ACS Scarborough Reports

see http://www.additionalcurates.co.uk for Holy Week visit of Fr Darren to Dulverton and St Saviour, Scarborough.

Father Darren's visit to the Church of St Saviour with All Saints, Scarborough and Dulverton Hall

At Cross Purposes

The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has lost all credibility because of the child abuse scandal, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

In a rare breach of ecumenical protocol, Dr Rowan Williams criticised the Catholic Church over its handling of the paedophile priests crisis and made plain his anger over the Pope’s plans for a new ordinariate to tempt dissatisfied Anglicans over to Rome.

His comments will add to the cloud gathering over the Pope’s four-day visit to Britain in September, when he is expected to give an address in Westminster on moral values in society. More than 10,000 people have signed a “Protest the Pope” petition on Downing Street’s website against the £15 million cost of the visit, which is to be shared by the Government and the Church.

The Vatican’s troubles mounted when Pope Benedict XVI’s personal preacher likened criticism of the Church over the sex abuse scandal to “collective violence” suffered by the Jews. At a Good Friday ceremony atSt Peter’s Basilica, Father Raniero Cantalamessa told the congregation, with the Pope listening, that a Jewish friend had said that the accusations reminded him of the “more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism”.

The attempt to equate criticism of the Church with the suffering of Jews is particularly controversial given the accusation that the Church failed to do enough to stop the Holocaust, in which millions of Jews perished.

The Pope later followed a candle-lit procession to commemorate Christ’s suffering amid tighter security than usual. His spokesman said that Father Cantalamessa’s remarks were not the official position of the Church.

Commenting for the first time on the crisis gripping the Catholic Church, Dr Williams said that the paedophile priest scandal had been a “colossal trauma” for Ireland in particular.

“I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who was saying that it’s quite difficult in some parts of Ireland to go down the street wearing a clerical collar now,” he told Andrew Marr for the BBC Radio 4 programme Start the Week, to be broadcast on Monday. “And an institution so deeply bound into the life of a society suddenly becoming, suddenly losing all credibility — that’s not just a problem for the Church, it is a problem for everybody in Ireland.”

Regarding Anglicans who seek to take up the Pope’s offer to help them convert, he pointedly refused to give them his blessing.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal for the Church of England.” He predicted that just a few people would accept the offer. “They will take advantage of it because they believe they ought to be in communion with the Bishop of Rome. I can only say fine, God bless them. I don’t at the moment. So we proceed on that basis and we talk with, I hope, a level of mutual respect on that basis.”

He was less than effusive about the Pope’s visit to Britain. “The Pope will be coming here to Lambeth Palace. We’ll have the bishops together to meet him. I’m concerned that he has the chance to say what he wants to say in and to British society, that we welcome him as a valued partner and, you know, that’s . . . that’s about it.”

The head of the Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, made only an oblique reference to its troubles when he detailed the need for repentance at Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services in the Armagh Archdiocese.

He was greeted with applause at Armagh Cathedral and at St Patrick’s Church, Drogheda, where he has strong support because of his reputation as a good pastor. On a wider stage he is under increasing pressure to go, and sources indicated last night that he was likely to announce his retirement by Pentecost in May, triggering further episcopal resignations and a radical reorganisation of the Church in Ireland.

Catholic bishops worldwide are using Easter, the Christian time of repentance and renewal, as an opportunity to seek forgiveness for the sins of the Church. The leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland will offer repentance to the victims of sexual abuse by priests in his Easter Day address.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien will say that Catholics are demoralised and confused by the “many evils” perpetrated by paedophile priests. He will speak of the shame the scandal has brought to the members of the Church in his homily at St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh.

The leader of the Church in Germany denounced past failures and mistakes in the Church’s handling of complaints of child rape and other abuse. The Church in the country of the Pope’s birth is in crisis after dozens of people came forward alleging that they were abused as minors by priests.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg said that news of sexual and physical abuse by priests left the Church with sadness, horror and shame. He said that clerics failed to help victims by a “wrongly intended desire to protect the Church’s reputation” and called on the Church to face this painful reality. He added: “Wounds were inflicted that are hardly curable.”

Public Execution

Scourging at Nelson’s Column

by Ed Beavan

THE fountains in Trafalgar Square, London, will be turned off on Good Friday, when thousands are expected to gather there for a re-enactment of Christ’s Passion by a cast of 107.

Peter Hutley, the owner of the Wintershall Estate in Surrey, where large outdoor Passion plays are regularly staged, has written the play and is producing it.

Simon Hemingway will play Jesus. Most of the cast will have changed into their costumes before they arrive in the square; but 25 will use the crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields. The execution squad of Roman soldiers will wear replica armour of the 12th legion.

