Holy Week

Dear Family of Faith,

The Three Days (Maundy Thursday evening through Easter evening) are drawing near. Preparations are being made. Anticipation is growing. Flowers are blooming and our Easter celebration is near.

We celebrate The Three Days amid the particularities of our lives and world this year, 2022. As the Three Days begin Thursday, slow down your pace. Notice your breath. Maybe spend time in solitude and silence. And come to worship hungry and thirsty to be refreshed by the life-giving grace of these days.

Maundy Thursday- SSM at 7 pm. We share the holy meal: becoming what we eat and drink, the body of Christ, offering ourselves in love for the life of the world. We follow Jesus’ actions of serving one another.  As the liturgy ends, the sanctuary is stripped of its furnishings, recalling that Jesus was abandoned by his followers.

Good Friday- Ecumenical Cross Walk will take place at 2 pm at St. Thomas of Canterbury and there will be a service at 3 pm at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church.  On Friday evening we will gather at SSM at 7 pm. We will hear the passion narrative and experience the sounds of the passion.  The service ends in darkness as we wait to celebrate the resurrection on Easter morning.

 Easter Vigil will be on Saturday night at 5 pm. This is the night of nights. There will be fire; word and silence; water; bread and wine; and spring flowers in abundance. This is both a celebration and a renewal of our faith!

We gather outside around a new fire, a symbol that announces the new creation in Christ's death and resurrection. We carry a large candle into the darkened church, even as a pillar of fire led the Israelites to freedom.

On this night we remember our baptism as we are sprinkled with the water of life. We tell some of the great stories of our faith, including the story of the creation of the world. God creates light out of darkness, and from a watery chaos, life comes forth. We tell the story of the three men in the fiery furnace and we know that even during life's most terrifying, we are not alone

On this night we will share the great and promised feast. The risen Christ feeds us with the life that will never die.

Easter Morning- Worship in the prayer garden at 7 am and in the sanctuary at 9:30 am.  We gather and rejoice together celebrating Christ's victory over death shouting out Alleluia!  Christ is Risen! Easter refreshments will be served in the Narthex between the services.