Lectionary Notes

Some Notes for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
15 May 2011

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY

In the older lectionary, the Gospel of Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10.11-16) and the passage from 1 Peter 2 ending with the words you ‘are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls’ were read on the Third Sunday of Easter (which was called the Second Sunday after Easter). In the new lectionary it is the Fourth Sunday of Easter on which we consider the theme of the Good Shepherd. This is clear not only from the readings and the Sentence that is used as the alleluia verse, but also from the Collect for the Day
In the Prayer Book, the Collect now appointed for Easter IV in the BAS was used (with appropriate variations) as one of the blessings at the Office for the Burial of the Dead in the American Prayer book of 1928 and the Canadian book of 1962 (see page 601). It is founded on the words of Hebrews 13.20-21. This is the only occasion I have found of its use as a Collect for the Day.
The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, and of the Shepherd who goes to seek the one sheep that was lost is well-loved by Christians. It is also an image deeply rooted in the hope for the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed, which itself comes from David the Shepherd and King of Israel.

The Readings
Acts 2.42–47

This passage, which follows the account of St Peter’s address on the day of Pentecost and of the crowd’s response gives us a picture of the community life of the very first Christians. It is the first of three ‘Major Summaries’ in Acts; the others are 4.32-35 and 5.11-16. There are also several minor summaries (1.14; 6.7; 9.31; 12.24; 16.5; 19.20; 28.30-31). NJBC notes that Luke’s summaries are important devices in the structure of Acts, for they sustain the point the author intends to make by telling the story. “They idealize the period of the apostles’ ministry in Jerusalem and sustain the reader’s impression of a steady growth of the Christian movement punctually plotted by the will of God”. By idealizing the earliest community Luke “surrounds that period with the glitter of a ‘golden age’.
42. In the BAS the first question asked of the candidate for Holy Baptism after the confession of faith is “Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?” These four points as the marks of membership in the community of Christians are first found in this verse. For reasons of space we will comment only on the word fellowship, since it is in danger of being used in a vague sort of way so that it means little more than coffee-hour.
Most people don’t know what the word fellow really means; through careless usage it has come to be a synonym of ‘man’, like ‘chap’ or ‘guy’. It comes from the Old English, feolaga meaning "fellow, partner," which in turn is from an Old Norse felagi, from fe which means "money" (our word fee is related to this) and verb root meaning "lay" ( as in ‘lay down your money’). So what it means is "one who puts down money with another in a joint venture". This is why the members of the corporation who constitute a college are called “fellows. It translates the Greek koinonia, which is from koinōnos, ‘a sharer’. As you can see, this is a much more serious thing than is implied by the usual “time of fellowship”.
44. The real meaning of ‘fellowship” comes throuigh clearly in the words And all who believed were together and had all things in common. Again in 4.32 we read that All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything that they had. During Jesus’ ministry he and his disciples had a common purse that was kept by Judas (Jn 12.6, 13.29); just so everything is held in common by the larger group of disciples. The narratives in the first chapters of Acts give a more detailed and nuanced picture of the community of property in the primitive church. In 4.36-37 we read that Barnabas was singled out as one who had sold a plot of land and had given the money for it to the apostles. Would It not have been necessary to report this if ‘all of them’ had done so? Again, in the story of Ananias and Sapphira (5,1-11), we read that they had been free not to sell their land. See Phil 2.1-4. Space does not permit any further discussion of this Apostolic Communism, but one might well reflect how else a real fellowship is possible.

Psalm 23

This psalm, which was recently used on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, is a profession of joyful trust in the Lord as Shepherd (vv. 1-4) and Host (vv. 5-6); both of which were commn figures for kingship in the ancient Near East. The King was seen as a shepherd because he both led and provided for his people; so much the more is the Lord God the Shepherd of his people.
2. He makes me lie down: the Hebrew verb was used of four-legged animals which “lie on their breasts with their legs gathered under them”. Still waters: see Rev 7.17: “the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life”.
5-6: God as gracious host: One of the ways an ancient King displayed authority and care for his subjects was through hospitality; this image is closely tied to that of the king as the provident shepherd of his people.
6. house of the Lord most obviously means the Temple, but it can mean the Land of Israel. for ever: literally for length of days.

Epistle: 1 Peter 2.19–25

This passage follows an exhortation to slaves to be submissive, not only to a kind and gentle master, but also to the overbearing. It is in this context that we must understand the referece to enduring unjust suffering.
In verse 19, it is a credit to you is literally “this is grace” and might be better rendered by “this is thankworthy”. In the present passage St. Peter speaks of good conduct without the slightest embarrassment as thankworthy, a glory, a favour in the eyes of God. Those who are willing to suffer innocently do what God desires and ‘find favour’. The commentator Charles Bigg suggests that in verses 19-20 the words “this is thankworthy”, “what glory is it”, and “this is thankworthy” echo our Lord’s words in Luke 6.32-34, “"For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.”
20: for doing wrong: This may refer to any type of wrongdoing or to sin properly so called; indeed the context of slaves and masters would suggest wrongdoing, but see C. Biggs: “In favour of the first view it may be argued that the master would strike the slave, not for sin against God, but for neglect of duty towards himself. On the other hand, the glory comes from God, in whose eyes the neglect of earthly duty is sin. Further, hamartatontes (for ‘wrong doing’, or ‘for sin’) is balanced against agathopoiountes ('doing well') in the following clause. Hence it should retain its usual sense here.”
22 is a quotation from Isaiah 53:9b in which the word sin is used instead of the original ‘lawlessness’
23: see Mark 15:29-32; 14:65; Luke 23:11, 36-37; John 19:1-5.
24. He .. bore our sins on the cross: literally, on the tree. See Deuteronomy 21.23, a verse which is also quoted by St Paul in Galatians 3.13 and alluded to in Acts 5.30, 10.39, and 13.29. The verb translated as ‘bore’ is commonly used in the OT of bringing a sacrifice to lay on the altar: here St Peter puts the Cross in the place of the altar.
25 Shepherd and guardian: the word translated guardian is episcopos, which we would otherwise translate as bishop. One wonders why the more literal ‘overseer’ is not used.

The Holy Gospel: John 10.1–10

The Lord’s discourse on the Good Shepherd in the tenth chapter of John’s Gospel may be divided into these sections:
10.1-10, read in Year A: Jesus the Door of the Sheep.
10.11-18, read in Year B: Jesus the Good Shepherd
10:19-21, not read in the Sunday lections: a division among the people about Jesus’ words
10.22-31, read in Year C: the Father has given the Sheep into Jesus’ hand
This discourse follows immediately after the healing of the man born blind in Chapter 9 with its concluding contrast between the healed man’s faith and the blind unbelief of the Pharisees. The RCL commentary notes that “The division between Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 is unfortunate. (Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1208, is credited with dividing the Bible into chapters.)” Jesus’ last comment in Chapter 9 is “If you were blind, you would have no guilt: but now that you say, ‘We see,’ you guilt remains.” William Temple writes:
We must picture the Pharisees who have received that crushing blow as reduced to silence, till strange language about the laying down of life in obedience to divine commands stimulates them to further protest (10.18, 19). A man has been driven from one fold and received into another. After a solemn and awestruck silence the Lord speaks again.
1. Truly, truly I say to you: The original is ‘Amen, amen …’ This is a most remarkable word. It was transliterated directly from the Hebrew into the Greek of the New Testament, then into Latin and into English and many other languages, so that it is practically a universal word. It has been called the best known word in human speech. The word is directly related -- in fact, almost identical -- to the Hebrew word for "believe" (amam), or faithful. Thus, it came to mean "sure" or "truly", an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When we answer Amen to a prayer we make the substance of what was said our own. The sheepfold: a mental picture of the sheepfold helps us to understand the verses which follow. It is a walled enclosure in front of the house and open to the sky, with a solid door, which was closely barred at night by the door-keeper, and opened by him in the morning, when the shepherds came to claim their sheep, which they had left in the fold the previous evening, in order to lead them out to pasture. Other than the door, the only way to enter would be by climbing the wall, no one will enter that way except one who has no business there, and is therefore presumably come to steal (Temple).
3. The shepherd calls his own sheep: There may be sheep from several flocks gathered for the night: each shepherd will call his own by name
5. … they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers: It is told of a Scottish traveller that, meeting under the walls of Jerusalem a shepherd bringing home his flock, he changed clothes with him, and, thus disguised, began to call the sheep. They remained motionless. Then the true shepherd raised his voice, and they all hastened towards him, in spite of his strange garments. Mackie’s Bible Manners and Customs, chap, iii notes: The shepherd depends upon the sheep to follow, and they in turn expect him never to leave them. They run after him if he appears to be escaping from them, and are terrified when he is out of sight, or any stranger appears instead of him. He calls them from time to time to let them know that he is at hand. The sheep listen and continue grazing, but if anyone else tries to produce the same peculiar cries and guttural sounds, they look around with a startled air and begin to scatter.
6-7: The hearers do not understand the figure or allegory Jesus I using, so goes on to explain it as giving a double interpretation of His mission. He is both the Door (7-10) and the Shepherd (11-16). I am the door of the sheepfold: the door through which both sheep and shepherd go in and out. The sheep must come into the fold—the Church—through the Door. They must not come in for convention or respectability or for any other reasons than trust in Christ [Temple].
8. All who came before may be understood as referring to the priests and Pharisees or to those who claimed falsely to be the Messiah. Temple supports this second interpretation by noting that came is a technical term, “as is the phrase, he that cometh—the coming one’ (Mat 11.3, Lk 7.19).”
9. go in and out: this may simply refer to living (see Deut. 28; Psalm 121.8; Jer. 37.4, but Temple notes: “Their pasture is outside, in the world.”
To come in through the door means at least three things: 1) to come to the task, and every part of it, in prayer; 2) to refer all activities to the standard of the Mind of Christ; 3) to accept what actually happens as nearer to the Will of God than our own success would have been. It means putting Christ in the forefront of thought and self, in all its forms, right out of the picture.
10. The thief comes only to steal … I came that they may have life: Jesus here institutes a comparison between the false shepherd (the thief), whose object is selfish, cruel, and destructive (cf. Jer. 23. 1,2:; Ezekiel 34.1-6; Zechariah. 11.4,5), and himself, who had come into the world to give plenitude of life to his people (cf. 6. 51 and Psalm 23).

