Holy Week

​This week—Holy Week—was the original nucleus of the entire Christian year. First there was Easter. Then Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the rest of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday. Next came Lent as a season of preparation for Holy Week. Finally the rest of the Christian year was filled in. The entire Christian year matters. But Holy Week was the start of it all.
 
Part of the work of Holy Week is properly done at home. Try to take a little extra time for prayer this week. Reflect on your life with God, where you stand now and where you would like to be. Ask God’s help in taking another step forward on your Christian journey.
 
Some of that work is best done with each other. We offer a lot of options at Saint David’s, and we co-sponsor events at other area Churches as well. Gathering with brothers and sisters in Christ is important.
 
I encourage everyone to make a particular effort to attend the three services at the core of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; and Easter Sunday. Those three services encapsulate in miniature the entire gospel story. We hear the story of the first time Christians gathered around the table to celebrate the Eucharist. We hear again the awful events of Christ’s death. Finally, we hear the good news of great joy that Christ has risen, that Christ is alive, that Christ has defeated sin and death, and opened the way for us to experience eternal life.
 
On that first Easter morning, everything changed. This Easter will not be so dramatic as that very first one. But we will worship with great joy. We will drop the confession of sin, and bring back the alleluias. Afterwards we can indulge ourselves for the day—guilt-free!—in whatever we have given up for Lent.
 
Do your best to be part of the celebration. Bring family and friends with you. But also do the work of preparation in the remaining days leading up to that most holy day.