Dear Ones of St. C's, 

Holy Week is the liminal space in between Lent and Easter.  We go from our journey in the desert together to our journey to the cross together.  

I hope you will join St. Columba’s in marking these holy days beginning with Palm Sunday on March 29th. 

Palm Sunday (March 29th): We celebrate the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem because the one who has come to save us is here and not even death can stop him. The Savior of the world has arrived, not on a war horse, but on a colt, praise God. 

Maundy Thursday (April 2nd @ 6:30pm): We eat supper one last time with Jesus before he dies.  He washes our feet, gives us the gift of the Eucharist, and commands us to love one another.

Like last year, Maundy Thursday will be done over what is referred to as the Agape Meal.  We will go through together over a meal the Gospel reading and the New Testament reading.  These readings go through Jesus’ time with his disciples, washing their feet, commanding them to love one another, and instituting the bread and wine as Jesus body and blood.  We will do these actions amidst the readings. We end the service by stripping the church of any ornamentation as we begin to prepare for Christ's arrest, condemnation, and walk towards the cross.

Good Friday (April 3rd @6:30pm):  We will sit at the foot of the cross grieving Jesus' death and grieving a world that would kill Jesus, questioning everything we thought we knew about hope, power, and God. 

Easter Sunday (April 5th 9am & 11am): In place of the Easer Vigil we will begin the Easter service with the new fire and lighting of the Paschal candle.  We will then celebrate that death has been overcome and a new understanding of who God is and how humanity will respond has begun. 

You may notice in the schedule that we will be suspending the Saturday evening Easter Vigil this year, with plans for it to return in 2027, if I get back to full time.  Hopefully, with more time I can do more education around the Vigil for the community and get renewed interest from the congregation.  We will end the Triduum at the beginning of the Easter service where we will take time for silence and lighting the paschal candle with the new fire as we move towards celebrating Christ's resurrection.   

with hope and love, 

Meghan