This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the day that marks Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of the Holy Week. Holy Week is a sacred time of the church’s year during which Christians commemorate and remember the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. The focus of this week will be the events that leads Jesus to the cross, death, and resurrection. The Lenten season of sacrifice and self-denial is about to come to an end.
On Palm Sunday, we will have a procession of palms into the worship service. This year, Chapel Hill will celebrate Palm Sunday with the choir singing the Palm Sunday / Passion Sunday cantata and the reading of the Gospel.
On Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), we will relive the last Passover Seder meal that Jesus had with his disciples, during which Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Just as every year our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate the Passover to remember God’s act of deliverance out of Egypt, each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we remember the work of Jesus that delivers us from the slavery of sin and death.
The meal we have together will be a light meal, the format of which is adapted from the full meal of the Jewish Passover Seder celebrating in the home with friends and family. The food provided is symbolic. It elaborates the meaning and teaching of the event, which is intended to call people to remember their identity as the people of God and to pass on the understanding to younger generations.
On Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion and death of our Lord, we will have a Tenebrae service at 7:00 p.m.
I hope you set time apart for these events in the life of the church. Those who immerse themselves wholeheartedly during Lent and the Holy Week discover the spiritual strength and renewal, as they have never experienced it before. During these days, through our prayers and meditation, we accompany Jesus through his suffering so that we might rise with him on Easter morning. Let us, once again, focus our hearts and minds on Jesus and what he did for us and for humanity.
See you this Sunday.
~ Mai
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