Holy Week Days

By / April 1, 2015
Hosting seven weeks of worship services and meals is an all-hands-on-deck effort. Special thanks to Caldwell folk: Marilyn Rowland, Kitty Bohr, Jim Schick, Sands Harne, Jane Wallwork, Lynn Watson, Caroline Lublinkhof, Felicia Pine, Don Cowan, BG and Bob Metzler, Jeanette Hickman, Janet Blanchard, Kim Bohannon, Jane McBride, Rachel Eldridge, Jeff Mitchiner, Marilyn Marks, Jean Prewitt, Richard Bargoil, Nancy Nance, Nancy Pugh and the entire staff. Pictured here are (from left): Caroline Lublinkhof, Anne Hunter Eidson, Frank Gardner (from the Community Culinary School of Charlotte) and Rev. Evie Landrau. With the help of donated food from area restaurants, the services raised $1,877 for Loaves and Fishes food bank and Community Culinary School of Charlotte.
Hosting seven weeks of worship services and meals is an all-hands-on-deck effort. Special thanks to Caldwell folk: Marilyn Rowland, Kitty Bohr, Jim Schick, Sands Harne, Jane Wallwork, Lynn Watson, Caroline Lublinkhof, Felicia Pine, Don Cowan, BG and Bob Metzler, Jeanette Hickman, Janet Blanchard, Kim Bohannon, Jane McBride, Rachel Eldridge, Jeff Mitchiner, Marilyn Marks, Jean Prewitt, Richard Bargoil, Nancy Nance, Nancy Pugh and the entire staff. Pictured here are (from left): Caroline Lublinkhof, Anne Hunter Eidson, Frank Gardner (from the Community Culinary School of Charlotte) and Rev. Evie Landrau. With the help of donated food from area restaurants, the services raised $1,877 for Loaves and Fishes food bank and Community Culinary School of Charlotte.

Dear Caldwell,

Holy Week is a time for both head and heart, deep reflection and deep feeling.

Last Sunday, the ACE Sunday School class discussed what they thought Jesus might have been feeling as he rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. Answers included: Disappointment, anxiety, conviction, resolution, trepedation, inevitability, love.

And what of us, I asked the class? What are our feelings from Palm Sunday and into these Holy Week days that mark this week’s Sunday to Sunday journey? Answers included: Reflective, daunting, disillusionment with the world, hope (because we we know how the story ends).

How about you? Now that we have waved palms and sung “Hosanna,” remembered how Jesus confronted the money changers and the Temple priests, considered how Jesus foretold of his death and resurrection in the metaphor of the Temple being torn down and raised in three days –  how is it with you in these Holy Week days?

As we concluded the Elizabeth Communities of Faith Lenten Series today, Rev. Dr. Dennis Foust, St. John’s Baptist, spoke of the “certain uncertainty” the apostles might have experienced as they felt Jesus’ pursuers closing in on him that week in Jerusalem. Each one was “certain,” Dennis said, that they were capable of betraying Jesus. Yet, each was also “uncertain” of whether it would be them who betrayed their Lord that week.

These Holy Week Days ask that same question of us: In what ways do we betray Jesus in our own lives? In our thoughts, our actions, our words, our relationships? How do we deny Jesus? Those may not be welcomed questions. But, in these Holy Week Days, they are fair game. As Dennis said, we are all capable of denying Jesus.

Yet, in Holy Week, we are also invited to die to our old selves and find new life in Christ’s self-emptying act, his humble submission to the cross. That’s what Holy Week is all about, isn’t it?

I invite you to bring these or other thoughts and feelings to our Maundy Thursday service tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. And bring a friend. This is one of our most moving services of the year, including our breaking bread together at the communion table. Afterward, the church holds a 24-hour prayer vigil, including a walk through the stations of the cross this year. The vigil is another wonderful opportunity to prepare our hearts and minds for Good Friday and, ultimately, Easter morning. You can sign up for a time here.

Also, as a part of your reflection this week, you may want to experience some of the worship moments from the ECF series. You can find prayers, music and meditations on the ECF Facebook page here.

The Elizabeth Communities of Faith have been praying for each other throughout Lent. So, as you take extra time for prayer this week, please consider the prayers below.

I’ll write again soon.

In Christ, John

A prayer request from St. John’s Baptist Church:

  • Please join St. John’s in praying that every household in Elizabeth would experience the compassion of God’s forgiving nature and the hope that enters our world through God’s resurrection of Jesus.
 A prayer request from St. Martin’s Episcopal Church:
  • Our prayer this week is that all people come to accept the free gift of grace and love from Jesus Christ our Lord, and to live lives that reflect that love and grace.

A prayer request from Caldwell Presbyterian Church:

  • Please pray for the concerns of our members: safe travel for Lynn & Mike as they go to Italy to spend Easter with family; Ivan & Donna as they journey to Arizona with their son, who is making an important transition; peace & strength for Daisy, Najah and family; those who grieve this Lenten season; and a blessed and joyful Easter the “senior saints” of our congregation.

A prayer request from Casita de Amor (Little House of Love):

  • Please pray for the health of our member families, that they would be filled with loving and supportive relationships, and they would find strength and peace in God.

A prayer request from Center City Church:

  • Please pray for our worshipping community as we continue to seek a permanent home for our church.

A prayer request from Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church:

  • Please pray for our meal packing event on April 18th, that it would be a time of fellowship and learning as we participate in a mission opportunity to serve the wider world.

 A prayer request from Novant Presbyterian Hospital:

  • Please pray for the hospital staff, especially the hospital leadership, as we strive to best serve and care for our patients.

A prayer request from CMC-Mercy Hospital:

·         For God's blessing upon our brothers, sisters, children, friends and relatives who experience discrimination, hatred and lack of equal rights simply because they are LGBT.  Let us pray.  And for all who will find themselves hospitalized during religious holidays: that the unexpected will lead to greater meaning and healing.  And that all healthcare workers will find a way to celebrate what gives them purpose.