From the CALENDAR

15 b The Fifth Sunday of Easter
Toronto Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: York Central Deanery
ACP: North Carolina - (Province IV, USA) The Rt Revd Michael Bruce Curry; Suffragan Bishop of North Carolina - (Province IV, USA) The Rt Revd James Gary Gloster; South Carolina - (Province IV, USA) The Rt Revd Mark Lawrence

16 c Feria of Easter
On this day in 1277 died Pope John XXI at Viterbo, from injuries sustained when the ceiling of his hastily built study collapsed on him. It is a curious fact that he was styled John XXI, since there had been no John XX.
DCP: Citizens for Public Justice
ACP North Central Philippines - (Philippines) The Rt Revd Joel A Pachao

17 d Feria of Easter
On this day in 1163 died Heloise, the lover of Peter Abelard, at the Paraclete Abbey, France.
DCP All Saints, Markham
ACP North Dakota - (Province VI, USA) The Rt Revd Michael Gene Smith; South Dakota - (Province VI, USA) The Rt Revd Creighton L Robertson

18 e Feria of Easter
On this day in 1703 died Charles Perrault, author of Histoires ou Contes du Temps passé, ou, Les Contes de ma Mère l'Oie (1697), in which many of the best-known fairy tales are found. Also on this day in 1843 occurred the Disruption of the Scottish Church with the founding of the Free Church of Scotland (see http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/18.htm
DCP Christ Church, Stouffville
ACP North Eastern Caribbean & Aruba - (West Indies) The Rt Revd Leroy Errol Brooks

19 f Commemoration of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan and http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/19.htm. Also on this day in 1536 was beheaded Anne Boleyn, queen of England.
DCP Christ Church, Woodbridge
ACP North Kerala - (South India) The Rt Revd Dr K P Kuruvila

20 g Feria of Easter
On this day in 1506 Christopher Columbus died at Valladolid.
DCP Emmanuel, Richvale
ACP North Queensland - (Queensland, Australia) The Rt Revd William J Ray; 1. Suffragan Bishop of North Queensland - (Queensland, Australia) The Rt Revd Saibo Mabo; 2. Suffragan Bishop of North Queensland - (Queensland, Australia) The Rt Revd James Randolph Leftwich

21 A Feria of Easter
On this day in 1743 was born Bryan Edwards, historian of the West Indies, at Westbury. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Edwards
DCP . Grace Church, Markham
ACP North West Australia - (Western Australia, Australia) The Rt Revd David Mulready

22 b The Sixth Sunday of Easter
DCP Anglican Appeal
ACP Suffragan Bishop of Northern Argentina - (South America) Vacant

Lectionary Notes

SOME NOTES FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER IN YEAR A
8 May 2011

Both the Sentence and the Collect this Sunday are closely tied to the Gospel reading for Year A.

Readings
Acts 2.14a, 36–41

This reading concludes St Peter’s address on the Day of Pentecost, the first preaching of the Christian message by the Church. He had explained the amazing events that had drawn the crowd together (see 2.1-13); they had been foretold by the Prophet Joel (2.14-21); the Spirit has come because Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified, God raised, and the disciples are witness of this (2.22-32). It is Jesus, now exalted now to God’s right hand, who has poured out the Spirit’s gifts (2.33-35). The verse that begins our reading is Peter’s conclusion, returning to the responsibility of the people for Jesus’s death. Rather than taking offense at this, the crowd is stricken to the heart (2.37) and asks “What should we do?”
He tells them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and receive the gift of Holy Spirit (2.38).
To repent is the first requirement; as we have noted before the Greek word for repentance (metanoia) means literally a change of mind. In putting metanoia first, the disciples carry on the preaching of Jesus (see Mk 1.14, Mt 4.17).
Be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus: this formula is found only in Acts, and is to be understood in a confessional sense, that is, it denotes the confession of faith made by the baptized, and not the form used by the baptizer. Therefore it is not to be taken as contradicting the words of Jesus reported in Mt 28.19. Like John’s baptism, this is for the forgiveness of sins; the difference is the inclusion of Jesus himself in the preaching, which declares that the forgiveness of sins comes through his name.
To receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We noted only briefly last Sunday that our Lord’s words “Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20.21) make it clear that “the gift is freely offered, but it can be refused; there is a definite act of reception” [William Temple]. God’s grace does not run roughshod over our freedom, even to save us.
Peter tells his audience that the gift of the Spirit is theirs by promise. All that are far off should probably be taken to mean the Jews dispersed throughout the world, although some dispute this, citing Ephesians 2.13, which speaks of Gentile converts. But is seems that on the Day of Pentecost the Apostles had no clear idea of the mission to the Gentiles, as can be seen from the long dispute before it was agreed that Gentile converts would not require circumcision. At this early date, when they looked for a speedy return of their Lord, a world-wide extension of the Kingdom must have been wholly beyond their thoughts.

Psalm 116.1–3, 10–17

This psalm of thanksgiving for healing is one of the group (113-118) called the Hallelujah Psalms, since they all include the Hebrew word Hallelujah (“Praise the Lord”). They are used in Jewish tradition in connection with the great festivals. At Passover, Psalms 113-114 are sung before the meal and Psalms 115-118 after it. [See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallel.] Outline:
1. The Psalmist addresses the congregation
2-11: the Psalmist sings of his experience
10-17: the repayment of the Psalmist’s vow
In verse 3 “the grave” translates the Hebrew Sheol, a subterranean place, full of thick darkness (Job 10.21, 22), like the Greek Hades, in which the shades of the dead, who only retain the faintest resemblance of life, are gathered together. It is said to have both valleys [rather depths] (Proverbs 9.18) and gates (Isaiah 38.10). See Psalm 88.5-6. Later, as in the Authorized version it is associated with Hell.

The Epistle: 1 Peter 1.17–23

The first letter of Peter was addressed to the churches in parts of what is now Turkey (the ancient Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia), which were undergoing persecution (1.6). Last week we read 1.3-9, part of an opening thanksgiving for what God has done. In this section the readers are called to conduct themselves in a way that befits those who call on the just judge as their Father (1.17) and reminded that they were ransomed by Christ’s death, which is described in the language of the Passover; even more, they have been born again through God’s word.
Two themes in this short passage should be marked. The first is that the life of the Christian is described as an exile. Exile does not refer to an exile from heaven, but to while the RCL commentary calls the ”social dislocation that Christians experience in a pagan world”, noting that “in 2:11, they are referred to as ‘aliens and exiles’; their situation was indeed precarious”. This situation was not simply the result of persecution, but of the contrast between the ways of life of Christians and the world around them. We are not persecuted but we find the world around us more and more built on assumptions that differ from or contradict the assumptions of the Gospel. The other point to mark is the call to “love one another earnestly from the heart” (1.22); the exiles and strangers find a community in the church.
It would be tempting to take these points as calling for a withdrawal from the world, were it not that the Gospel also calls us to love and serve not merely our fellow-Christians but all our neighbours, and to be leaven in the lump of dough. How to live in the world without ceasing to ‘conduct ourselves with fear’ is a great challenge.

Luke 24.13–35
The journey to Emmaus.

