It has been a very busy Lenten season for us. Holy Week especially was filled with a variety of worship opportunities which we helped lead: a healing service on Monday, Stations of the Cross on Tuesday, vespers on Wednesday, a communion service on Maundy Thursday, and a Tenebrae service on Good Friday. Several members of our internship congregation thanked us for our part in the different worship services, telling us how much they were moved by the services during Holy Week.
Finally, Easter Sunday arrived, complete with white paraments, lilies, and Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” While I hesitate to claim that you can’t truly appreciate sunshine without knowing what storm clouds are, it does seem to be true that the joy of Easter – the triumphant glory of the Resurrection - is best experienced if one has spent some time contemplating the pain and passion of the crucifixion.
Perhaps the biggest challenge in celebrating Easter is realizing that it’s not just one blow-out day filled with flowers, colored eggs, and candy. Instead it is an entire season. The church traditionally allots several weeks for this, even though most of us usually return to our normal lives after just a day or two.
I want to pass along to you something from today’s edition of an email devotional that I receive regularly. It begins with the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus from Luke 24:13-36, then concludes: “Here’s wishing a blessed…eye-opening, faith-confirming, community-gathering, Eucharist-receiving, story-telling … Easter season to each and every one of you!”
(If you would like more information about these daily devotions, go to:
http://www.covenantlutheran.org/devotions.html)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment