Good Friday Spiritual Practices For Children. Photo T.Brotsky
Greetings and blessings to you, as you prepare for the high holy days that lie ahead.
Tonight begins the Paschal Triduum, the Christian retelling of Jesus’ last supper with his friends, his trials and suffering, his crucifixion, and his resurrection from the dead.
I have always loved observing Maundy (or Holy) Thursday, with the sharing of communion together. I am always moved at the realization that Jesus welcomes to his table the friends who are about to betray him, abandon him, and deny him. Not only does Jesus welcome them: he also serves them.
And he gives them a new commandment ( the name “Maundy” comes from a corruption of the Latin “mandatum”, meaning commandment). That commandment is simple: to love one another.
It’s something to cling to, as we enter these final days. That Jesus’ willingness to undergo the passion (meaning suffering), is rooted in his compassion (meaning, to suffer with).
Passion and Compassion
The arc of the three days before us is grounded in, and carried by, and finds its fulfillment in, love. A love that is radically self-giving. A love that suffers with all the ways Jesus’ body continues to be broken in our own time and place. A love that will not back down from confronting the death-dealing forces of empire. A love so strong, that it can bring life again, unexpected and paradoxical, in places of loss and death.
May you know that love, deep within you, and flowing through you, as you follow Jesus to the cross, and then discover again the empty tomb.
And, may you remember that Easter comes not because of the amount of work you put in – but purely by the grace and power of God. I pray that you will be pulled by the Holy Spirit into the story once again, letting it carry you and your community of faith through all the services and events and prayers and vigils and and and… to a time of rest and restoration after Easter!
Deep blessings,
Rev. Michelle Slater
LeaderSHIFT Regional Minister
