And when they arrive before the Cross the daylight is already growing bright. There the passage from the Gospel is read where the Lord is brought before Pilate, with everything that is written concerning that which Pilate spoke to the Lord or to the Jews; the whole is read.
And afterwards the bishop addresses the people, comforting them for that they have toiled all night and are about to toil during that same day, bidding them not be weary, but to have hope in God, Who will for that toil give them a greater reward. And encouraging them as he is able…
From Egeria’s account of Good Friday in Jerusalem, circa 380 AD
You might be curious, particularly if you are new(ish) to the Episcopal Church, where our Holy Week traditions and practices come from. Above you will find an excerpt from a letter home from a woman named Egeria. She made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem sometime in the late 300s, perhaps 300 years or so after Jesus’ death and wrote multiple letters home describing the worship practices from Palm Sunday through Easter Day. Included in her accounts are a palm sunday procession, a gathering in the upper room on Maundy Thursday, the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, the vigil in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Easter Vigil. One thousand and seven hundred years later, we are still worshiping in much the same way.
This is not by accident! While we are a progressive denomination that believes we are called to serve God in the world around us, our worship practices are ancient, on purpose. We ensure a direct connection to the church fathers and mothers by rooting our worship and our theology in the ancient church. During Holy Week this reminds us that in God’s eyes ‘those days’ weren’t that long ago, it was only yesterday that Jesus was walking among our siblings in Christ in Galilee and Jerusalem, and will only be a few days more before we are all reunited in God’s Heavenly Kingdom.
But between now and then, we are called to continue to serve God and to build up the community of Christ here on earth. We do this both in ancient ways, as we are practicing this Holy Week, and in new ways, by ensuring our Church is a welcoming home for all of God’s people, by advocating for policies and programs that further Christ’s teachings of caring for the least and the lost, and for speaking boldly in the public square about our 3,000 year history of caring for the prisoner, the foreigner, the widow, and the refugee.
But we do all of that from a place of deep faith that generates from our Holy Week worship. Without the foundation of our common worship and theology, we are nothing more than clanging gongs and noisy symbols, as the apostle Paul reminds us. So I invite you to join us for Worship on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Day as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s resurrection and then practice resurrection in our common life and work.