Meditation Getting Ready for Holy Week 2025

Sent out as "Father John Writes"

in the Thursday Update

of St. Elizabeth's Dahlonega

March 27, 2025

A Walk through Holy Week

Holy Week and Easter observance declares that though darkness seems to cast all in shadow, light shines forth. Though self-serving seems to dominate human experience, love will prevail. Though Death seens to have the last word, indeed LIfe sings out an eternal anthem of praise. This is the Message of Jesus. This is the MessT

age we celebrate with Holy Week.
     Palm Sunday we bless palms and process with them remembering Jesus entrance into Jerusalem. We will also have the Passion Gospel in church as this is the only Sunday in the year when the Crucifixion is read as the Gospel. On Palm Sunday we leave the church in silence to the beat of a drum calling to mind Jesus Death.
     Maundy Thursday we have an Agape, or love feast, where we eat Middle-Eastern foods. We also will learn about the Passover Seder which is believed to be the context in which Jesus started the Eucharist. We then go upstairs to wash feet, celebrate the Eucharist on the night which Christ gave it to us. We then will strip the altar symbolizing Jesus' betrayal. We will leave the church bare and it will remain bare for all of Good Friday. We will end with an hour of silent prayer trying to honor Jesus' request to watch one hour with him.
     Good Friday we have a very somber unadorned worship service, again reading the passion Gospel. We will venerate the Cross. We will receive communion from the reserved sacrament. After the 5:30 PM service all the bread and wine will be consumed. Thus from Friday night to Sunday morning is the only time in the year when there is not consecrated breaad or wine in the church. Indeed, throughout the world this will be the case. There will be no consecrated bread or wine in all the world that Saturday.
     Holy Saturday we will have a gathering to prepare the church for Easter. And Saturday evening we will have a simple serivce based on the first half of the Great Vigil of Easter. We will light the paschal candle, sing the exultet, and read scripture telling the story of God's salvation from creation to the present day.
     Easter Day we will all bring bells from church to ring before the Gloria. (If you wear hearing aids you may want to turn them off during the ringing). We will resurrect the Alleluias that we buried before Lent, and we will celebrate the Easter Eucharist. Downstairs we will have a special reception. 
     These days allow us to ponder again each year the great mystery of our faith! Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.

Have a blessed week,

Father John