Two disciples, who are going to Emmaus, are joined by Jesus, whom they do not recognize, and who asks what they are talking about. One of them, named Cleopas, expresses astonishment that even a stranger in Jerusalem should not know what has just happened there, and tells the story of the death of Jesus, adding the women’s report of the Resurrection. Jesus exclaims at their density, and expounds the scriptures to them. On reaching their destination they persuade him to come in with them, and as he breaks bread discover who he is. Immediately he vanishes. They return at once to Jerusalem to tell of this, and find the eleven gathered together and assured of the truth of the Resurrection on the ground that Jesus has appeared to Simon.
This beautiful story is told only in Luke’s Gospel. The appendix of Mark (xvi. 12) refers to it briefly; this reference is evidently founded on Luke’s narrative.
13. two of them: one name, Cleopas, is given later in the narrative (verse 18) ; the other name is not recorded. Neither of them was an apostle, as they are later distinguished from the Eleven (33). … Emmaus: a town located approximately 7 miles (11 km) from Jerusalem. The site has not been surely identified. For further discussion, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmaus. … were going: the NJBC points out that this story is shot through with the language of journeying, which is important in Luke’s Gospel as a theme of discipleship (see 9.51-19.27). It further suggests that these disciples, whose faith in Jesus had been disappointed (see verse 21) have abandoned the way of Jesus and gone on their own; their lack of faith contrasts with the faith shown by the women (23.49-24.12). The story “narrates how the risen Jesus reconciles two wayfarers, who, once they are forgiven and reconciled, immediately journey back to Jerusalem. Note that verse 29 might imply that the two disciples are inviting Jesus into their own house, and so that they live in Emmaus.
14-16. While they walked along talking Jesus joined them on the road but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. This seems to be more than just failing to know him; something is holding their eyes. The most likely suggestion would seem to be that it is their lack of faith. It will be Jesus himself who opens their eyes by showing them his true meaning in God’s plan of salvation. NJBC points out that :” the disciples eyes are opened only after they have shown hospitality to a stranger. ‘Seeing’ is another of the important themes in Luke (as in 9.45; 18.34; 23.8,35,47-9). So in the Collect we pray: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may see him in his redeeming work.
17. When Jesus asks what they have been discussing—literally, “What are these words which you are exchanging with one another?”—they journey comes to a halt: They stood still, looking sad; this is an effective translation, since the original word means ‘of sad and gloomy countenance’.
18. Cleopas: Nothing is known of this man beyond what is in the present narrative. It has been suggested that Luke gives his name because he was the witness who told the story to the evangelist. The way in which his name is introduced as ‘named Cleopas’ does not imply that he was well known in the early church. R. Bauckham suggests that he is the same as Clopas the husband of Mary, the sister of Jesus’s Mother (John 19.25). His surprise that the stranger did not know is true to life: “Are you the only stranger who does not know what’s been happening? implies the question “What else would anyone talk about?” which is so true of anyone suffering grief. Their loss has shattered the world; how can anyone go about a normal life?
19-20. We might imagine Jesus smiling as he asks, What things? Cleopas’ answer is in the same form of words as the early ‘creeds’ or statements of faith in Acts 2.22-24; 10.38; moreover, the facts he narrates fulfil Jesus’ own prophecies (our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him; see 9.22, 13.32-33; 18.31-33). Nonetheless, he does not have the sight of faith; to recite the facts and know that they fulfill prophecy is not enough.
21 … we had hoped: note the haunting past tense here which enshrines an agony of disillusionment. Next to the Lama sabachthani? of the cross it is the saddest word in the New Testament : there is sunset in it and a starless night.
22-24: the reports of the empty tomb are repeated without any conviction, They have clearly heard nothing of the Lord’s appearances; some women of our group suggests a doubt of female reliability.
25. The risen Jesus almost explodes in response. … slow of heart: in Scripture the heart stands for the whole inner life, both intellectual and emotional. So this does not mean slowness to be moved with feeling, but slowness of thought and perception.
27. He expounds the Old Testament, that is the first five books of the Law (Moses) and the books of the Prophets, to show that God’s plan was to bring salvation through the glorification of the rejected prophet, the suffering righteous Son.
28-29. At Emmaus, he gave the impression that he was moving on, and the two disciples invited him to stay with them. The NJBC sees this as Luke’s ‘final touches to his theme of faith as seeing. Disciples who entertain the stranger will have their eyes opened’.
30. With this in mind it is probably quite correct to point out that the breaking of bread in which the two recognize Jesus at last ‘should not be interpreted immediately as eucharistic’. On this point it might be best to quote the commentary a little more fully: This instance of eating
“should be linked with the thematic of eating which Luke has been developing throughout his Gospel. [In it] he has shown that God’s kingdom has come in Jesus’ sharing of food with others, especially outcasts. Jesus, who at his last meal said that he would not share food with his disciples until God’s kingdom came (22.16,18), now shares food with them and thereby shows that God’s kingdom has indeed come. Now his table companions are not toll collectors [tax gatherers], but his own disciples who have strayed from his way; they are forgiven and sent on their way, which is his way. But all this happens to them only because they have been hospitable” [NJBC, 1993, 43:196].
All that said, after the Last Supper it is impossible to think of Jesus blessing and breaking bread without thinking of the Eucharist, in which we encounter him, not only in the sacramental elements, but in the gathering together of the members of his body.
Their experience with the Risen Christ sends the two disciples back to the Eleven and the other disciples, in readiness for the experience of the first Easter evening (Luke 24.36; John 20.19-23)

Afterthought: This is one of two events in which the risen Lord appears to someone making a journey, the other being Saul on his way to Damascus (Acts 9).

CALENDAR

Notes: From now on the names of the weekdays in the Calendar will be represented by the letters A to g. The Sunday Letter in 2011 is B.
For many of the commemorations of saints useful information can often be found at “James Kiefer's Christian Biographies”: go to http://elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/home.html and check the date or the alphabetical list (since it is an American site, the dates are sometimes not the same)

8 b The Third Sunday of Easter
9 c Julian of Norwich, Spiritual Teacher, c. 1417 Com (transferred from Sunday)
For further information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich and links there.
On this day, in 1671, Colonel Thomas Blood made a famous attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. See http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/9.htm
10 d Feria of Easter
11 e Feria of Easter
On this day in 1310 Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars, was burnt at Paris
12 f Florence Nightingale, Nurse, Social Reformer, 1910 Com
For further information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale
On this day in 1641 Thomas, Earl of Strafford, was executed on Tower-hill, London; in 1771 the poet Christopher Smart died.
13 g Feria of Easter
14 A Saint Matthias the Apostle HD
St Matthias was formerly observed on February 24, and still is in some countries, but his festival has been moved so that his feast will not fall in Lent. For further information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Matthias
On this day in 1796, the immortal Edward Jenner conclusively established the important principles of vaccination; see http://www.thebookofdays.com/months/may/14.htm
Women’s Breakfast Fellowship meets this morning
15 b The Fourth Sunday of Easter
On this day in 1773 died Alban Butler, author of Lives of the Saints.

Holy Week Notes

THE HOLY WEEK BOOK
The Church of St Columba and All Hallows, East York, Toronto
by the Reverend Dr William Craig,

PART V: THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER

Most Christians probably think of the Resurrection as taking place early in the morning of Easter Day, but we must remember that the Gospel accounts of the first Easter describe not the Resurrection but the discovery of the empty tomb. All we know is that the Resurrection occurred sometime after sunset Saturday, which by the Jewish reckoning was the end of the Sabbath and the start of the first day of the week.
In the earliest days of Christianity, Sunday was an ordinary working day, and Christians gathered to celebrate the Eucharist outside of work hours, usually before dawn. At first, every Sunday celebrated the Resurrection and there was no annual festival. But as time went on they began to give particular prominence to the Sunday nearest the Jewish Passover, the time of year when the death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus had happened. It is sometimes said that every Sunday is a ‘little Easter’; it would be as correct, or perhaps more correct, to say that Easter is a Big Sunday
When Christians first began to keep an annual celebration as well as the weekly celebration it was as a vigil from the evening of Saturday to dawn on Sunday. After the lighting of a candle, the night was spent in reading the passages from Scripture which told of the story of God’s mighty work of Salvation, culminating in the reading of the Passion and Resurrection from St John. On this night, new converts were baptized and admitted to communion. It was not merely a celebration of the Resurrection as a liturgy of 'Redemption', the Christian Passover. Indeed they gave it the same name, Pascha, the Greek form of the Hebrew word for Passover, from which most languages get their name for this feast; only some Germanic Languages, I think, use a name like Easter.
But by the fourth century or thereabouts, this original celebration was modified. It began at Jerusalem, where the Church began commemorating the events of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life at the spots where they had taken place, and on the anniversary days. So the Pascha came to be spread out, and rather than one feast of our redemption, it was celebrated in historical commemorations of the particular events of our Redemption. The most important events were marked in the liturgies of the Triduum Sanctum, the Three Holy Days, of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday night (which by Hebrew reckoning is the beginning of Sunday). While we can hardly avoid thinking of these rites as separate historic commemorations, we should try to see them as parts of one celebration, none of which is complete by itself or stands alone.