Technical staff will arrive in the square at 4 a.m. to set up the stage and put up loudspeakers and bar riers, and The Passion of Jesus will be performed at 12 noon (dress re hearsal) and 3.15 p.m.

Crowd-safety experts have been hired, as it is thought that the au dience could exceed 10,000 over the two performances. Traffic around the square is expected to continue as normal.

Mr Hutley said that the play would “pull no punches”. It was an opportunity to show that the Chris tian faith was active, and for Jesus to leave his “indelible mark” on people. He hinted that the fountains might be turned back on for dramatic effect at some point.

Chrism Mass

(Ideally there should only be one chrism mass in each diocese to emphasise the unity of the clergy with their diocesan bishop. Sadly this is no longer possible in the Church of England because not all priests and bishops accept the priesthood of all, the chief exception being ordained women. Therefore in all parts of the country the diocesan bishop asks an acceptable assistant to celebrate a separate chrism mass for those priests of his own integrity. In the York diocese we gathered yesterday in St John, Middlesbrough with the Bishop of Whitby. Others will gather today in York Minster with the archbishop.)

The Mass is a great gathering of the whole diocesan family, with people coming together from so many of our Parishes. It is a wonderful feast of good liturgy and liturgical music, with combined choirs from our various communities. During this Mass, Bishop Declan blesses the oil of catechumens, the oil of the sick, and the oil of Chrism. These oils are to form an important part of the sacramental life of our communities during the year.

We use the oil of catechumens for adult catechumens and infants in preparation for baptism, the oil of the sick for anointing those who seek healing and wholeness, and the sacred oil of Chrism for post-baptismal anointing, confirmation, the ordination of priests, and the consecration of altars. The three oils are basically olive oil, yet to the sacred Chrism is added balsam or oil of flowers which fills the air with the scent of sweet perfume. One early church writer described the perfume of Chrism as “the Easter aroma, God’s grace incarnate through the sense of smell!”

Bishops have blessed oil from the days of the early church. They baptised catechumens at the Great Easter Vigil and prepared Sacred Chrism fresh for the occasion. Later on, rather than overburdening the Easter Vigil with the blessing of oils, bishops blessed these oils at the previous celebration of Mass on Holy Thursday. After this celebration vessels of oil were then taken to all churches in the diocese. In Rome the one Mass of Holy Thursday served for the commemoration of the Lord’s Supper and the blessing of oils. By the 13th century, the priests gathered for the liturgy were invited to join in the prayers of blessing with the bishop. With relatively minor adjustments, the liturgy remained the same through to the 20th century. In 1955 the rites of Holy Week were revised for the universal Church. The celebration of Holy Thursday became marked by two separate Masses, one in the morning for Chrism, the other in the evening for the Lord’s Supper.

In many dioceses today, the Mass of Chrism is celebrated earlier in Holy Week to enable more people to gather from all corners of the diocese for the celebration at the Cathedral Church
Only the Bishop may consecrate the Sacred Chrism, therefore in a very special way the Chrism Mass highlights his ministry and our union with him. The Bishop is not able to baptise and confirm everyone in the parishes of the diocese, but his ministry is symbolically present in the chrism which the priests and deacons will use. Also in recent years, this Mass has also acknowledged the ministry of priests and deacons. It invites them to renew their commitment of service and to receive the prayers and support of the people. The Mass of Chrism gathers the faithful of the diocese at their mother church with their shepherd to prepare for celebrations of Christ in all our churches throughout the year.

The holy oils are then solemnly received into our Parishes during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper or at another suitable time. The oils are placed in noble and dignified containers and stored near to the baptismal font in an ambry - a wall safe, often with a glazed door so that they are a visible to the community.

Through the liturgy of the Church, Christ acts to strengthen and protect, to heal and restore, to set apart and seal for ministry. The Chrism Mass serves to open up these realities to the community of faith.

Michael Fountaine, Director, Clifton Diocese Department for Liturgy

Spy Wednesday

On the Wednesday the tempo of the Holy Week increases. This is the day widely known as "Spy Wednesday". For it is the day when Judas Iscariot, a disciple turned betrayer agreed to show the chief priests where they could easily capture Jesus.

BETRAYAL

Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief

priests,

And said unto them, `What will you give

me, and I will deliver Him unto you?'

And they covenanted with him for

thirty pieces of silver.

And from that time he sought opportunity

to betray Him.

