Palm Sunday	29.03.2015

Today we have passed through the doorway of Holy week, 2015. This is the Great Week in which our Lord goes through “his Hour” Today’s liturgy is a foretaste for the drama we are going to share with the Lord himself. We have gone in procession with palms as the Lord did and we have shared the story of his ‘emptying out’ as narrated by this year’s evangelist, St Mark. The anointing ; the supper; the garden; the arrest; the trial; the betrayal; the scourging and the kingly robes; Simon of Cyrene; mockery on the cross; death; the shroud and burial. Like faithful Christians, down all the ages, we have walked with the Lord and been with him.

On Wednesday Fr Long and I will go with all the priests to St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham for the mass of the oils. We will renew our priestly promises. Together we will bless the oil of the sick, the oil of baptism and oil of chrism.

On Maundy Thursday we will gather here for the evening celebration of the Lord’s Supper. We will recall the Old Covenant with the Jewish People, which God made with them as he freed them from slavery. The Last Supper is the beginning of a New Covenant, made with the precious blood of Jesus himself. Fr Long will wash the disciples’ feet, as a sign to one another that we should be humble. This Eucharist is most significant, because it remembers the promises that Jesus made and their fulfilment on the cross. The Blessed Sacrament is taken to the altar of repose, where we can watch with the Lord in hiss distress. The church is them stripped bare If we take time to share these moments, then our faith will be deepened.

On Good Friday we gather in the afternoon to celebrate the Lord’s Passion. Once again the Prophet Isaiah tells us what was spoken of the Lord before he came. The listen and share in the Passion according to St John. We pray for the church and the world. The wood of the cross is unveiled and come forward to kiss our redeemer’s feet and we receive holy Communion.

On Holy Saturday evening we gather for the Great Vigil of Easter .We light and bless our Easter Candle and all present take light from the Easter Flame. We sing God’s praises and listen to the Readings from the Old and New Testament, culminating in the Easter Gospel. We celebrate the Paschal Eucharist with great joy.

I urge you to mark this Holy Week by coming on Thursday, Friday & Saturday (or Sunday) to walk with the Lord and share his company, as he goes through the climax of his living among us.

There is also public morning prayer on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 9.00am if you wish to mark those days with prayer,

We are very blest to be able to celebrate freely, unlike Christians in Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Egypt, where homes and church are burned and people live as refugees.