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Isaiah 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 26:14—27:66
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev'd W. Lee Shaw
Palm Sunday marks the gateway into Holy Week and the Triduum of Eastertide: Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. If a person asks, what does it mean to be a Christian? Then this is the week when we lay it all out. Everything is here. From today until next Sunday, we will tell our story as Christians. This is the most important week in the Christian year.
Today is like the preview of coming events for the rest of the week. We heard the Passion according to St. Matthew, but we did not hear the final act. Come next Sunday for that.
On Holy Wednesday we will recount the experience of our Lord on his way to the cross through the Stations of the Cross. We will use the Women of the Passion text which has been so popular with St. Stephen’s for the last two years. It speaks eloquently of the Passion through the voices of women close to Jesus.
On Maundy Thursday we will join with San Esteban for our liturgy. This is for me one of the most moving liturgies of the year: remembering what happened in that upper room with Jesus and his friends. We will offer the opportunity to have your feet washed, and to wash the feet of another, as a reminder of our call to serve others in Christ’s name. We will also recall the institution of the Holy Eucharist: Take eat, this is my body given for you. This is where it all began. Then we will reverently strip and clean the altar and church in preparation for Good Friday.
We will have the Altar of Repose in the chapel. You are invited to come during the night to keep watch with Jesus as his disciples did in the Garden of Gethsemane. You are invited to sign up for an hour, just an hour of your life, to come and be with our Lord in the Garden, to remember his love for you and grace given you. Be still, remember our Lord’s life, light a candle, read devotions, walk the Stations of the Cross, be still with our Lord. Through the night we will have security in the building so you may worship in peace.
Good Friday, God’s Friday. The death of Jesus Christ. Crucified. Died and was buried. We will retrace his steps again with the Stations of the Cross at noon. At 7 p.m. we will have the Good Friday liturgy. There is no celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Good Friday. Jesus has died and we remember his death and his love for us. This is the most somber day of the church year. Quiet. Dark. Still.
The Rite of Reconciliation, private confession will be available from 3 to 6 p.m. and by appointment. This is a day of looking inward.
We gather for the Great Vigil of Easter before dawn on Sunday, 6 a.m.
We light the new fire of Easter. This is the foundational liturgy of the
church. Everything we do during the year finds its birth in this liturgy.
If you were to attend one service in the year, this is it. We recall our
story as a people of God by candle light in the gathering space.
Then we move into the church as we proclaim: Alleluia Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
This is a remarkable 24-hour period because at any given time around the world someone is being baptized. We will welcome Ken Lawson into the community of faith through the sacrament of baptism. We will make our first Communion of Easter remembering the Son of God rising from the dead as the sun rises over the Wasatch Mountains. This is what our faith is about: the Great Vigil of Easter. This is when we tell our story like at no other time. This is when we baptize people into the household of faith. This is when we celebrate the first Holy Eucharist of Eastertide at the dawn of the new day of faith for each of us. Our celebration will continue with an Easter Brunch following the service.
At 11 a.m. we will gather for the Festive Eucharist of Easter as we celebrate the Feast of the Resurrection, the Queen of Festivals.
What does it mean to be a Christian? What does the Christian church believe? Come to our services in Holy Week and Eastertide. This is what we are about. This is what we believe. We are an Easter people.
Come for the Stations of the Cross and the foot washing. Come for the Altar of Repose and spend time with your Lord in the Garden. Come for the somber retelling of His crucifixion. Come to the Vigil of his rising again as the sun rises over the Wasatch. Come to celebrate the Queen of Festivals, the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord. Come to Holy Week and Easter with us as community of faith. This is what it means to be a Christian: this week is our week to tell our story. Come and see the fullness of our faith. Come and see.