Thoughts from Lori
The spring snow has come and mostly gone, and now Holy Week is upon us. Sunday – the Sunday of the Passion, or Palm Sunday – is here. It’s a liturgically dramatic day; one which begins with Hosannas! as Christ enters Jerusalem and ends with silence at the foot of the cross. The entire week, in fact, is a drama; one in which we not only recall and remember the events of the Passion, but share in it, relive it year after year. We do this because these are the core events of our history, the core events of our identity as Christians.
In the same way, then, that the Church invited us to “a holy Lent,” I invite you to Holy Week. Enter into the drama as a way to bring your Lenten discipline to its conclusion and to prepare for the ultimate celebration of the Resurrection: Easter. If you fell short of your Lenten fast or plans, or if you never got around to creating one, Holy Week is an opportunity to engage in a shorter but even more powerful spiritual journey: one that leads from the cross to the empty tomb.
Our complete Holy Week schedule is listed below. May this sacred season bless you and fill you with peace and, when Easter comes – as it always does – with joy!
Faithfully,
Lori +
Holy Week
Palm Sunday – March 29, 10:00 am – Blessing of the Palms and Holy Eucharist Holy Monday- Holy Eucharist, 7:00 pm Holy Tuesday – Holy Eucharist, 7:00 pm Holy Wednesday – Holy Eucharist, 7:00 pm Maundy Thursday – Agape Meal/Eucharist, 7:00 pm Good Friday – Stations of the Cross, Noon, Mass of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts, 7:00 pm Easter Eve – Vigil and First Eucharist of Easter, St Ann’s, Woodstock, 7:30 pm Easter Sunday – April 5, 10:00 am – Feast of the ResurrectionAn Invitation to a deeper Holy Week
from Deborah Lang
Next week is Holy Week. For a member of the altar guild this is a frenzied and hectic time. With eight services to plan for, just thinking about it makes my stomach clinch. It seems that no matter how many times I’ve done this, how many procedures I’ve typed up or “notes-to-self” I’ve made; each year feels like the first time. I feel like I have no idea what to do. I’m wondering if this is precisely the point. Maybe we are all to enter the events of Holy Week as if it’s the first time.
With Palm Sunday we will enter into the events that took place in the life of one man. This week marks the remembrance of the foundation of our faith. After all, if these things did not happen, what are we doing on Sunday mornings? Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter are the hallmark events. But I’m often curious as to why Maundy Thursday doesn’t get more press. It was on this night that Jesus gave us the gift that continues to feed us to this day, the gift of his body and blood. On this night he showed us how to care for each other until he comes again by washing our feet. And on this night he was betrayed and denied by his closest and all too human friends. This man’s story is our story. To walk with him is to enter the holiest mysteries of our faith and the deepest truths of our existence. It’s only one week, but its meaning is eternal.
I invite you to enter Holy Week as if you’ve never heard the story before. Lose yourself in the words and the images. The final hours of this man’s life changed all things for all time. Be with him and know his Joy.
Parish Cleanup Day
This Saturday, March 28th, 9:00 am
We’ll have coffee and bagels ready at 9am and a list of tasks to make the work go smoothly. If you have some favorite cleaning tools and/or products, please bring them. We will tackle the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the parish hall. Please pitch in. Many hands make light work!
Living Compass is coming!
Our first actual Living Compass course is coming in April.
Watch for the sign-up sheet to reserve your spot. Space is limited. The group will meet for six to eight weeks on Tuesday evenings, 7:00 to 8:30 pm. More details will be in next week’s ePistle.
Flowers and Lilies for Easter
Holy Week begins this Sunday, March 29th, with Palm Sunday. There is a sign-up sheet for those wishing to contribute to the flowers and lilies that will grace our church on Easter Day. Your donation of $25 (or more) may be given – as always TO THE GLORY OF GOD – and in memory of a loved one or in thanksgiving for a person or special blessing. Thank you for helping to make our Easter celebration more beautiful than ever!
Participants for Holy Week and Easter
The special services for Holy Week and Easter offer opportunities for additional participation. Please sign-up to be a reader, usher, or server.
Agape Meal on Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, or Thursday in Holy Week, recalls the Last Supper at which Jesus shared a meal (some say the Passover) and washed the feet of his disciples. We will gather in the parish hall for a simple meal for the readings and a brief homily. Then we will go into the church for the foot washing, Communion, and the Stripping of the Altar. This is a powerful and provocative service you don’t want to miss.
Please sign-up to bring a soup, bread, or fresh fruit to share for the meal.
