“..and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” - The end of the reading from The Letter to The Hebrews as used in today’s Good Friday Liturgy.
When I read this, I thought, ‘how apt’ in the situation we are currently in. As The Church of St. Michael & St. George we are stirring up one another to love and good works. We are not neglecting to meet together, granted at a distance. And we encouraging one another.
Today we are at the foot of the Cross on this Good Friday as we are every Good Friday.
Though this year there was no early morning Stations of the Cross service the in Church. In the recorded service for Good Friday there was no prostrating or veneration of the Cross. Our usual Holy Week ritual and corporate expression has been stripped bare, just as the Altar in the Church is bare.
But our worship is not bare and devoid of life, nor is the witness of the Church. Worship is being delivered in new ways, but it is still real. We are entering into worship in new ways temporarily and discovering the sacred that is all around us. The witness of the Church is having new life breathed into it.
We are in unchartered waters. Some of my colleagues in the diocese have reflected on this time we are in, and describe it as being in Advent. I have been reflecting that it is more akin to Holy Saturday. Both, Advent and Holy Saturday liturgically end in Joy, and we cannot celebrate Easter without Christmas and vis-versa. But Holy Saturday for me has a starkness that Advent does not covey.
There is a starkness to the reality we are in. In this time we are uncertain what will happen next, just as I imagine the disciples felt when they saw Jesus on the cross.
After Jesus died, he was put in the tomb, and what we now call Holy Saturday began. We utilize symbolism in the Church to convey this.
On Holy Saturday, the Church has no worship, the reserved sacrament has been consumed, the sanctuary light is extinguished. We do everything to relive the death of Jesus. The Church building reminds us of the tomb.
And we wait.
We know the disciples did not have to wait too long to encounter the risen Christ. We too, know that our wait to celebrate is not too long.
But we are waiting.
We are waiting for the day we can come together and celebrate. When we come together we will celebrate. But as we wait, I give thanks for you all as we “stir up one another in love and good works.” In our shared ministry to those around us to show that even though the building is empty and bare our Faith in Jesus Christ is alive.
God bless,
Fr. Tom +