The Great Vigil “is celebrated at a convenient time between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter morning”. Each of the portions of this liturgy has an introduction spoken by the Presiding Celebrant.
“In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, the Easter Vigil is the most important Mass of the liturgical year as well as the first celebration of the Eucharist during the fifty-day long celebration of Easter, and is marked by the first use since the beginning of Lent of the acclamatory word "Alleluia", a distinctive feature of the liturgy of the Easter season.” [Wikipedia]

THE SERVICE OF LIGHT

In the darkness outside the church, a fire is kindled and blessed; this is the first symbol of the Resurrection. After the fire is lit, the celebrant reads the Introduction (page 322).

Preparation of the Paschal Candle

In the light of the New fire, a special candle is prepared and blessed. It appears that the Paschal Candle is of considerable antiquity, from at least the fourth century [See http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11515b.htm].
The Paschal Candle, as leading the procession from the new fire into the Church, reminds us of the pillar of fire which led the Israelites by night in the Exodus [Ex 14]. Just as that pillar, lighting up the night, led Israel into the Red Sea and through safely to the other side, so this candle leads us to the waters of baptism and through to the feast of the promised land.
The pillar in turn was a type of Christ, so the Candle itself is a sign of Christ the light of the world. Traditionally, the candle is marked with a cross and other symbols, as set out on page 333 of the BAS.
The Greek letters alpha and omega are traced above and below the cross, while the numerals of the current year between the arms of the cross. While marking these symbols, the priest says:
1 Christ yesterday and today ; 2 the beginning and the end; 3 Alpha ; 4 and Omega ; 5 all time belongs to him ; 6 and all the ages ; 7 to him be glory and power ; 8 through every age for ever. Amen.
Then five grains of incense may be inserted in the form of a cross; while doing this the priest says:
1 By his holy; 2 and glorious wounds ; 3 may Christ our Lord ; 4 guard us; 5 and keep us. Amen.
Finally the celebrant lights the candle from the new fire, saying,
May the light of Christ, rising in glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.
Small candles held by the people are now lit from the Paschal Candle.

Procession – The Light of Christ

The deacon (or priest) lifts up the Candle and sings The Light of Christ. To which the people respond Thanks be to God. The Candle is carried into the Church, the people following with their candles. At a suitable pot the deacon lifts the Paschal Candle and sings again at a slightly higher pitch, The Light of Christ, and the people respond as before. When the deacon comes to the Paschal Candlestick he stops and faces the people, singing a third time, and higher still, The Light of Christ, to which the people respond as before.
Other candles and lamps in the Church may now be lighted

Exsultet

The deacon (or if there is no deacon, the priest), standing near the Candle sings the Proclamation of the Resurrection.
This hymn, which includes a blessing of the Candle, appears to have been composed between the fifth and the seventh century. It is a hymn of great beauty, even in the truncated form we have in the BAS. Summoning all creation to rejoice, it tells of this Night which is overcome by light. In a mystical truth the night of the Resurrection is the night in which Israel was led dry-shod through the sea, it is the night when Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave. In this vigil all of God`s saving work is present to us and we are present in it.

THE LITURGY OF THE WORD

Ten readings from the Old Testament are provided, recalling how God has saved his people throughout history; of these at least three are to be read. One, the reading from Exodus 14 which tells of the crossing of the Red Sea, is never to be omitted. We will be reading four lessons this year:
1. Genesis, 7.1-5,11-18; 8.6-18;9.8-13: The Great Flood
2. Genesis 22.1-18: Abraham is commanded to sacrifice Isaac, but is stopped by God.
3. Exodus 14.10-31; 15.20-21: God delivers his people through the Red Sea
4. Isaiah 55.1-11: An Invitation to Abundant Life
When the vigil is performed in its fullest form, each reading is followed by the singing of a Canticle or Psalm, and a Collect (see p. 325). At St Columba’s, for practical reasons, each reading will be followed by a period of silence and a Collect
After the last reading, the hymn Gloria in Excelsis is sung. The Collect of the Day is then said or sung
The Epistle, Romans 6.3-11, is then read.
In this passage, St Paul declares that by our Baptism we are united with Christ, for in Baptism we share in Christ's death and in the newness of life which his resurrection has made possible for us. This newness of life is a freedom from sin (as foreshadowed by the slavery in Egypt).
The complex of images in Resurrection and Baptism recalls the salvation through the Red Sea in Exodus (and indeed the Flood, as well); this is all celebrated in a great hymn of the Exodus, Psalm 114, in Exitu Israel.
The climax of the Ministry of the Word comes in the Holy Gospel.
In year A we read the Resurrection Gospel from St Matthew (28.1-10)

The Sermon follows

THE RENEWAL OF BAPTISMAL VOWS

In the early Church Pascha was the normal time for Baptism. The converts who had come to the end of their training (Catechumenate) underwent a final intensive preparation in the last weeks of Lent and came to confess their faith and receive the Water of Regeneration in the Great Vigil. In later years, although Infant Baptism became the norm and the rite was administered at any time. The solemn Blessing of the Font continued to be performed at the Paschal Vigil. From this has arisen the custom of a solemn renewal of Baptismal Vows. In it we remember the words of St Paul that were read in the Epistle: “
Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.` We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.”
This custom gives a focus and goal to all of our Lenten disciplines.
It begins with a Thanksgiving for Water, a reminder of the many points in the history of God’s saving work which have involved his gift of water, culminating in thanksgiving for the water of Baptism and a prayer for all the Baptized.Then the Celebrant addresses the people calling us all
To renew the promises we made in baptism, when we rejected Satan and all his works, and promised to serve God faithfully in his holy catholic Church.
The form of the Baptismal Covenant then follow and concludes with the Peace.

THE CELEBRATION OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST

The first Eucharist of Easter is then celebrated, beginning with the Preparation of the Gifts and the Prayer over the Gifts.
And so we pass from the Triduum into the joyous Fifty Day of Easter, singing Alleluia wherever it can possibly be added to the liturgy.

EASTER MORNING

Liturgically speaking, there is nothing particularly remarkable about the Eucharists of Easter Day or the remaining days of Eastertide, apart from the addition of Alleluia to the dismissal and the fact that the first reading for each Sunday of Easter is taken from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles rather than from a book of the Hebrew Scriptures.
I may not spend any more time on the notes this week, but will only list the readings for Sunday and provide a quick note on the background of the passage from Acts, which must be important=, for it is read in all three years.
On the first Sunday of Easter the treading from Acts is Acts 10. 34-43, which gives part of Peter’s sermon in the house of the centurion Cornelius, who although a Gentile is already a believer in God. He invited Peter as a result of a vision from God (10. 1-8). Though the law of Moses forbids Peter to associate with or visit a Gentile, he comes anyway, because of a vision and a direct command of the Spirit [10.9-23a], with “some of the believers from Joppa” (v. 23). Peter’s sermon is one of the earliest proclamations of the Risen Lord, and is of particular interest to us because it was proclaimed in a Gentile household.
Psalm 118.1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3.1-4
John 20.1-18

NOTE: There will be no Notes for Easter II, Sunday May 1st 2011.

Holy Week Notes

THE HOLY WEEK BOOK

Pepared for the Church of St Columba and All Hallows, East York, Toronto

by the Reverend Dr William Craig,

Part III

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is the first day of the Paschal Triduum, the Three Holy Days, which commemorate the great events of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. Tonight we commemorate our Lord’s Last Supper, his Agony in the Garden and his arrest; it is a mixture of joy and sorrow, of loud rejoicing and silent contemplation. On the night before he was crucified our Lord Jesus kept the Last Supper with his disciples. At that supper he instituted the Holy Eucharist as an abiding means of spiritual sustenance, and as a memorial for His Church to celebrate, declaring the consecrated bread and wine to be His Body and His Blood of the New Covenant. In the Eucharist, we share in his risen life and take part under earthly conditions in His eternal self-offering in heaven as the great High Priest. On that night he also took a towel and washed his disciples’ feet. It is from the foot washing that today receives its name, Maundy, which comes from the Latin Mandatum, “commandment”. For he said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” At the Last Supper Jesus told his disciples that one of them was about to betray him; he went out after supper to to agony, betrayal, and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Just so, after we have celebrated the Eucharist and rejoiced in this great gift and sacrament, we take the simple task of removing the ornaments from the church and make it a solemn reminder of Jesus agony in the garden and arrest. In comemoration of the Last Supper the Eucharist is celebrated in the evening of this day. It begins with an Address in which the celebrant sets forth the events we are commemorating. Then the Eucharist proceeds in the usual manner. By an old custom, the bells are rung at the singing of the Gloria in Excelsis, but are then silent until the Easter Vigil If the rite of The Washing of Feet is performed, it follows the Sermon (see BAS, p. 305). After Holy Communion, consecrated bread and wine are taken to a side chapel to be reserved for communion in the Good Friday Liturgy. Then the ornaments and cloths are removed from the altar and other places in the church. During this action, St Matthew’s account of the Agony in Gethsemane (26.30-46) and Psalm 22 may be read.

