Holy Week

By Pastor George Antonakos

Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of our remembering and celebrating the holiest of weeks in the Christian Year. Today as we carry a palm frond away from our time of worship, we become more aware of the intensification of our Lord's journey to the cross. We are also reminded that this week is a unified whole-more than a jump from today to next Easter Sunday.

This coming Thursday at our 7:30 pm Taizé evening service (see below for more information), we will remember the Upper Room, a place of intimacy with Christ and a witness to the humble servant actions of the Lord of glory. On Good Friday, at either a 12:00 noon or 7:00 pm worship experience, we will be called to mourn that in us which gave rise to Christ's humiliation, crucifixion and death. These services are designed to be highly reflective, and those who gather will have opportunity to worship in spaces other than the Sanctuary. And then, we will wait.

Next Saturday evening, at 7:00 pm, and Sunday morning, April 8th, we will sing with all our heart and soul and strength with thankfulness to God for bursting the bonds of death through his resurrection power. I hope we will all feel more than a bit overwhelmed by the meaning of it all.

That's what the church gathered will be doing. What will the holiest of weeks find you doing? Will you watch your normal TV programs? Will you go about your duties as though this were any other week? Will you skip over this week and arrive next Sunday without a lot of thought given to "the between time?" Will you set this week apart in some special way or will it just be week number 14 of 52?

For those who may be asking how this week might be set apart, I offer the following 10 suggestions. You may choose to do one or a few or none. But I suspect if you have read this far, you might be willing to try one.

Here you go:

1. Skip one meal on one day as a way of paying more attention to God's voice.
2. Skip one meal every day from Monday through Saturday.
3. Fast (liquids only) for one day.
4. Read one book of the Bible a day or this week.
5. Memorize a Psalm.
6. Don't watch TV on one night (or any night) this week.
7. Attend the services mentioned above.
8. Pray with another person five minutes each day, in person or on the phone.
9. Visit a cemetery and read 1 Corinthians 15.
10. Write a letter to God listing your sins and thanking God for forgiveness.

I'm sure you could add other ideas that may be more creative and suited to where you are on your journey with God. But by all means, take advantage of "the pilgrimage" the whole church makes each year to help deepen your sense of gratitude for the grace of God in Christ. Sanctify (set apart) this week and I would venture to predict that your Easter Sunday will shine brighter than ever!

Maundy Thursday Taizé Service

Taizé is an ecumenical prayer community in Southern France begun in the midst of the 2nd World War as a "parable of reconciliation" for the entire Christian family. Brother Roger Schutz settled in the tiny village of Taizé in France. Living prayfully, Brother Schutz assisted political refugees; and his concern for these victims of injustice, accompanied by his refusal to accept the divisions between Christians, led him to the creation of a "parable of community," rooted in the monastic tradition. The community is known today as Taizé, and is an ecumenical community comprised of almost 100 Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Reformed brothers from twenty-five countries.

The chants from the community's thrice-daily prayers are a simple way through which all Christians can easily pray together. Using the elements of prayer that are embraced by all: light, silence, visual images, scripture, and song, we become part of the reconciliation of the Body of Christ. Our Sanctuary will be dimly lit and adorned with candles and icons to complement the beauty of the words and music that will be read and sung during the Thursday evening service. Our hope is that this hour will be a blessing to all who attend and that you will leave spiritually refreshed, and that our Taizé sung prayers will become a greater spiritual wellspring for the entire life of our church. The spiritual songs from Taizé are chants, not hymns or songs. We may repeat a chant singing it as many as 8 to 12 times. This gives an opportunity for the chant to move from your intellect, to your emotions, to your soul-where the chant becomes a prayer.