CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF GUILFORD
  • Home
    • Our History
  • Calendar
  • Who We Are
    • What We Believe
    • Who Belongs Here
    • Clergy & Staff
    • Church Vestry
    • Annual Meeting Reports >
      • 2024 Annual Report
      • Christ Church By-laws
  • What We Do
    • Christ Church Livestreams
    • Services & Liturgy
    • Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
    • Children & Youth Ministry >
      • Vacation Bible School
    • Music Ministry >
      • Choirs >
        • Annunciation Evensong singers page
      • Organ Music
    • Parish Ministry Committees
    • Outreach
    • Fellowship >
      • Episcopal Church Women's Group
  • Stewardship & Giving
  • Visit Us
    • Contact Us

Christ Church Weekly Announcements

Fr. Harrison's Letter for Palm Sunday 2017

4/9/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture

Dear Hearts,

It may not appear on the Town Calendar, but the Ecumencial Liturgy of the Palms surely belongs among Guilford's great traditions on the Green.  On Palm Sunday, Christ Church joins with our neighbors from First Congregational and St. George Churches, to recall Our Lord's entry into Jerusalem.  We meet at 9:45 a.m. at the center of the Green, to hear the story of the procession down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, to bless and wave "leafy branches," just like those who welcomed Jesus, and to proclaim him the heir to King David.  When we have prayed and sung together, we turn to our respective houses of worship to begin Holy Week.

Palm Sunday has another name:  Sunday of the Passion.  On this Sunday, we read ahead through the events of the coming days -- teachings and actions that reveal Jesus' love for us.  In particular, we read the portion of Matthew's account of Jesus' Passion from his trial before PIlate to his death and burial.  We typically read this portion of the Passion in parts, and the almost universal custom is for the congregation to take the part of the "crowd" calling for Jesus to be crucified.  In recent years, we are an exception to this practice.

As "Christ Church," we are a fellowship bearing the name of Christ; as such, we are a gathered body of Jesus.  Therefore, in recent years, the whole worshiping assembly has taken the part of Jesus, and reads his words.  Individuals and groups among us will recall the words of those who wanted Jesus dead.  As a "religious authority" of sorts, it pains me to recall the evil done when other religious authorities felt threatened by Jesus.

The Church's calendar for Lent, Holy Week and Easter, is determined by the sun and the moon, and so, they move earlier and later each year.  Our Guilford Public School's calendar for spring break is set as the second full week in April.  This year, Holy Week and Spring Break are the same week!  With families and Spring Break trips beginning a.s.a.p., our Sunday formation programs for children and youth will not meet on Palm Sunday this year.  And we will want to keep all travelers in our prayers, including the Guilford High School Choir traveling to Ireland, and the Pilgrim Fellowship traveling to New Orleans.

With the shortened interval between services on Palm Sunday, the Rectory Forum will forgo its meeting.  Participants in Tuesday's Soup Supper are encouraged to read chapters 7 & 8 in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wind in the Door before this week's meeting. The stories of "Naming & UnNaming," and "Love & Xing" seem particularly poignant for the Passion.  There may be a sermon or two in there!
For this week's reflection on "Our Holy Land," I encourage you to become acquainted with the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.  This organization, based in Connecticut, provides a vital opportunity for us to connect to the spiritual, educational, and healing work of the Episcopal Church ln our Holy Land.  You can find a video introduction to AFEDJ here.

When the UConn Women's Basketball Team lost their first game after 111 victories in the final four of the March Madness women's tournament, that was a surprising upset!  A similar shocking upset happened this week in Lent Madness when Florence Nightingale "defeated" Martin Luther.  What made Luther's "loss" particularly surprising, is that 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral.  That was the 1517 version of posting on-line, his objections to certain traditions and practices of the Catholic Church.  The theological conversation he hoped to begin, is generally credited with beginning the Protestant Reformation in Europe.  Of course, Nurse Nightingale began a revolutionary reformation of her own; hers was in nursing, and we continue to benefit from the work she began.

You can follow, and vote on the final four -- St. Stephen, Franz Jaggerstatter, Amelia Bloomer and Florence Nighingale -- this week, by going to www.lentmadness.org.

Wherever this week finds you, I hope you will find times and places to follow Jesus' passion.
​
In faith and hope,
Harrison+
YFNR
 


1 Comment
Jane Ferrall
4/9/2017 07:13:32 am

The blog image is from 1386 and while the artist is unknown, the subject certainly isn't. It can be viewed at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. The medium is black ink and watercolors on paper. Imagine how this work could have traveled through time to be viewed by us in this way!

The Facebook image is by William Morgner, ca. 1912, and is on view in Dortmund, Germany. "Wilhelm Morgner, a German Expressionist painter, trained for the clergy, although he quickly turned to painting as his calling. His close identification with Jesus Christ manifested itself in works that expressed his powerful understanding of the Passion, exemplified here by his color-saturated vision of the Entry into Jerusalem. Sadly, he died a young man, one of millions, on the fields of Flanders during World War I. Still, his discipline to his work left enough paintings to allow reflection upon the creative response to a deep faith and love of Jesus Christ."

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    We feature various authors from around our parish, commenting on topics of interest to our community.  Enjoy!  Comment if you are so moved!

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

We Would Love to Have Yo​u Visit Soon!
11 Park street, guilford ct 06437


Hours

Office Hours
Monday-Friday
9am-12pm

Telephone

203-453-2279

Email

[email protected]
  • Home
    • Our History
  • Calendar
  • Who We Are
    • What We Believe
    • Who Belongs Here
    • Clergy & Staff
    • Church Vestry
    • Annual Meeting Reports >
      • 2024 Annual Report
      • Christ Church By-laws
  • What We Do
    • Christ Church Livestreams
    • Services & Liturgy
    • Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
    • Children & Youth Ministry >
      • Vacation Bible School
    • Music Ministry >
      • Choirs >
        • Annunciation Evensong singers page
      • Organ Music
    • Parish Ministry Committees
    • Outreach
    • Fellowship >
      • Episcopal Church Women's Group
  • Stewardship & Giving
  • Visit Us
    • Contact Us