On Sunday we join with Christians around the world to begin Holy Week (See TLLC Schedule) with Palm/Passion Sunday. Through a special dramatic reading of the passion, we follow Christ from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem with a palm procession to the crucifixion where we stand with his first disciples beneath the cross. Each waypoint of the journey is marked by Jesus’ compassion for those who would betray, mock, accuse, deny, or do violence to him. Though persecuted and beaten, Jesus the Son of God is not disgraced; instead, he asks forgiveness for those who put him to death. We have walked the Lenten pathway these forty days, each of us invited through baptism to “let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” We enter this holy week accompanying Jesus to the cross with both grief and thanksgiving in our hearts, trusting in God’s redeeming love. Beneath the cross – through palms and passion – we find our salvation.
I invite you to join with us for each day of special services in Holy Week because journeying with Jesus to the Last Supper and the Crucifixion makes the empty tomb of the Easter Celebration on Sunday all the more meaningful and celebratory!