Some Notes on the Readings for Maundy Thursday

A Reading from the Book of Exodus [12.1-4 (5-10) 11-14]: This is the account of the institution of the Feast of Passover, which God commanded the people of Israel to keep as an everlasting memorial of the delivery from bondage in Egypt. The feast is called “the Passover of the Lord” because the Lord passed over the land of Egypt in judgement (verse 12), but passed over the houses where the Israelites were, which were marked with the blood of the Passover lamb (verses 7, 13). The first Passover meal was, as it were, the “last supper” of Israel in Egypt. The whole of the Exodus is celebrated in the Passover. The whole of the Exodus is seen in Christian tradition as a type or foreshadowing of the death and resurrection of Christ, the true Paschal Lamb. This is why we read about the institution of the Passover on the night we commemorate the Last Supper and the institution of the Holy Eucharist. The word ‘passover’ translates the Hebrew pesach, which is from a verb meaning ‘to pass over, spring over’. An old Hebrew commentary on this passage says, “The sacrifice is called פֶּסַח because of the skipping and the jumping over, which the Holy One, blessed be He, skipped over the Israelites’ houses that were between the Egyptians houses. He jumped from one Egyptian to another Egyptian, and the Israelite in between was saved.” In the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and in Christian writings, pesach became pascha, which in turn became the name for Easter in many languages. Pascha is surprisingly similar to the Greek word for ‘suffering’ (paschein). Psalm [116.1, 10-17]: This psalm is a thanksgiving for recovery from illness. It is part of the group of psalms [113-118] known as the “hallel” because they all contain the words “praise the Lord” (in Hebrew, Hallelujah). Psalms 115 -118 are sung after the Passover meal. In part then, this psalm is used at the Mass today as a comment on the first reading. It also looks ahead to the institution of the Holy eucharist: “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.” To say that something is “precious in the sight of the Lord” (verse 15) means that it is rare. A Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians [11.23-26] It is an interesting fact that the earliest surviving account of the institution of the Eucharist was written because of the bad behaviour of certain Church members. In the first letter to the Corinthian Church, St Paul found it necessary to write in reprove of their behaviour at the Eucharist. At this time the Eucharist was still part of a real meal as the Last Supper had been. Paul has heard that when the Corinthians assemble, there are divisions among them, so that they do not really come together to eat the Lord’s Supper but each goes ahead with his own supper. It has been suggested that one root of this abuse was a Roman custom of classifying guests socially and giving little or nothing to those considered inferior. Since the church met in private houses, members had to eat in separate rooms. So some ate lavishly, and others poorly; one went hungry, another got drunk [verse 21]. By this some were displaying their affluence and over-indulging. St Paul indignantly declares that if what they care about is eating and drinking, let them do it at home. In order to call the Corinthians to celebrate the Eucharist in the right spirit, he reminds them of how Christ instituted the feast. In his account he makes use of the important words “received” and “handed on”; these were technical terms for transmitting an oral tradition. Indeed the Latin trado, “I give on”, or “hand on” is the meaning at the heart of the idea of tradition. Paul may have received the factual tradition by human means but received the interpretation of it directly “from the Lord.” His message is that every celebration of he Lord’s Supper is a proclaiming of Christ’s death, by which we are freed from the bondage of evil. The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John [13.1-17, 31b-35] The Fourth Gospel does not report the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper; its Eucharistic teaching is found elsewhere, particularly in the discourses on the Bread of Heaven in Chapter 6. Nonetheless, Jesus’ teaching about love and service in this account of the Last Supper are properly read together with St Paul’s teaching about the true celebration of the Eucharist. The centrepiece of John’s account of the Last Supper is Christ’s new commandment “love one another as I have loved you,” and his acting out of that love in the washing of the disciples’ feet. NJBC says that this section falls into three parts: Jesus’ action (vv. 1-5) and two interpretations (vv. 6-11, 12-20). The second interpretation generalizes the action so that it teaches a lesson to all of Jesus’ later disciples. If I, then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Obviously Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet is an example of service. If we read the passage carefully however, we will see an even deeper significance. The Gospel relates that Jesus rose from supper, that is, he left his place at the table. Then he humbled himself to take on the dress of a servant, for he laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a bowl and washed his disciples’ feet , wiping them with the towel. When all was done, he took back his garments and returned to his place at the table. As we hear this account, we are reminded of the hymn quoted by Saint Paul in the second chapter of Philippians, which was read on Palm Sunday. Christ’s action of washing the disciples’ feet shows the same descent to humility and return to glory that is proclaimed here. This is how he has loved us. Thus we may see it a parable of not only of service, but also of Christ’s giving of himself to the Father, which is as it were the reality of which even servanthood is the outward sign. In our attempts to fulfil the great commandment of love we do more than simply try to obey, than simply try to imitate Jesus; we begin in our weakness to live the life of the Triune God. Later, in John 14, we read of Christ’s commandments: those who keep them are those who love him; those who love him will be loved by is Father, “and we will come to them and make our home with them” (14.21, 23). The Stripping of the Altar Because Jesus expressed his love for us in willingly humbling himself to death, in the stripping of the altar our thoughts are brought back to the story of his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and his arrest. During this act we hear read the account of Christ’s agony from St Matthew, which we heard on Sunday. Three times Christ affirms his obedience to the Father’s will despite any desire to escape suffering . It might be helpful to remember that this agony of obedience which led to our salvation took place in a garden; unlike the disobedience of our first parents in another garden, which was the cause of all our woe (Milton). The Reserved Sacrament By long custom the Holy Eucharist is not celebrated on Good Friday; and by ling custom people have desired the strength of the sacrament on that solemn day. So the consecrated elements are reserved over night for a very practical reason. The place of reservation is away from the main body of the Church in order to symbolize the “absence of the bridegroom”. This also provides a place where the people of God may take the opportunity of watching before the reserved sacrament as an answer to Christ’s question in Gethsemane to St Peter, “So could you not watch with me one hour?” There is no blessing or dismissal at the conclusion of the liturgy tonight, for this is only the first part of a single celebration.

Holy Week Notes

THE HOLY WEEK BOOK

Prepared for the Church of St Columba and All Hallows, East York, Toronto

by the Reverend Dr William Craig,

PART II

MONDAY, TUESDAY, AND WEDNESDAY

The liturgy of Holy Week and our attention in that week centre on the great events of the Triduum, the Three Holy Days; but we should not neglect what might be called, if it is not too flippant, the three little days, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Nonetheless, because the ‘great days’ take so much attention, we can only provide here a slight introduction to the readings of these days, which we hope to imporve in later versions of this book.

The days between Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday are known as Holy Monday (or Fig Monday), Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday (sometimes called Spy Wednesday). The Gospels of these days do not attempt to give a chronological sequence of events between the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and his Last Supper. For instance, the Gospel on Holy Monday relates the Anointing at Bethany (John 12:1-9), which occurred the day before the Entry (John 12:12-19).

A custom of the Roman Church which has been adopted in many Anglican dioceses is the Chrism Mass of Maundy Thursday, at which the bishop celebrates with the priests of the dioese, or as many as can be there, and consecrates the holy oils used in baptism and in the sacrament of healing. As in the Roman church, this rite may be brought forward to one of the earlier days in the week. This is partly for the practical reason of enabling as many priests as possible to be present with the bishop, and partly for the liturgical reason that the evening mass on Maundy Thursday should be the only one that day. In the Diocese of Toronto this rite is celebrated on Holy Tuesday at 10.30 a.m. at the Cathedral.

These ‘little days’ should be kept as much as the ‘great days’ of Holy week. If it is impossible for you to atttend a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, you can still use the Collect for the day and read the appointed passages of Scripture, thereby joining your prayers to those of the whole Church. To this end, we print the Collects here.

GREAT AND HOLY MONDAY (BAS, p. 301)

The name ‘Fig Monday’ is derived from the Gospel account of Jesus cursing the fig tree the day after the Entry into Jersualem (see Mark 11.12-14).

Collect:

Almighty God, whose Son was crucified yet entered into glory, may we, walking in the way of the cross, find it is for us the way of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Isaiah 42.1-9: 1-4: The first Servant Song (see also 49.1-6; 50.4-11; 52.13-53.12: for a good understanding, they should be read together). poems about God’s special agent who will fulfill his purpose for the faithful community; though innocent, he will suffer for his people. The first Servant Song is read at Mass on Holy Monday, the Second on Holy Tuesday, part of the Third is used at Mass on Holy Wednesday, and the Fourth at the Liturgy of Good Friday.

Psalm 36.5–11 is a hymn in praise of God’s love and justice and a prayer for his continuing protection.

Hebrews 9.11–15 contrasts the repeated and limited sacrifices of the old Covenant with the sacrifice of Christ, the mediator of the new Covenant.