Matthew, Ch. 26:14-6

What makes a friend betray a friend as friendship implies trust? The underlining reason is that we love ourselves more than our friend, which in fact means we use a person under the pretence of a friend for what for we can gain. Judas knew that Christ had incensed the religious authorities since His return to Jerusalem with His outspokenness in exposing their hypocrisies, and more than ever they wanted His arrest. The situation was such that Judas realized he could gain from it, irrespective of what consequences that might mean for Jesus. He thought simply of himself when he went along to the chief priests to see what he could get from it all. What Judas did is what so many of us do. By merely concentrating on self, and not others, we never think through what are the consequences of our actions for us and for others. Perhaps if Judas had stopped for a moment to rethink the whole situation through he may have seen that his betrayal would lead to Christ’s death. He then may have not gone to the chief priests. But man without grace is such an ego-centric being!

Judas’ selfishness and greed is juxtaposed in the gospel with the selflessness and loving devotion of Mary who as custom was for the traveller on entering a house, washed Jesus’ feet. But instead of water she used an expensive ointment and lavished it upon her Master’s feet, and then dried them caringly and tenderly with her hair. She showed Judas and to the whole world what true friendship is, “to give and not to count the cost ... to labour and not to ask for any reward”. St. John tells us that Judas quibbled over this lavish gesture of Mary, intimating that his love of money and his greed had become such heinous sins that they were eating into his soul. When these sins go unrepented, they become cancerous and if untreated will kill the soul as illustrated in Judas.

Andrewes in his 1593 Lenten sermon contrasted the difference of living lovingly for Christ or lovingly to self as he compared Mary and Judas.

...for she did not drop but pour; not a dram or two, but a whole pound; not reserving any, but breaking box and all; and that not now alone, but three several times, one after another.

This she did; and, as it may seem, the coherence fell out not amiss. This outward ointment and sweet odour she bestowed on Christ for the oil of gladness, or the spiritual anointing (as St. John) and the comfortable savour of His knowledge (as St. Paul calls it), He bestowed on her.

This, as it was well done, so was it well taken of Christ; and so should have been of all present but for Judas, says St. John. Who, liking better odorem lucri ex re qualibet than any scent in the apothecary’s shop, seeing that spent on Christ’s head that he wished should come into his own purse, repined at it.

This Holy Wednesday we have before us two options: the selfless loving and caring of Mary towards her dear Master and Lord, and the selfishness and greed of Judas who used Jesus for his own ends. Friendship as I said implies trust, and when we make a person a friend it means we love that person, despite what. From that moment we always try to think and anticipate their needs before ours; we desire the best for them. Yet how often have we been a Judas rather than a Mary and let a friend down? How often have we simply used another person, hoping that we might gain something from it? Sometimes we might even do this unconsciously. We do have to keep examining our motives so that we are not exploiting another human being. Ideally in a Christian community, the corporate body of Christ to which all the baptized belong, we share and gladly share our gifts, talents and personalities with our brothers and sisters. In this kind of community the self is fused with the core so that in the sharing of life the self is always part of the whole; it can never be separated from it because the influences, beliefs, and personalities of others are absorbed by one and mingle with one’s own. With such Christian sharing one forgets or ignores what was originally his or hers, if ever that were the case!

Our Lord commended what Mary did, and He must have agonized over Judas’ deed, especially in the light of His teaching to His disciples that “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (Jn.15.13). Even after betraying our Lord, Judas committed a greater wrong in being unrepentant of his deed, and died in a state of hell, that is, without Love. He was not there to greet the Risen Lord on Easter morn, but Mary was? Will we?

Let me be like Mary and believe in You as my Friend as well as my Lord and Saviour. Teach me to live that I do not betray You by my actions and words, and especially not by selfish acts of greed and exploitation. Grant me the grace to be a true friend to all I meet in life. Amen.

Holy Tuesday

AUTHORITY

Now has the Son of Man been glorified.

John 13.31.

Full readings: Isaiah 49. 1-6; Psalm 7.1-6, 15-7; St. John 13. 21-33, 36-8.

Our Lord spoke these words after stating that one His disciples would betray Him, and it would be he to whom He gave the morsel of bread. Judas went out into the night after receiving the bread. As to-morrow’s Gospel reading is that passage from Matthew when Judas arranged such betrayal, I shall leave further discussion for the morrow.

To-day I shall concentrate on the traditional reflection for Holy Tuesday, the day of questions. As Jesus continued to teach in the temple, He was approached by the chief priests and scribes about His authority to teach. Rather than give a direct answer He counter questions them about the baptism of John. They are trapped, which no doubt infuriated them even more, especially after listening to the parable of the wicked tenants. Then the Pharisees tried to ensnare Jesus through His disciples by asking them, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” Jesus aware of their malicious intent answered for them and for us too that we must pay our taxes. So on this day of questions Our Lord made it quite clear that His authority comes from God, but at the same time He recognized a Princely authority in this world, and that His disciples and we live under that authority in this world. In others words Christians live in a political State, as well as the heavenly realm. He thus acknowledged that we are citizens of two worlds, and in both the Authority must be obeyed. Therefore as Christians we have to respect the authority of the State in which we live, and if we object to any of its laws, it must be done through the right channels. Being a Christian does not give us the right to ignore laws of our country, but it does give us the right to challenge them and work towards their change or alteration if they are unchristian through the proper process.

