Here is today's update from Archbishop John Chrysostom and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, in which they preview the Faithful Four.
There are two important things you should do:
Oh, and make sure you go to church all the right times this week. We're all fun and games here at Lent Madness, but it would be pretty ridiculous if you played Lent Madness but skipped Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, or the Great Vigil of Easter.
10 comments on “Palm Sunday at Lent Madness”
I've had more than plenty of people who have gone from Palm Sunday directly to Easter and have had n0thing to do with Holy Week. How sad.
Fabulous!
It really is, Bill. I'm going to Tenebrae on Wednesday, Maundy Thursday on, well, Thursday, Stations of the cross on Friday, the vigil on Saturday and both services on Easter! Of course I do sing in the choir so that factors in........sorry folks, I know I'm tooting my Anglican horn here.....
Toot away, Madeleine! I agree with you and Bill. The folks who skip Holy Week don't know what they're missing.
It is not possible to share in the Joy of Easter if you have not experienced/comprehended the heartbreak of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday----of course that is just my opinion.
That is my opinion, too, Mary Celestia. No Good Friday, no Easter, I say.
I don't like to see John Chrysostom put forward as a holy person, however. He promoted a vicious anti-Semitism that continues to hurt our world.
It is amazing how the Easter Sunday only folk don't even seem to get the concept of "The Joy of Easter". They get a new wardrobe...aside from the Christmas one, as those are the two times they show up at Church. Hopefully they pledge...at least they can do that and the rest of us just include them in our prayers. Maybe one day in some way they may know and love and revere the Easter message..."He is Risen !"
Bill I agree that it is so sad not to make the journey to the cross all week. Our Rector says the Palm Sunday liturgy attempts to cram all of Holy Week into one service, taking us from "All Glory Laud and Honor, to the silent departure from the church. It is so very moving and sets up the week for me but I guess helps others who don't make the journey.
Although I would like to see 50 days of fabulous do well, I think a good opportunity to create another devotional journey is Advent. If you take Jay Sidebotham's Advent Calendar and transform it into a Candyland journey format, add some things by other clever people, and you could make an online devotional journey. Perhaps it exists, and I just haven't found it. That's my hope.
I too am a devout lover of all things Holy Week, and I am sad to say our parish at St. Christopher's in Fort Worth will not be doing a Tenebrae service tomorrow evening for the first time in about 7 years (not sure as to why.) There is a daycare center near where I live that is very fervent about their marquee theology (they put up Bible verses on one side of their advertising sign and hours of operation on the other). And for the last 2 weeks they have had "He Is Risen" boldly pronounced. I want to shake them silly because He (and we) hadn't even gotten to glory in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem!! I, too feel like the astounding joy that is the Resurrection is somehow diminished by leap-frogging over the intense saddness and painful events of Holy Week. I am a 4th generation Episcopalian, and there hasn't been a Maundy Thursday or Good Friday in 48 years when I haven't wept like a baby only to have my tears dried by the message of Mary Magedaline at the tomb...