John 12.1–11 tells of the dinner at Bethany the evening before Palm Sunday, at which Mary anointed the Lord Jesus with precious oil of nard, and Judas scolded her for wasting what could have been sold and spent on the poor. Jesus rebuked Judas and praised Mary, saying, ‘Let her alone that she may keep it for the day of my preparation for burial’.

GREAT AND HOLY TUESDAY

(BAS, p. 302)

Collect

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son, you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life. May our lives be so transformed by his passion that we may witness to his grace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Isaiah 49.1–7: This is the second of the Servant Songs.

Psalm 71.1–14 is described in NOAB as ‘an old man’s prayer for deliverance from personal enemies’.

1 Corinthians 1.18–31: St Paul declares that the message of ther Cross is the wisdom and power of God, wiser than the wisdom of this world.

John 12.20–36: When Gentile inquirers come to see Jesus, he declares that now his hour has come. The hour is the moment of his manifestation as the One sent by the Father. The hour is fully come when he is lifted up on the Cross.

GREAT AND HOLY WEDNESDAY

(BAS p. 303)

The name ‘Spy Wednesday’ refers to Judas's agreement with the high priests, traditionally said to have been made on the Wednesday before the Crucifixion, to betray Jesus. This is refelcted not only in today’s Gospel, but in the proper Psalm for Morning Prayer. In Psalm 55 we read:

13 For had it been an adversary who taunted me, then I could have borne it; * or had it been an enemy who vaunted himself against me, then I could have hidden from him.

14 But it was you, a man after my own heart, * my companion, my own familiar friend.

15 We took sweet counsel together, * and walked with the throng in the house of God.

And,

21 My companion stretched forth his hand against his comrade; * he has broken his covenant.

22 His speech is softer than butter, * but war is in his heart.

23 His words are smoother than oil, * but they are drawn swords.

Compare these some verses from Psalm 41:

7 All my enemies whisper together about me * and devise evil against me.

8 “A deadly thing,” they say, “has fastened on him; * he has taken to his bed and will never get up again.”

9 Even my best friend, whom I trusted, who broke bread with me, * has lifted up his heel and turned against me.

Collect

Lord God, your Son our Saviour gave his body to be whipped and turned his face for men to spit upon. Give your servants grace to accept suffering for his sake, confident of the glory that will be revealed, through Jesus Christ our Lord who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Readings

Isaiah 50.4–9a: this reading is from the third song of the Lord’s Servant [Isaiah 50.4-11].

Psalm 70 is a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies.

Hebrews 12.1–3. In this exhortation to ‘run the race’, Christians are exhorted to look to the example fo Jesus, who endured the pain of the cross and its shame.

John 13.21–32. Jesus identifies his betrayer, who oes out from the Last Supper into the night.

Holy Week Notes

THE HOLY WEEK BOOK

Prepared for The Church of St Columba and All Hallows, East York, Toronto

by the Revd Dr William Craig, Priest-in-Charge

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION

From ancient times Christians have observed the last week of Lent with special solemnity and called it the Great Week and the Holy Week. As early as the days of St. John Chrysostom (died 407), Christians generally ceased their daily business; they fasted with greater strictness than in the other weeks of Lent, and engaged in special acts of mercy and charity. From a litle before Chrysostom’s time we have the detailed account of the services that were carried out at Jerusalem recorded by a Spanish pilgrim named Egeria or Aetheria. She refers to Holy Week as the “the week of the Pasch, which they call here the ‘Great Week’”.

From the Blessing and Procession of Palms to the Great Paschal Vigil of Holy Saturday Night, the purpose of the liturgies of Holy Week is that “we may enter with joy into the celebration of those mighty acts whereby God give us life and immortality” [BAS. P. 297]. Our modern liturgies are an adaptation of the rich heritage of rites and practices that have served the Church since about the fourth century, when the keeping of Holy Week began.

Of central importance of course are the Three Holy Days (the Triduum): Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday night. In the liturgies of these days the whole of Christ’s saving work is commemorated; together they are the celebration of Easter. Further comments on those days will be made available in the next while; now we have a more pressing question. How are we to keep Holy Week today?

It is hardly a practical suggestion for many of our people that they ‘cease their daily business’. It may well be that to attend the liturgies of Palm Sunday and the Triduum is all that can be managed. Perhaps, though, these suggestions can be of help. Though you cannot ‘cease your daily business’, perhaps you can cease regular amusements and entertainments for this one week and devote the time to prayer and bible reading in preparation for Easter. In the Calendar at the end of these notes the psalms and readings in the Daily Office Lectionary for Holy Week may be found.

As you will see in these notes and those for the rest of the week, there is a large amount of Scripture to be read; and if those who make an effort to read and study all the passages will not find it hard to fill up the time in Holy Week.

As far as possible keep this as a quiet week. If you can, attend a celebration of the Eucharist on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. There are daily celebrations at St James’ Cathedral at 7:30 am and 12.30 noon; many other churches have daily celebrations in Holy Week. (It would be a great help if the diocese were to publish a schedule of Holy Week Services throughout the city!) It may be too late now, but plan ahead, so that Holy Weekl does not come as a surprise The relevant dates in 2012 will be : Ash Wednesday: February 21st ; Palm Sunday: April 1st ; Good Friday: April 6th ; Easter Day: April 8th

PART I: PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION

This Sunday has had many names, but throughout history its most common name is the one which is most familiar to us, Palm Sunday. It is called Dominica in ramis palmarum [Sunday of the Palm branches] in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, and Dominica in ramis olivarum [Sunday of Olive branches] in that of St. Ambrose. In the former there is a plain reference to the ceremony of branch-bearing as one then in use: "May Almighty God grant unto you, that as ye present yourselves before Him with branches of palms and of other trees, so after your departure from this life ye may attain to appear before Him with the fruit of good works and the palm of victory." The Ambrosian rite does not so clearly refer to a liturgical use of branches , but Chrysostom mentions the shaking of the palm-branches as one of the customs of the day in one of his sermons for the Great Week. In the fourth century it was known Indulgence Sunday, as we know from the Lectionary of St. Jerome, and by many other later writers. This name has several explanations: some say it comes from a custom of the Christian Emperors of setting prisoners free and closing the law courts during Holy Week, other that it is connected with the reconciliation of penitents. Another name is Capitiluvium, which means head-washing, from a rite of washing the heads of the candidates for Baptism at Easter. In Jerusalem, according to Egeria’s letter, the commemoration of Christ's triumphal entry into the city took place in the the same afternoon. Great crowds, including even children too young to walk, assembled on the Mount of Olives and after suitable hymns, and antiphons, and readings, they returned in procession to Jerusalem, escorting the bishop, and bearing palms and branches of olives before him. In the new Lectionary, this Sunday is known as the Sunday of the Passion, a name formerly given to the Fifth Sunday in Lent. This change was made to reflect the fact that one of the three Synoptic accounts of the Passion of our Lord is read on this Sunday. The word ‘Passion’ has several meanings, all of which are derived from its root sense of ‘suffer’. The Passion of the Lord Jesus describes the account of his sufferings and death.

The Readings

The sheer amount of Scripture that is read and sung this Sunday and throughout Holy Week challenges both the preacher and the people to careful reading, study, and reflection before and after attending the liturgies. In Church, it is best to listen and sing, not so much thinking about the words as thinking them, concentrating on them, and receiving them into the depths of our being. With this end in mind, here are some comments (I fear they are too scanty to be of any real use) on the readings for Palm Sunday. I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of using all the resources one can in studying the Bible. “Commentaries: Revised Common Lectionary” is an excellent resource put online by the Diocese of Montreal. See http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/apasnm.shtml. Another handy resource is a study Bible such as the New Oxford Annotated Bible.

THE LITURGY OF THE PALMS

Since this liturgy commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jersualem, in its fullest form it is not merely a blessing and distribution of Palms, but a procession from some place apart which enters into the church. It begins with the Anthem Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord and the respose Hosanna in the Highest, which was the acclamation of the crowd that accompanied Jesus as he rode into the City. Then the Priest greets the people with a brief Introduction to both the day itself and the Great Week which it begins, to the journey “from the glory of the palms to the glory of the resurrection by the dark way of suffering and death”. A collect follows asking God that we may enter into the celebration. This is followed by

The Gospel of the Palms

The Lord’s entry into Jerusalem is recorded in all four Gospels with minor differences in detail (only John’s gospel specifies that the branches were of palm trees). This year (Year A) we read the account from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew (21.1-11). We are tempted to think of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem as joyous beginning to events that went tragically wrong. But as the introduction to the rite in the Roman Catholic liturgy puts it, “Christ entered in triumph into his own city, to complete his work as Messiah: to suffer, to die, and to rise again”. In this work the notes of suffering, death, and resurrection are one, and cannot be separated. As we enter with joy into this act we see that it was in triumph that he set his face set like a flint and went to his self-offering, and death. Outside of this and without it, the glory of the palms would only be a parade. It may seem odd that Jesus is described as sitting on the donkey and the colt (verse 7). The Evangelist has apparently misunderstood Zechariah 9.9, in which one animal is described as “a donkey and a colt the foal of a donkey.” This form of speech, called parallelism, is very common in the Hebrew scriptures. The passage appointed ends with the inhabitants of Jerusalem asking who it is that rides by, and the crowd with Jesus replying, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth. Then it goes on to tell of his cleansing of the temple and his healing blind and lame who were there. It tells us, too, that children in the temple took up the cry of Hosanna (21.15), at which the priests took offence. It is because of this reference that the hymn All glory, laud, and honour says “to whom the lips of children made sweet Hosannas ring”. After the Gospel is The Blessing of the Palms and The Procession. At a suitable place a Station is made: the Procession stops and the priest sings or says the Collect on page 299.

