It sometimes seems odd to folks that I would always say that Holy Week is my favourite week of the year. There is almost no other week in the life of a priest where you work harder. The themes of the week are filled with dark and difficult imagery. And yet, the closer I get to Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week, the more I get excited by the prospects of taking that walk with Christ "From the glory of the palms to the glory of the resurrection" by way of the dark road of suffering and death.
Although it is a mantra that usually drives me a little bit crazy in the church, I sort of miss the old way, when Passion Sunday stood on its own as the fifth Sunday of Lent, and allowed us to get our first experience of the story of the Passion, and opened Palm Sunday to simply celebrate the entry into Jerusalem. But change is an inevitable part of life. I remember being told in my seminary days that the change was because so many people came to Palm Sunday and to Easter Sunday, but skipped Good Friday because it was too depressing, and wondering, how can this incredible demonstration of the depth of God's love for us be depressing?
But when Palm Sunday and the Liturgy of the passion are finished, we move into daily Eucharistic celebrations, each intended to draw us in closer, and to help us to see the love that will be exemplified on the cross. As you walk that daily walk through the week, you hear a series of love stories, that combined, make the cross on Friday into a shining beacon.
On Monday, we hear of a woman anointing Jesus feet, washing them with her tears, and wiping them with her hair. It is a powerful and very physical story that points us forward to the grave that now looms on the horizon. On Tuesday, with the Chrism Mass, the sacraments of unction and Baptism are given the focus in the Liturgy, but still the Gospel invites us to reflect on the incredible love of God. On Wednesday we hear of some Greeks who come seeking to see Jesus. But as Jesus reveals himself to them, he tells how he will be lifted up from the earth to draw all people to himself.
And with Thursday, we begin the Paschal tritium. That simply means the Great Three Days of Easter. People often wonder, how can Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy and Saturday, and Easter Sunday possibly constitute the "Three days of Easter." We have to remember that this celebration is not driven by our own calendar, but by the calendar in which it happened, and in the Jewish calendar, a new day began at sunset. The activities of Thursday night in our reckoning were actually just early happenings of Friday. At any rate, we gather when the sun has set, and we remember the servanthood of Jesus. We remember it. The clergy act it out, to remind us that it is not some far off concept from an ancient day, but a here and now imperative that the church is called to today. We get our English word for this day of Maundy from a mispronunciation of the latin word mandatum, which means commandment. It is on this night that Jesus says, "A new commandment give I unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you." In this night, we are reminded in very vivid terms that we are called to get out into the world as a force for LOVE. Many great traditions have grown up around Maundy Thursday, including the tradition of Maundy Money. The monarch chooses a group of the poor (according to the age of the monarch) and gives to them a monetary gift as a sign of love. Love is the defining message of this service.
We then celebrate the Eucharist on this night, remembering that it is on this night that Jesus first gave that meal to his followers. Finally, the Altar is stripped of all its beautiful things and the lights of the Cathedral are turned out. We turn and leave in silence, remembering how everyone left Jesus alone and abandoned. We leave without a blessing but like so many things in the church, that is for a very practical reason. The services of Thursday, Friday and Saturday were originally one service, and people went home in between times, or stayed in the church for silent prayer time. We leave without a blessing because the service isn't over yet.
When Friday morning comes, we gather with the cross at St. paul's and begin the Via Dolorosa or "Way of Sorrows" as we walk from there to St. George's. This service of prayer and meditation is meant to draw to mind the very real walk that pilgrims take through the city of Jerusalem along the path that Jesus first walked from the Antonia Fortress in Jerusalem to Golgatha. When we arrive at the Cathedral, we hold a service of meditation on the Cross. people who wish are invited to go to the chapel to receive the sacrament from the reserved sacrament as we remember the day on which this sacrifice actually was made. Once again, we leave in silence without a blessing.
And then comes Saturday. Again, we gather once the sun has set. We gather in darkness, but then a new fire is kindled and blessed, and the Easter or Paschal Candle is lit from that flame. We re-enter the church remembering how God led the faithful with a pillar of fire, by following the pillar of fire of our Easter Candle. We take some time to hear again the stories of how God has saved God's people, and particularly those stories that tell how God saved through Water. Finally, it is declared to be Easter, and the bells ring and the organ plays a fanfare, and the lights are brought up. We sing out the praise that we have muted for all the long days of Lent, as we hear the long-awaited words, "Alleluia! Christ is Risen!" Then, as it has done since its earliest days, we either baptize new christians, or renew our own Baptismal promises before the celebration of the first Easter Eucharist. When this great service is completed, I usually got home on such a high note that even though I am dead tired, I cannot manage to close my eyes. Alleluia! Life Wins! Love Wins! All the love we have heard about in each of the daily services is shown to be more powerful than death itself.
When Easter morning arrives and the church is filled with joyful worshippers, it is to celebrate not just the Resurrection, but all that has come before it in this marvellous week. It is only by way of the Cross that Resurrection is possible. It is a message that still needs to be heard in our time. We cannot avoid the difficult things that come to us in life and expect to experience new life. God calls us to walk down a path that leads to life, but that path will take us through difficulty, just as it did Jesus. I look forward to seeing you all for Easter, but do me a favour, please. Come and try walking the whole walk with me. I can guarantee you that you will have never experienced the joy of Easter in the same way.
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