Dearest e-votees,
The readings that we use on most Sunday come from what is called the Revised Common Lectionary. It provides for each Sunday (and some special weekdays) an OT (Old Testament) reading, something from the Psalms, a NT (New Testament) reading (often from the epistles, or letters, but not always) and a reading from one of the four gospels. It is a 3-year cycle--one year emphasizing Luke, one Matthew and one Mark. John is sprinkled in occasionally throughout.
Some Sundays have two sets of lections. Sometimes it is because we recognize a particular saint on a fixed date which sometimes overlaps with the Sundays and rhythms of the church year. And then there's a day like today. We have a choice to make. Do we want to focus on the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and perhaps the cleansing of the Temple and linger there? If so, today is Palm Sunday. Do we want to take in the entire scope of the week from Palm Sunday through Easter Vigil? If so today is Passion Sunday. We have a choice to make. What's your druthers?
Peace,
Karl
------------
Sometime the choice comes down to the economy of time. If we run through the whole on a Sunday morning then people are well-prepared for coming to Easter the next Sunday. People can experience, albeit quickly, the entire texture and context of the week. When I took Film Study in high school I learned that to really study a movie you need to watch it at least twice. The first time lays out the basic trajectory of the story and introduces characters and themes. It shows you in broad strokes the story. The second time you watch is with a trained eye looking for finer details. Spoiler alert: In the movie The Sixth Sense there is a boy who sees dead people. There are very specific rules that apply in this world to how dead people can and can't interact with the living. You learn all that in the first screening. The second time you watch you know from the start who is dead and who is not. You can now watch the movie to see if the filmmakers and actors abided with the rules of this world. Passion Sunday is about catching the themes, broad strokes and characters of Jesus' final pre-resurrection week on earth. There is merit and importance in this first screening.
One of the very practical considerations in most years is that not too many people will come back for services mid-week. So, if you opt for Palm Sunday you essentially go from party to party (triumphal entry to triumphant resurrection) without the important intermediary details of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. If people are only able or willing to come on Sundays perhaps Passion Sunday is the way to go.
But Passion Sunday is kind of like drinking out of a fire hose. There is so much detail that is covered and it is hard to linger and abide in the important portions of the week. Each and every day of worship in Holy Week is powerful. It is a character that has something to say and convey to help the story be properly rendered. In Palm Sunday and the following days of the week we can really learn and engage the rules of the world of Holy Week. We can learn each character intimately and find the truths in them. We can abide with Peter, Judas, Jesus, Pilate, Pilate's wife, the earliest witnesses of the empty tomb, the crowd crying "Crucify him!" and even Barabbas. We can find where we resonate with each of these characters as well. Palm Sunday --> Maundy Thursday --> Good Friday --> Easter Vigil --> Easter is a slow and methodical way to have a "second screening" (or even more screenings) of Holy Week.
One of the realities of this year is that we have a lot more time than we usually do on our hands. If we are under stay-at-home orders and practicing physical distancing we have opportunity to linger in Holy Week more than usual. We can't do it in one another's physical presence but we can linger in the stories together. We can even dare to wash one another's feet of those on lock-down with us on Thursday. We can linger in the 7 last words of Christ and engage a remembrance of shadows on Friday. We can linger in the important family stories of the Easter Vigil and in baptismal remembrance on Saturday. We can embrace the good news of the empty tomb with a focus that many years don't allow when our week culminates on Sunday. Will we?!?
There are rules in our world for how we do or don't interact with dead people as there are in The Sixth Sense. Dead people are supposed to stay dead. When our time comes, through COVID-19 or whatever else eventually gets us, our time is over. When we are good and dead (not mostly dead as in The Princess Bride) the story is done for us. But Lazarus being resuscitated last week showed hints of the rules coming undone. And Jesus rising from the dead tore up the rulebook entirely. If we want to be people of this new and life-giving story we have to put in the time at the feet of the master storyteller, Jesus, the Word. Will we?!? How many screenings can you manage?
God, help us choose to linger and abide with you during this pivotal week in the history of the world and in our own faith journeys. Amen.