THE LITURGY OF THE PASSION

When all have arrived at their places, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist begins with the Collect of the Day and proceeds as usual, except for the reading of the Passion Gospel at which the usual acclamations are omitted. The Creed and Confession and Absolution may be omitted at the liturgy. The First Reading: Isaiah [50.4-9a]: Isaiah prophesied In Judah and Jerusalem between 742 and 687 BC, at the time when the northern Kingdom, Israel, had fallen to Assyria and Judah continued in uneasy “freedom”. Many scholars conclude from differences between chapters 1-39 and 40-66 that the latter part should be attributed to one or more other authors (“Second” and possibly “Third Isaiah”), who wrote at the time of the Return from Exile (ca. 538 BC). A significant feature of Second Isaiah are four passages referred to as the Songs of the Servant of the Lord. This reading is the Third Song of the Servant. It is not clear whether the prophet intended the figure of the Servant to be Israel as a collective person; a king of the past; or a coming individual Servant. (Note Acts 8.34, where the Ethiopian eunuch asks of one passage whether the prophet “says this about himself or about someone else”). In any case the Christian community very early applied these hymns to Jesus – indeed he seems to have seen them as applying to his vocation as the servant (slave) who frees all people. In Holy Week they are used as a commentary on the passion narrative. The first of the four songs [42.1-7] describes God's selection of the Servant who will bring justice to earth. The second song [49.1-6], written from the Servant's point of view, is an account of having been called by God to lead the nations; The third song is darker than the others, with a first-person description of beating and abuse of the Servant. The fourth song [52.13-53.12] declares that the Servant intercedes for others, taking the punishments and afflictions of others. In the end, he is rewarded with an exalted position. It is the first reading for Good Friday. In the third Servant Song, although those to whom God has sent his Servant have rejected him and abused him, the Servant is confident that God is with him. He can set his face like flint [v. 7], and know that he will not be put to shame. We see the like confidence in Jesus as he goes before the Council and before Pilate, as he is mocked and scourged. Setting one’s face is an image common in the writings of the prophets (see Isaiah 48:4, “... I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass”; Ezekiel 3:8-9: “I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. Like the hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead”; also Luke 9:51 “When the days drew near for him [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem”); it is all the more effective here in describing a face covered with spittle. [NJBC] The song ends with a statement of unshakeable confidence in te Lord as vindicator against any accusation. Psalm [31.9-16] One of the categories of Psalms scholars identify as “lament”, by which is meant not a song of mourning but “a song in which an individual seeks deliverance from illness or false accusation, or the nation asks for help in time of distress” [New Oxford Annotated Bible, p. 656] Today we use the psalmist’s cry for deliverance from his personal enemies and the his final expression of confidence in God as a reflection on the first reading, which is in itself a companion to and reflection on the Passion narrative. Compare verse 13, “For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around; they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life,” with Jeremiah 20:10. The prophet has prophesied the people’s doom as the Lord commanded, and says: “I hear many whispering: ‘Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. ‘Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him’”. The enmity of personal friends is an important theme in Holy Week (see the opening of the Passion Gospel). A Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians [2.5-11]: In this passage St Paul quotes an early Christian hymn (to which he has added v. 8b), which beautifully describes our Lord’s self-giving, even to the utterly humiliating death on the Cross. Other fragments of early Christian hymns on the subject of Christ’s work may be found at Philippians1:15-20; Ephesians 2:14-16; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18-19, 22; and Hebrews 1:3. In Philippians 2.1-4, Paul had urged the Philippians, to at one, “of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord ...”. Now he explains that this one mind is not his own clever idea: it is the mind of Christ, which we begin to share and display when we replacing self-interest with concern for others. We tend to interpret the words “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” as referring to the name “Jesus”. While showing reverence at the holy Name is good, that is not what St Paul means here. The “name that is above every name” which God has given Jesus in his exaltation is “Lord”, in Greek Kyrios, which is used in the Old Testament to translate the (unpronounceable) name of God. He means that God has given the Risen Christ the authority which, in the Old Testament, he reserved for himself. (See Isaiah 45:22-25.)

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Year A we read the account of the Passion according to St Matthew. Many Notes can be found at the RCL Site. This year we are adding an Outline of the Passion to our notes:

I. Jesus is betrayed by Judas: 26.14-16. Parallels: Mk 14.10s; Lk 22.3-6; Jn 18.2-5

II. Two disciples are sent to prepare for the Passover: 26.17-19. Parallels: Mk 14.12-16; Lk. 22.7-13

III. The Last Supper: Jesus indicates his Bretrayer 26.20-29. Parallels: Mk 14.17-25; Lk 22.14-23; 20-25: Jn 13.21-20

IV. The Institution of the Lord's Supper: 26.26-29. Parallels: Mk 14.22-25; Lk 22.15-20; also 1 Cor 10.16; 11.23 26

V. Iesus goes out to the Mount of Olives with his disciples; he predicts Peter’s denial: 26.30-35. Parallels: Mk 14:26-31 Lk 22:39; 22:31-34 Jn 18:1; 13:36-38; 16:32

VI. Jesus prays in Gethemane: 26:36-46. Parallels: Mk 14:32-42; Lk 22:40-46; Jn 18:1; 12:27; 14:31; 18:11

VII. Jesus is arrested: 26: 47-56. Parallels: Mk 14.43-50; Lk 22.47-53; Jn 18.3-12

VIII: He is questioned by the High Priest and Council: 26: 57-68. Parallels: Mk 14,53-65; Lk 22.54f, 66-71; Jk 18.12-24

IX. Peter denies Jesus: 26:69-75. Parallels: Mk 14.66-72; Lk 22.56-62; Jn 18.15-18; 25-27

X. Iesus is brought before Pilato: 27.1-2. Parallels: Mc 15.1; L.23.1; J.18.28

XI. Judas repents and kills himself 27.3-10 [see Acts 1.16 20].

XII. At the tribunal of Pilate: 27.11-31. Parallels: Mc 15.2-15; L 23.2-5, 13-25; Jo 18.29-19.1

15-18: The people ask for Barabas. 19: Pilate’s Wife . 20-23: The people still demand Barabbas. and that Jesus be crucified. 24-26: Pilate washes his hands and delivers Jesus, flogged, to be crucified. 27-31: The Soldiers mock Jesus and lead him away to be crucified. ParallelL Jn 19.1-3.

XIII. The Crucifixion of Jesus: 27.32-44. Parallels: Mk 15:21-32; Lk 23:26-43; Jn 19:17-24

XIV. The Death of Jesus: 27. 45-50. Parallels to 45-61: Mk 15:33-47; Lk 23:44-56;n Jn 19:25-42

XV. The Reaction: 27: 51-56

51-53: Earthquake; the Temple veil rent; bodies of the saints rise. 54: The Centurion. 55-56: The women at the Cross

XVI. The Burial of Jesus: 27.57-61

XVII. The Tomb is sealed and placed under guard: 27.62-66.

It is an old custom that the acclamations before and after the Gospel are omitted in the readings of the Passion.

Lectionary Notes

Some Notes for the Fifth Sunday of Lent in Year A

Sunday, 10 April 2011

This Sunday was traditionally known as Passion Sunday, or the First Sunday of the Passion and the last two weeks of Lent as Passiontide. The reason for this can be seen in the readings appointed for this Sunday in the Prayer Book (for the Epistle and Gospel see page 148; for the readings at Morning and Evening Prayer, see p. xxvi). In the revised Lectionary, the name Passion Sunday is given to the Sunday next before Easter, traditionally known as Palm Sunday, for the obvious reason that the Gospel for that Sunday is one of the Passion Narratives. Old custom is strong; we now find that day given such titles as ‘Palm Sunday of the Passion’. Whatever we call it, this Sunday brings us into the last stretch of Lent, and would be a good moment to reflect on how one has kept the season and to resolve, if necessary, on a greater effort.

