When Holy Week arrives at the end of March, people are surprised at its arrival. This is true for non-Christians who associate Easter with April; true for nominal Christians who have not observed Lent; and even true for faithful Christians, who find they have less time to prepare.
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Holy Week begins this Sunday, but first I want to thank everyone for the beautiful mass we enjoyed on Saint Joseph's Day. The choir did a superb job, as is regularly the case, and many were grateful for the Bach voluntaries by Kathy Crosier, our organist. This was the first time we celebrated this feast with more than a low mass, and as several of us reflected the day after via texts and phone calls, celebrating Saint Joseph with a sung mass was well worth it. The attendance was small, but those who came were full of devotion, and in the end we do not offer worship for ourselves but for God.
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This coming Sunday is already the Fifth Sunday in Lent, and in another week Palm Sunday arrives and Holy Week begins. If last Sunday offered us some refreshment and repose, being Laetare Sunday, rejoicing in Jerusalem's renewal and a foretaste of Easter glory, the Fifth Sunday in Lent marks the beginning of Passion-tide, when the statues, images, and crosses in the church are veiled. These signs of the resurrection are covered, because it is now that Jesus consistently vanishes from our sight. His presence is veiled, again and again, for his time has not yet come to do his great work.
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Two Sundays ago at the Rector’s Study, we began our study of Holy Week, looking particularly at Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. This Sunday’s class will focus on Good Friday, and we may even touch upon the Easter Vigil. It all depends upon how much trivia the participants make me unpack as we study these liturgies.
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Lent is keeping us active at the church. In addition to our regular round of worship for Ash Wednesday, weekdays, Sundays, and Lenten Fridays, we had two funerals last week. We have also been revising the worship leaflets for the remainder of Lent and for Holy Week, and currently, only the Easter Day liturgies are rough drafts.
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Sometimes people are surprised that we have daily masses at St. Mark’s. They question, “Isn’t it too much work? Doesn’t it get in the way of getting other work done? Is the mass an inconvenience in the middle of the day?” A priest even said to me once, “I would never want to serve at a church that had daily masses. Such a schedule requires too much.”
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