16 March 2008

Welcome to St Alban’s Anglican Church 

Today's Scripture (HC) :S. Matthew 21: 1-11, Isa 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11, S. Matthew 26:14 - 27.end

Today's Liturgy: 8.35 a.m. BCP Matins; 9.00a.m. Liturgy of Palms & Holy Eucharist; Evening Pr. 6.00 p.m.

Holy Week: Mon, Tues, Wed: Holy Communion 12.30 p.m. ; Maundy Thursday: Holy Communion 7.30 p.m.; Good Friday: One Hour Devotions 12 noon; Easter Eve (Holy Saturday): Easter Vigil 7.30 p.m. Next Sunday: Easter Eucharist 9 a.m.

Sunday Next Before Easter - Palm Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility; Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

FAITH IN FOCUS: JOURNEY

Journey is a popular word. It once just meant going on a trip or a voyage. But now it’s used to sell everything. Even an afternoon at a theme park is marketed as "a journey of excitement and thrills" and a visit to your local cinema will entitle you to "a journey of discovery" as you settle into the latest special effects film.

Today we start our "journey" of Holy Week that will take us through suffering and death to the glory that is resurrection. An opening prayer for today reminds us that "We joyfully acclaim Jesus our Messiah and King ... may we reach one day the happiness of the new and everlasting Jerusalem by faithfully following him..."

The journey we make this week in the liturgy with Christ will only make sense if we are making the same journey in our daily lives. There’s always a trap with liturgy. We can be enticed into thinking that we’re celebrating only a past event, the death and resurrection that took place 2000 years ago. But in fact we are renewing the events of 2000 years ago, making them present in our own circumstances today. We are inviting Jesus to work the effects of his Passion, death and resurrection in our hearts and minds in the 21st century.

No matter what we pray during this week, no matter what we sing and say, it will be empty worship if we are not trying in our own lives to die to sin and rise to a new way of life that Jesus offers. Our liturgy will be a thermometer of faith. It will be a mirror of our lives in Christ. And we can’t simply live double lives, acclaiming the Messiah inside church but jeering with the crowd when we get outside again. Our liturgy has to reflect the sincerity of our Christian lives because liturgy and life are inextricably linked. You can’t have one without the other.

So as Holy Week starts we pledge ourselves once more to respond to the promptings of God’s grace, to die to sin, to seek to alleviate suffering, to offer hope and new life to those who languish in the shadows. And as we make our ritual entrance into Jerusalem today, let’s not lose sight of the fact that our lives are really a journey to a new, different and everlasting Jerusalem that requires a constant refocusing of our sights. It would be a pity to miss the point. That would be a wasted journey.

THE GREAT WEEK

Holy Week, the seven days before Easter, comes as the climax of the 40 days of Lent which began on Ash Wednesday. Lent recalls us to our task of becoming the baptized people that we really are. The Thursday, Friday and Saturday which come immediately before Easter are called the Triduum, from the Latin word for "three days". It is not really three separate feasts, but more of a "three day" feast, - an extended preparation for the great event of Easter. That’s why, wherever possible, Christians try to be present on each day, taking up where they left off the day before.

ALTHOUGH THE WORLD is full of suffering it is also full of the overcoming of it. (George Basil Hume)

WORD OF GOD

And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was in turmoil. "Who is this?" people asked, and the crowds answered, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee." (Matthew 21:10-11)

HOLY WEEK’S BIBLE READINGS:

Mon: Isaiah 42:1-9, Hebrews 9:11-15, John 12: 1-11

Tues: Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Cor 1:18-31, John 12:20-36

Wed: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Heb 12:1-3, John 13:21-32

MAUNDY THURSDAY: Exodus 12:1-14, 1 Cor 11:23-26, John 13: 1-17, 31b-35

GOOD FRIDAY: Isaiah 52:13 - 53.end, Heb 10:11-25, John 18:1 - 19.end

EASTER EVE: Job 14: 1-14, 1 Peter 4:1-8, Matthew 27:57-end

NEXT SUNDAY (EASTER DAY - 9 a.m.): Jeremiah 31:1-6, Acts 10:34-43, S. Matthew 28:1-10