The Readings Ezekiel 37.1–14: Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel, whose name means God will strengthen, was a priest who ministered among the exiles from Jerusalem after its capture by the Babylonians in 598 BC. It was in the plain of Mesopotamia that this famous vision of the dry bones took place (note that the word translated as ‘valley’ in verse 1 is rendered by ‘plain’ in 3.22 and 8.4. The bones are the exiles of Israel, who have no more hope of reviving the kingdom of Israel than of clothing a skeleton and recalling it to life. For this reason it should be noted that this vision has no direct connection with the Christian doctrine of resurrection: the prophecy is of the return to the land of Israel where a new life will be given them. Although in light of the Gospel this vision speaks of resurrection, the original meaning is still a message for us. The exiles suffered from despair and said ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off’. Christians can also become dry and broken in faith, disappointed and indifferent, to us this God’s promise that he can and will put a new spirit within us. In understanding the passage it is important to know that one Hebrew word, רוּחַ, ruach, means wind, breath, and spirit: there is an extended play on words in this passage which it is impossible to capture in English, although it is clear in both Greek and Latin. This is especially clear in verse 9, where the words in bold all : —Then he said to me: 'Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.'

Psalm 130: De profundis

This, one of the psalms of Ascents, or ‘Gradual Psalms’, is known from its opening words in Latin as ‘De Profundis’. It is also one of the seven Penitential Psalms, a name given from the 6th century AD and possibly earlier to Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143, which are specially expressive of sorrow for sin. In the Western Church it has particularly been used in the commemoration of the faithful departed. In deep sorrow the psalmist cries to God (1-2), asking for mercy (3-4). The psalmist's trust (5-6) becomes a model for the people (7-8).

The Epistle: Romans 8.6–11

In reading this passage it is important to know that in St Paul’s opposition between Flesh and Spirit there is no question of a dualism within a human being, but only of a contrast between types of human beings living in different circumstances—either as united with Christ, or as persisting in sin. The baptised are not in the Flesh, but "in the Spirit," and Paul now proceeds to show that their "life in the Spirit" involves a special kind of divine presence which is called the indwelling of the Spirit. Note the almost interchangeable use of ‘Spirit of God’ , ‘Spirit of Christ’ and “Christ’ (in v. 10). The Spirit of Christ and Christ Himself are one in the divine nature, and hence, the indwelling of the Spirit is also the indwelling of Christ. From the Perichoresi$ or circuminsessio, which arises from the identity of the Divine nature in the Persons of the Trinity, it follows that one Divine Person cannot be divided or separated from another, but where the Divine Nature is there are the three Persons. Chrysostom notes here that Paul does not identify Christ with the Holy Spirit, but only says that whoever has the Spirit, not merely belongs to Christ, but possesses Christ Himself

The Holy Gospel according to St John 11.1–45

The following comments are a small selection from my own incomplete notes on this passage. For further comments, please consult the RCL page: http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/alnt5l.shtml In John’s Gospel the raising of Lazarus is the catalyst for the authorities’ move against Jesus which lead to his arrest. This is seen in the verses which immediately follow the passage read today. The passage falls into six moments or scenes.

I. 1-6: At Petra Jesus hears of the sickness of Lazarus but delays going to him. 1. Jesus had gone to Petra, across the Jordan to escape the religious authorities, who were trying to arrest him (10.39-42). Lazarus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Eleazar, ‘God is my help’. Bethany: (Aramaic: Beth anya ,"house of the figs") is a village on the south-eastern slope of Olivet, nearly two miles from Jerusalem (verse 18), now called el-Azariyeh, after the Arabic name of Lazarus. [See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany_(Biblical_village)] 2. He whom you love: The Greek word (philein) denotes a warmer feeling than the word for loved in verse 5 (agapein), which rather expresses esteem founded on reason and reflection (cf. 21.15,17). The sisters feel that it is enough to acquaint him with their distress without expressly appealing for his sympathy. 4. The Lord does not hasten to Bethany: On the contrary he seems deliberately to delay. This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory : Chrysostom wrote: this signifies not the cause, but the event. The sickness sprang from natural causes, but He turned it to the glory of God. Temple notes: In one sense the sickness of Lazarus was unto death; it was sickness of that and in fact he died of it. But that was not its final issue. It and the death in which it culminated were both for the glory of God as manifested in the restoration of Lazarus to life; and this glory of God took the form of the glorifying of the Son, who was revealed as the Lord and Conqueror of death. But to that end death must first occur. … Perhaps if He had started at once He would have arrived just in time to fulfil the sister’s hope; but Lazarus must have died very soon after the message reached the Lord and his disciples, if not before; as it was be brought them something beyond all their hopes.

II. 7-16: Jesus sets out for Judea. 9. Theophylact notes: Some understand the day to be the time preceding the Passion, the night to be the Passion. In this sense, while it is day, would mean, before My Passion; You will not stumble before My Passion, because the Jews will not persecute you; but when the night, i.e. My Passion, comes, then shall you be beset with darkness and difficulties. NOAB: His life would end when God willed; his enemies could not shorten it. 11. Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep: in Christ friendship survives death. Sleep was a common metaphor for death in ancient Jewish and pagan thought. “But what was before a fancy was turned by Christ’s resurrection into a well-grounded conviction with a fuller meaning, for death among the heathen was generally conceived of as a sleep from which there was no awaking. The Greek word here employed [κεκοίμηται] is the same as is represented in the Eng. cemetery = sleeping-place [Century Bible John].” In v. 12 the disciples take ‘sleep’ literally. 14. Since no mention is made of further news reaching him, we must understand Jesus’ knowledge that Lazarus was dead as more-than-human, like the knowledge of prophets.

III. 17-27: Jesus comes to Bethany and says to Martha: I am the Resurrection and the Life. When the Lord arrives, the time of bereavement is already running its course. It is more than three days since Lazarus died; friends from Jerusalem are coming out to offer consolation. Then the message is brought to Martha, as elder sister. Note that both sisters say to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (21, 32). To Martha, Jesus responds by declaring that he is the Resurrection; to Mary he responds not by words but by action. On the words I am the Resurrection and the life, Temple notes: “How can He actually be the Resurrection? He might be its cause, its donor, its controller; how can He be a future event? Of course there is a forcing of language to express an unutterable thought. But we can put part of what it means in other words. Fellowship with Christ is participation in the divine life which finds its fullest expression in triumph over death. Life is a larger word than Resurrection; but Resurrection is, so to speak, the crucial quality of Life, and the inclusion of it therefore adds vastly to the effectiveness, though not to the actual content, of the saying. There is no denial of a general resurrection at the last day: but there is an insistence that for those who are in fellowship with Jesus the life to which that resurrection leads is already a present fact. ‘If a man believe in Him, although his body dies his true self shall life’ (25); or, as it may be put in other words,. No believer in Jesus shall ever die, so far as his spirit is concerned. ‘Your friend is alive now; for in me he touched the life of God which is eternal; in me, he had already risen before his body perished.; This is the Johannine doctrine of life; it is also the doctrine of Paul (cf Col 3.1).” v. 26: Compare the words from John 4.13-14 in the reading from Lent III.

IV. 28-32: Mary goes to Jesus

V. 33-38: At the tomb of Lazarus Jesus’ compassion is seen. We must hear of Jesus` compassion and tears at the grave of his friend as Good News: for in Jesus we see the very nature of God.

VI. 39-44: Lazarus Raised. VII.45-57: The Reaction Only the first verse of this concluding section is read. We are left with the note that many believed on Jesus because of this sign; but the text goes on to say that some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. From that day the chief priests and the Pharisees took counsel to kill Jesus I am afraid those are the only notes I have been able to prepare for this week.

Note on the Anglican Cycle of Prayer (ACP): The dioceses of the Anglican communion which are remembered in prayer each day are now listed in this Calendar. The name of the diocese is followed by the name of its Church of the Communion in brackets and the name of the bishop.

THE CALENDAR

April 2011 10 SUNDAY: THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

Anglican Cycle of Prayer: Nagpur - (North India) The Rt Revd Paul Dupare

11 Monday: Commemoration of George Augustus Selwyn, 1st Bishop of New Zealand, 1878

For further information see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Augustus_Selwyn

ACP: Nairobi - (Kenya) The Rt Revd Peter Njoka

12 Tuesday: Lenten Feria

ACP: Nakuru - (Kenya) The Rt Revd Stephen Njihia Mwangi

13 Wednesday: Lenten Feria

ACP: Nambale - (Kenya) The Rt Revd Josiah Makhandia Were

14 Thursday: Lenten Feria

7:00 pm Stations of the Cross and Study Series

ACP: Namibia - (Southern Africa) The Rt Revd Nathaniel Ndxuma Nakwatumbah; Suffragan Bishop of Namibia (Southern Africa) The Rt Revd Petrus Hidulika Hilukiluah

15 Friday: Lenten Feria

ACP: Namirembe - (Uganda) The Rt Revd Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira

16 Saturday: Commemoration of Mollie Brant, Matron among the Mohawks, 1796

For further information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Brant

ACP: Nandyal - (South India) The Rt Revd Dr P J Lawrence

17 SUNDAY: PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION

ACP: Bishop of Jerusalem - (Middle East) The Rt Revd Suheil Dawani

Holy Week Begins!