Dear Friends,
Thank you for the many messages of support and encouragement that I have received since last week’s pastoral message; I have been particularly moved by the messages I have received from alumni of the Choir School. You belong to a very special family, and I will be praying for you all especially as we journey through Holy Week. I hope that the transparency and openness of the Vestry galvanizes people to find the best way forward.
The Passiontide Concert last Thursday was truly extraordinary! For a start, we had a very large audience, and you could feel the expectation growing in the church before the concert. Jeremy’s playing of Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto – which many say is the most difficult of all piano concertos for the soloist – was masterful, and the instant roar of gratitude from the audience well deserved. Our new partnership with Modus Operandi Orchestra was exciting, and Justin Bischoff has created an orchestra that plays with a kind of emotional passion. Poulenc’s deeply spiritual and emotional setting of the Stabat Mater brought some of us to tears; our choir excelled itself and our soprano soloist, Laquita Mitchell, captivated everyone with her exquisite voice and interpretation of those sacred words. In my almost ten years, not even a performance of Messiah has received such an extraordinary response from an audience with two standing ovations. Well done to our Choir of Men and Boys! I chatted with the boys before the concert and during the interval, and they were so engaged with what they were doing, and excited. As Justin said to me afterwards, most concert pianists spend their time practicing, but Jeremy was also preparing the choir for Holy Week and Easter – truly remarkable!
Sunday is Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord. We begin the most Holy Week of the Church’s year – the jewel in the crown of the liturgical life of our beloved Church and Choir School. By walking in the steps of Jesus, we come close to him and recognize that he has been walking with us all along. We want to worship, love, and serve Our Lord Jesus Christ, and Holy Week brings home to us why we try to do this.
Holy Week is filled with dramatic symbolic action and the re-telling of the story of redemption. However, it is not a play, and we are not reading a history book together. The word liturgy comes from a Greek word meaning the work of the people, and the scriptures are not simply historical documents to be studied; they are the accounts of salvation history and the Good News of the redemption of the world by Our Lord Jesus Christ! Thus, we participate in the liturgy and are not spectators like an audience at a theater.
Our proclamation of the Gospel brings past truths into the present. There is another Greek word that we teach in our pilgrims’ course when we study the Eucharist. That word is anamnesis and it is the word we hear every time the priest consecrates the bread and the wine: “Do this in remembrance of me.” Remembrance is more than just memory – from its use in the Passover liturgy, it is making a present reality that which was in the past. It is, if you will, as if we are at the last supper with Jesus – with the early Christians in their homes in Corinth – with the church gathering in Constantine’s basilicas – with Christians throughout the ages who have done this in remembrance of Jesus Christ their Lord and their God.
The Church, in her wisdom, has the Passion narrative read twice during Holy Week – once on Palm Sunday and once on Good Friday. It means that if someone is prevented from getting to Church on Good Friday, they have already heard the Passion story. Some churches, particularly non-liturgical ones, keep waving palms and singing praise songs all day on Palm Sunday! But the palm procession is only a small part of the story, and from that triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we quickly enter into the celebration of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection.
At the heart of Holy Week is what we call the Easter Triduum. Triduum is an old Latin word that refers to three holy days. In the ancient church, many feast days had a triduum associated with them, but only the Easter Triduum can be called The Triduum. Maundy Thursday – Good Friday – and Holy Saturday are a continuum; each liturgy is connected with the others. Without Maundy Thursday, Good Friday is simply the death of a good man; with Maundy Thursday, it is Christ offering himself as Priest and Victim for the sins of the whole world. Without Good Friday, Maundy Thursday is just another Seder meal; with Good Friday, it becomes a sacrificial offering and a sign of the unity of the Church, lived out through loving service (“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” John 13:34).
Similarly, without Easter, Good Friday is a sad and miserable day, but with Easter it becomes a day of hopefulness for all humanity; which is why we call that Friday good. Without Good Friday, Easter is a sham – a pretense – like the froth on cheap champagne that is unsatisfying and quickly dissipates. With Good Friday, Easter Day becomes a potent sign of new life and new possibilities; the old is made new, sin and death are conquered – and there is a new creation.
So, my friends, do your best to keep the Easter Triduum – to attend Maundy Thursday AND Good Friday AND one of the services of Easter. This year, we have decided not to have sermons on Palm Sunday or at the Easter Vigil – those powerful liturgies speak for themselves, and extra words are often not necessary. It also means that we will be a little more mindful of the length of those services.
If you plan to attend the Easter Vigil, which is the most complex liturgy of the year filled with symbolic meaning, much if it connecting us to our Jewish ancestry and the Exodus event, we invite you to bring bells to ring at the Easter acclamation.
Finally, we look forward to sharing Holy Week with Dean Robert and Fletcher. Dean Robert will be preaching six times for us. He is also going to make himself available on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday in church in case anyone wants to meet with him to pray, to make their confession, or to receive spiritual advice or counsel. On Good Friday, we welcome The Rev. Canon Susan Harriss who will preach the seven last words from the Cross.
I look forward to celebrating the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all!
“Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!” – “Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands”
Affectionately,
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
