GREETINGS TO THE LIGHT SHINING PEOPLE OF CHRIST THE KING,
This past week, on Tuesday and Wednesday 5 planets lined up in the western sky and could be seen shortly after sunset if the sky was clear. A waxing moon with Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars lined up. I missed it as I was preparing for a different kind of alignment as Lent is coming to a close and Holy Week is on the horizon.
I often wonder what God is up to but not when it comes to Holy Week starting this Sunday with Palm Sunday. The “planets” are aligned with these Holy Days that mark God’s actions and God’s humility coming to us as one of us and giving his life for us. God shows us the way to live our lives through servanthood that we participate in on Maundy Thursday, with the command to love like Jesus loved. You may have your feet or hands washed and anointed to commit yourself to loving servanthood.
Good Friday we hear the Passion, the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial, suffering and death from Matthew’s gospel and we spend more time in prayer and we focus our attention on the cross and pay homage by lighting a candle at the foot of the roughhewn cross as we give thanks to Jesus and the cross on which he gave his life. It is clear what God is up to as the bridges between us are built upon the cross and through Jesus’ witness.
All through Lent during our mid-week Holden Evening Prayer we have been focused on the lesser known and often omitted vigil readings which tended to be more poetry from our prophets. Now on Holy Saturday, our Easter Vigil will give us the familiar stories of creation, flood, exodus, Jonah, and the 3 men in the fiery furnace that help us to sit in this time between Jesus’ death and his resurrection. Along with these familiar stories we renew ourselves in our baptism and celebrate Holy Communion as we look into the empty tomb and begin again to wonder what God is up to now.
On Easter Sunday and for the next 50 days we celebrate in full force and power of the resurrection and look for signs of Jesus’ new life on the lose in our own lives. This is our story. This is our God who comes to us and shows us how to live and die and live again. We start on Palm Sunday, shouting, HOSANNA – SAVE US and God does just that in a way we can truly understand and fully celebrate on the Resurrection of our Lord. It is such good news! Let’s jump right in to tell God’s great story of love for us as we align ourselves with these Holy Days.
Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,
Pastor Connie Spitzack
