as we remember Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. The church color for this service is white instead of passion red emphasizing the holiness of God’s gift of God’s Self to us in love and friendship. Jesus gave His very self to His disciples through the bread and wine. Our Bread and Wine are broken and poured out, just as Jesus would be the next morning.
Please click HERE to sign up for a time slot for the Vigil watch which will happen April 2-3 following the Maundy Thursday service and go through the night until 9:00 AM Friday morning.
Click the button to schedule an appointment with me online without contacting me. This link can also be found by going to the bottom of any page at our website, clicking on “Directory”, entering the password, and then clicking on the left button to schedule a meeting with me. The link is in the membership section of the website so only parishioners of Church of the Holy Spirit can use this method. It is preferable for people not connected with the Church to schedule through the church office.
If you would like to listen to a past Sunday’s sermon, click the button which will take you to a playlist. This will be the sermon only - not the entire service. The most recent Sunday will be at the top, and they will go back in chronological order.