Immediately after this service, the Reserve Sacrament (consecrated bread and wine) is taken to the Chapel of Repose – this year, in the newly re-dedicated Julian Chapel – where the prayer vigil begins and continues through Good Friday. The church will be open for any and all who wish to keep watch through the night in remembrance of Jesus’ own prayer vigil in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion.
Life Line Screening is coming to St. Paul’s
St. Paul’s is pleased to offer a preventive health event. Life Line Screening, a leading provider of community-based preventive health screenings, will host their affordable, non-invasive and painless health screenings on May 5th. Five screenings will be offered that scan for potential health problems related to: blocked arteries which is a leading cause of stroke; abdominal aortic aneurysms which can lead to a ruptured aorta; hardening of the arteries in the legs which is a strong predictor of heart disease; atrial fibrillation or irregular heart beat which is closely tied to stroke risk; and a bone density screening, for men and women, used to assess the risk of osteoporosis. Register for a Wellness Package which includes 4 vascular tests and osteoporosis screening from $149 ($139 with our member discount). All five screenings take 60-90 minutes to complete.
In order to register for this event and to receive a $10 discount off any package priced above $129, please call 1-888-653-6441 or visit www.lifelinescreening.com/community-partners
Forms are also available in the Narthex and in the office.
Lessons and Hymns for Sunday, March 29th
(Palm Sunday – Year B)by the Rev. William McLemore
THE SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
The First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a. The prophet Isaiah reflects upon the call of God to him and his fidelity to that call, “It is the Lord God who helps me.”
The Psalm: 31:9-16. The loneliness of faith is recalled in this Psalm and the cry for God’s presence, grace, and loving-kindness.
The Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11. Here Paul recounts the deepest theology of the death of Jesus Christ and that at the name of Jesus, “Every knee should bend.”
The Gospel: Mark 14:1-15:47 or Mark 15:1-39, (40-47). This Gospel covers portions of what has become known as the “Passion Narrative,” Jesus’ celebrating the Passover with his disciples, the betrayal of Judas, the trial, the procession to the cross, and the crucifixion.
THE HYMNS:
Processional Hymn: No. 154. “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.” This ancient hymn is attributed to Theodulph of Orleans who died in 821 AD. Legend has it that he wrote the hymn while in prison having been convicted on a false accusation. Its use was in connection with the processions of the palms through the towns in that day. The tune was composed by Melchior Teschner (1584-1635) and harmonized by William Henry Monk (1823-1889).
Sequence Hymn: No. 495. “Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus.” This hymn is one which praises Jesus in his various roles: Galilean King, Universal Savior, Paschal Lamb, God Appointed, Reconciler, Intercessor, and the Emmanuel. The original composition is ascribed to John Blakewell (1721-1819) with later adaptations by Martin Madan (1726-1790). The tune, “In Babilone,” is a traditional Dutch melody. When the 1906 hymnal was being produced, the hymn was harmonized by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and has been in our hymnals since.
Dr. Williams deserves some additional comment as he is one of the pre-eminent composers of hymns and chorales for the Christian Church. One of his wives, in response to hearing him called an “atheist,” said he was actually a “cheerful agnostic.” At the age of six, he began piano and basic composition lessons with his aunt, Sophy Wedgewood. He was 41 when World War I began and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps as a Private and spent several years as a stretcher barer. When the war was over, he became fascinated by English folk music and is responsible for preserving many of these melodies which at the time were only sung from memory. He has composed and/or arranged nearly two dozen hymns and folk tunes for Christian hymnals. Before he died in 1958, Ralph Vaughan Williams and composed nine symphonies spanning a period of 48 years.
Presentation Hymn: No. 474. “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” This is another hymn written by Isaac Watts. He wrote this hymn being inspired by Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” The tune, “Rockingham,” was adapted from an old English psalmody hymnal by Edward Miller (1731-1807).
Communion Hymn: No. 332. “O God, Unseen Yet Ever Near.” This hymn was written by Edward Osler for publication in William Hall’s “Psalms and Hymns Adapted to the Services of the Church of England,” 1836. The text has been in the Episcopal Hymnal since 1892. The words rightfully mention God’s love for Israel in the streams and manna in the desert, fulfilled by the nurture of the sacrament of the Eucharist. The tune, “St. Flavian,” is a condensation of a melody in the English Psalter of 1562, commonly known as the “Day Psalter.”
Recessional Hymn: (No Processional Hymn on Palm Sunday.)
Top 10 Reasons to be an Episcopalian
Reason 8
“Male and female God created them;
male and female we ordain them.”
Robin Williams, Comedian
From the cartoons created by the Rev. William P. McLemore
1965 – 2014
