Holy Week & Easter 2010 (it's a long post)

I was sick this past week. Honestly, it really didn't matter much to me. It was the high-point of the Church year and no mere cold was going to keep me down.

Holy Thursday: This is usually a small evening service at our church - maybe a couple dozen people show up. Each year on the day before Good Friday, we commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ and his Apostles. I find it to be a very powerful and humbling experience every year. Especially the foot-washing. Our Priest 'girds' himself and kneels down to wash the feet of the congregation in imitation of Jesus having washed the feet of his disciples on that passover eve.

"Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded... So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you." (John 13)

Just as Jesus had commissioned his Apostles to follow in his example of service and humility, so too are we commissioned to go and do likewise as we participate in the Holy Wednesday Liturgy. I find this to be a very powerful symbol and reminder of my Christian vocation every year: I am to be a servant.

At the closing of the Liturgy, the congregation comes forward and strips the altar and surrounding area of the colourful vestments and holy items until the entire front of the church is barren. For a liturgically minded person this is a jarring experience to behold. The colours and symbols of our faith have been removed and taken from our sight. The lights are then turned off and we all leave in silence. Here again we are commemorating and sharing in the experience of Jesus' disciples that evening so long ago in the garden of Gethsemane.

"Judas, one of the twelve, came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard. After coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, "Rabbi!" and kissed Him. They laid hands on Him and seized Him... And they all left Him and fled." (Mark 14)

With the altar stripped and the lights turned off, in that darkness walking away from the barren altar, I felt as one of the disciples on that night so long ago.

Good Friday: Every year on Good Friday at our church there are two parts - one traditional and one liturgical. The first part, the traditional part, is the 'Stations of the Cross'. Here we gather and travel the fourteen stations which commemorate the various parts of Jesus passion beginning with his being condemned to death culminating with his being buried in the tomb. Here we read devotional prayers relating to each of the stations along his journey and remember the suffering he endured that day two millennia ago. The second part is the Good Friday Liturgy itself. I won't share much about this service other than to say that it's not a happy service. As my priest put it in one of his sermons: 'God is dead; God is very, very dead". We listen to the Scriptures as they tell us of his trials and suffering that day; we cry out with the crowds, "Crucify Him!" and and silently acknowledge that it was for us and because of us that he died. It is a strange mystery that the immortal, infinite God in the person of Jesus Christ could die on a cross for us. Looking up at the altar, it felt so naked and bare, and so too did our hearts feel that day.

"When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing"... It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit". Having said this, He breathed His last." (Luke 23)

The Great Vigil of Easter: This is it! This is (if you'll pardon the comparison) the Superbowl of Church Liturgies, the Stanley Cup Final (game seven, triple overtime) of the Church year - yes my friends... this is the real deal. If through my own ignorance and apathy, I somehow managed to forget why I'm a Christian for an entire year... this is the night on which I would remember with perfect clarity and vision. After forty days of Lenting, after the darkness and death of Good Friday, we finally come to the celebration of life.

In the early Church (this is my understanding, anyone with better knowledge please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) the Easter celebration would be an all night affair. It would indeed be a vigil through the night. It would begin following the sunset and continue until the sun rises the next morning. It was the night in which the light conquered the darkness: candles and torches would be kept burning throughout the night until the glorious sunrise (is there a better symbol of Christ's resurrection?). The participants would sing hymns as pray throughout the night until the morning when the Eucharist was celebrated. It was the traditional time for the initiation of the newly faithful through the waters of baptism.

Our service begins outdoors in the darkness of the night. The priest then lights and blesses the Easter fire. The Easter Candle is then lit from the fire and processes into the building and into the sanctuary as the congregation follows and a canticle is sung. Once inside the sanctuary, the flame is passed from person to person, candle to candle until the whole sanctuary is lit up by the light of the candles each person is holding. From there the lights at the altar are lit. It is a very powerful moment as the cantor sings about the resurrection and the room is lit by candle light. It always feels very ancient and very alive to me, as if the two thousand years between the resurrection of our Lord and the night in which we are celebrating have melted away and we are there watching and praising that first sunrise the morning of his inauguration of new and eternal life for humanity. We then listen as the Scriptures are opened and read, as the Hebrew prophets from time immemorial tell us of the coming messiah, and as the Gospel writers tell us of that glorious day in which the prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. New members are then brought into the family of the faith, baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus they join his earthly body of believers and unite with his resurrected life and the hope that accompanies it. We then speak the words that we have withheld for the duration of Lent. We sing the 'Gloria', we use words such as 'resurrection' and 'alleluia'. We celebrate the Eucharist with gladness of hearts and joy on our lips. We share in the foretaste of Christ's coming kingdom as the bread and the wine nourish our souls; we drink of the grace that has been won through Christ's blood. There is singing and chanting - life has conquered death! Love has overcome! I don't know that I could be more filled with joy than I was that night.

There is a tradition that the young adults at our church take part in every year. We gather together at someone's home and continue the celebration begun at the Easter Vigil service, though it changes modes. We gather together, bringing food and drink in abundance and celebrate life. Oh, it was so much fun. I don't normally stay up that late (till after 3am), but it was worth it. I had beer and bourbon and wine and cake and donuts and cookies and homemade fries and chocolate covered espresso beans and so many other good and tasty things; but most of all I had the company of friends and joyful laughter and good conversation; I had hugs and slaps on the back, even a few high-fives. There was no shortage of smiles; it felt good. If at no other time, I knew with all my heart that all was right, that love was the foundation of the universe and life would continue aeternally. With all the confidence of Christ's resurrection our party mockingly shouted to the powers of corruption: 'Oh death, where is thy sting?'.

Easter Sunday: Early the next morning (a fews hours after falling asleep), I arose with a slight headache (probably the bourbon), drank some water, and began to cook dozens of cookies for the Easter Sunday service. What a glorious morning! Up with the crack of dawn and getting ready to go. This service probably has the biggest attendance of any during the year (maybe Christmas competes for numbers?). I was smiling the whole service. I love church, I love the Liturgy. I love hearing the holy Scriptures, reciting the creeds, and speaking the words of the liturgy that have been passed on through the many centuries, words which may be some of the truest words I'll ever speak. I love sharing in the Eucharist - kneeling down and receiving the body and blood of our Lord, receiving grace and forgiveness and acceptance and hope. Yeah, I was grinning the whole service. Afterward we had coffee time with snacks and cappuccinos (which I was able to help out with thanks to my barista skills). The kids ran around and did kid things; the adults stood around with their caffeinated beverages and did adult things. It was Easter alright.

- - - - -

My dear wife and I went to my mother's place after church to hang out and get Easter dinner ready for our family. I really enjoy my family; and I'm glad my wife does too. My little sister and I made dinner: vegetarian lasagna (a recent Curll family tradition). We sat around the living room, ate, shared stories and memories;.I chased my five-year-old niece around the house and talked about cilantro and vegan soups with my sister's boyfriend. My younger brother and I made subtle and witty references to music lyrics and Simpson's episodes; my older brother and I talked about school and movies and garlic. I often glanced across the room to watch my beautiful wife interacting with my family and it warmed my heart. My mother had made apple pie and we put iced cream on it (after forty days of Lenting dairy products, oh that iced cream was good). I enjoyed the company of my wife and my family (and my good friend from Nebraska who joined us). I was thankful for the life and the love that I have been given. Our Easter family dinner is not religious in any common sense of the term; but we were able to enjoy the life and love that we have been given and what's more religious than that. After all, Easter is all about life and love. Life and love... amen.

Happy Easter! He is risen indeed!