Holy Week
How are you (western) faithful out there celebrating holy week?
Richard Neuhaus says, “from the beginning God knew what he would do about a humanity he created free to love him, and therefore free to hate him...From the beginning ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.’ This is what it means to love; this is what it means to be love; this is what it means to say that God is love...What was separated by an abyss of wrong has been reconciled by the deed of perfect love.”
Richard Neuhaus says, “from the beginning God knew what he would do about a humanity he created free to love him, and therefore free to hate him...From the beginning ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.’ This is what it means to love; this is what it means to be love; this is what it means to say that God is love...What was separated by an abyss of wrong has been reconciled by the deed of perfect love.”
posted by fatherneo at 2:50 PM
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If time and inclination permit (I suppose that removes me from the definition of “the faithful” and understandably so), the Triduum is hard to beat. The Western obsession with the Passion side of soteriology (God’s saving work) is moving at times. The confluence of these three commemorations has the potential to be transformational, especially when punctuated by Tenebrae services. I found the Neuhaus quote beautiful. He’s a hard-nosed compadre to be sure though.
We have had a great Holy Week, so far. We went to the all night vigil at Epiphany for the 6 AM hour this morning, then to the Epiphany stations of the cross at noon. I remember a song sung between stations from my youth. The lyric was, "By the cross her station keeping, stood the his mournful mother weeping, da da da da da da daaa." I'm sorry, but I can't remember the last stanza. Maybe someone else does. It might be "faithful Mary to the last." There were about twenty people there. Thanks to Sherry Gunnell for the stations for Epiphany's sanctuary.
After the stations, we picked up my grandson and headed to Annunciation Catholic church on 38th avenue. Historic Denver provides money to support this sanctuary's million dollar art and stained glass. I walked the stations with Anthony (aged 7) and we discussed the stations, Jesus three falls, the soldiers whipping him, Simon of Cyrene helping him, the nailing of his hands and feet on the cross, his death. Anthony was fascinated and had many questions. The paintings were large but not well-lit. Then we went down to Trinity UMC for the last three of the Seven Last Words service and musicale that they did there. It was fair, but avoided a discussion of the atonement, I noticed. The inspiration of Jesus' life, his passing on the work to us, the need to pass on the light...were the central points given.
Still to come, tonight's service, Saturday's vigil and Easter. I am noticing how central the images of Gibson's Passion are to my reflection on the death of Jesus.
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