The readings that we use on most Sunday come from what is called the Revised Common Lectionary. It provides for each Sunday (and some special weekdays) an OT (Old Testament) reading, something from the Psalms, a NT (New Testament) reading (often from the epistles, or letters, but not always) and a reading from one of the four gospels. It is a 3-year cycle--one year emphasizing Luke, one Matthew and one Mark. John is sprinkled in occasionally throughout.
Some Sundays have two sets of lections. Sometimes it is because we recognize a particular saint on a fixed date which sometimes overlaps with the Sundays and rhythms of the church year. And then there's a day like today. We have a choice to make. Do we want to focus on the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and perhaps the cleansing of the Temple and linger there? If so, today is Palm Sunday. Do we want to take in the entire scope of the week from Palm Sunday through Easter Vigil? If so today is Passion Sunday. We have a choice to make. What's your druthers?
Peace,
Karl
------------
Sometime the choice comes down to the economy of time. If we run through the whole on a Sunday morning then people are well-prepared for coming to Easter the next Sunday. People can experience, albeit quickly, the entire texture and context of the week. When I took Film Study in high school I learned that to really study a movie you need to watch it at least twice. The first time lays out the basic trajectory of the story and introduces characters and themes. It shows you in broad strokes the story. The second time you watch is with a trained eye looking for finer details. Spoiler alert: In the movie The Sixth Sense there is a boy who sees dead people. There are very specific rules that apply in this world to how dead people can and can't interact with the living. You learn all that in the first screening. The second time you watch you know from the start who is dead and who is not. You can now watch the movie to see if the filmmakers and actors abided with the rules of this world. Passion Sunday is about catching the themes, broad strokes and characters of Jesus' final pre-resurrection week on earth. There is merit and importance in this first screening.
One of the very practical considerations in most years is that not too many people will come back for services mid-week. So, if you opt for Palm Sunday you essentially go from party to party (triumphal entry to triumphant resurrection) without the important intermediary details of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. If people are only able or willing to come on Sundays perhaps Passion Sunday is the way to go.
But Passion Sunday is kind of like drinking out of a fire hose. There is so much detail that is covered and it is hard to linger and abide in the important portions of the week. Each and every day of worship in Holy Week is powerful. It is a character that has something to say and convey to help the story be properly rendered. In Palm Sunday and the following days of the week we can really learn and engage the rules of the world of Holy Week. We can learn each character intimately and find the truths in them. We can abide with Peter, Judas, Jesus, Pilate, Pilate's wife, the earliest witnesses of the empty tomb, the crowd crying "Crucify him!" and even Barabbas. We can find where we resonate with each of these characters as well. Palm Sunday --> Maundy Thursday --> Good Friday --> Easter Vigil --> Easter is a slow and methodical way to have a "second screening" (or even more screenings) of Holy Week.
One of the realities of this year is that we have a lot more time than we usually do on our hands. If we are under stay-at-home orders and practicing physical distancing we have opportunity to linger in Holy Week more than usual. We can't do it in one another's physical presence but we can linger in the stories together. We can even dare to wash one another's feet of those on lock-down with us on Thursday. We can linger in the 7 last words of Christ and engage a remembrance of shadows on Friday. We can linger in the important family stories of the Easter Vigil and in baptismal remembrance on Saturday. We can embrace the good news of the empty tomb with a focus that many years don't allow when our week culminates on Sunday. Will we?!?
There are rules in our world for how we do or don't interact with dead people as there are in The Sixth Sense. Dead people are supposed to stay dead. When our time comes, through COVID-19 or whatever else eventually gets us, our time is over. When we are good and dead (not mostly dead as in The Princess Bride) the story is done for us. But Lazarus being resuscitated last week showed hints of the rules coming undone. And Jesus rising from the dead tore up the rulebook entirely. If we want to be people of this new and life-giving story we have to put in the time at the feet of the master storyteller, Jesus, the Word. Will we?!? How many screenings can you manage?
God, help us choose to linger and abide with you during this pivotal week in the history of the world and in our own faith journeys. Amen.
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