Passiontide

  Here at Saints Andrew and Matthias Anglican Church, one of our customs in Passiontide is to cover the images of Christ, the cross, and the saints, in the church, until Easter day. It is a visible representation that when Christ rose from the dead, on Easter day, His great work on the cross was finally revealed; but on Good Friday His Apostles all saw Him die, and not one of them understood what had happening. After witnessing His miracles and the truth and goodness in his teachings, they could not understand how or why this could have happened. His great sacrifice and plan were still hidden. Still covered.

  We, unlike them, know what would come next. But as Christians it is important that we understand what they saw, heard, and did before Christ’s revelation. For when we learn to see what they saw, then we can better understand in our own lives that God’s truth is uncovered in His own time and way.

The Prayer Book and the church calendar work together at this time to give us just that insight. Beginning on Palm Sunday, a service is held each day leading up to Easter. This is called Holy Week.

  In the 1928 Book of Common Prayer there is (beginning on page 134) there is daily, a new Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for a Holy Communion service to be performed. These Gospel readings tell the story of Jesus’ last days, starting with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (where the crowds praise and worship Him), to His condemnation (by much of that same crowd) before the week is done.

I encourage all congregants who can to attend as many of these services as they are able to. I also encourage each member of the church (and truly all Christians) to read these Gospel readings each day with us. These Gospel scriptures go through the events from the different Gospels, which each tell the perspective of different witnesses. By reading these different accounts, you will begin to see and feel the overwhelming confusion and loss that Jesus’ disciples felt as these events unfolded.

  In doing so you will properly prepare yourself for Easter Day. In learning what it was like to not know what would come, you can each be better able to cope with God’s great work in your own life, especially those moments that seem most hopeless. In that way you will prepare yourself, not only for Easter, but for a whole lifetime as a Christian believer. A lifetime spent trusting that God always has a plan for us, and that we are simply to trust in him and to walk in His ways.

With Prayers and Blessings,

Dcn. Nick Acker