By what authority did He challenge them? Christ challenges them by that Higher authority which is His from His Father. His authority is able to penetrate the souls of all because it is divine, and so it unveils the narrowness, the rigidity, and above all the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Scribes. In their ostentation of piety they had forgotten what humility and the kingdom of heaven were all about; in their insistence of tithing on the least things, they had forgotten the substance of the law, judgment, mercy and faith; and in insisting on dotting every “i” of the law, they had forgotten the heart and purpose of their Law.

Our Lord broke more than convention and rules when He openly condemned how these religious authorities have misinterpreted the whole concept of the religious Law by insisting on outward observances but ignoring the spirit and mercy of it. Furthermore he advocated to those listening to His teaching not to follow the hypocrisy of their religious leaders.

This Holy Tuesday God’s authority must confront us. We have to ask ourselves by whose authority do I live? It is not mine, certainly not the State’s, but God’s as the Giver of all life. However sometimes we forget that God is the supreme authority, and allow ourselves to be captivated by seducing demonic powers such as drugs or even Satan himself. If we allow this to happen for too long then we shall end up like the Pharisees having a hollow sound to our lives.

Even Christians who try to live under God’s authority must allow that authority to penetrate their very being on Holy Tuesday to determine whether their life is pharisaic at all. It is all so easy to be seen praying in church, but are we really praying? It is all so easy to be caught up with the angelic singing of the choir and yet not to be thinking of God at all or why we are in a church or chapel. It is all so easy to set an hour aside for prayer and then spend most of it day dreaming. It is all so easy to visit someone in hospital and think this is my good deed for the day. And so one could go on. What it means that it is almost too easy for us to be like the pharisees, “whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness” (Mt.23.25). So what Christ said about the Pharisees and Scribes, He could also say about us. If we take Holy Week seriously, we must heed our Lord’s warning and authority that we must not be outwardly what we are not inwardly. If we learn to be humble and not seek any kind of exaltation then we shall not fall into the Pharisees’ trap.

On this Holy Tuesday let me submit myself to Your authority in all that I do, knowing that if I submit completely I shall not live like the Pharisees by seeking recognition, but in humility, silently rejoicing that I am able to do Your will and be Your instrument in this world. Amen.

Pabasa

Monday, Holy Monday, the Gregorian chanting of the poetic prayer story of Jesus’ life, passion, death, and resurrection known locally as the “pabasa” or the “pasyon” begins, the second day of the Holy Week.

“Pabasa” is an old Holy Week practice that has remained well preserved particularly in the provinces where it is held continuously day and night sometimes for as long as three straight days. In recent years, the melodies of pop songs are sometimes used to make the chanting of the Biblical passages sound more interesting and lively.

On the streets, also in the provinces, flagellants walk under the scorching summer heat while whipping their backs as a form of penitence or sacrifice. The practice is traditionally done annually by penitents as a form of “panata” or vow in exchange for an answered prayer or a special request or petition.

Monday’s Gospel readings will focus on John 12:1-11, the Anointing of Jesus at Bethany, when Mary, the sister of Martha and the resurrected Lazarus, anointed Jesus’ feet with costly perfume and wiped them with her hair. Many of the Jews were also starting to believe in Jesus upon seeing Lazarus whom He raised from the dead.

From Monday until Holy Wednesday, prayers and reflections will focus on the theme of Jesus as the Bridegroom of the Church.

Worship schedule for Lent will be held at 6:30 a.m., 12 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. at the Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Pasay City. Confessions will be heard from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Also Monday, the Church remembers Joseph the Patriarch, the beloved son of Jacob, a major figure in the Old Testament. “The story of Joseph illustrates the mystery of God’s providence, promise, and redemption. Joseph’s life bears witness to the power of God’s eternal love for mankind,” Church officials said.

Meanwhile, time-tested Holy Week rites and traditions that have been carried on from generations are now being observed in many parts of the country, particularly in the provinces where many of these religious rites have remained well preserved.

In Pampanga and Nueva Ecija, flagellants wear a white cotton hood called “kapirosas” to cover their faces. Crowns made of thorns are worn by the participants whose backs are whipped until it bleeds.
In Rizal, San Miguel, and Calumpit in Bulacan; and San Fernando in Pampanga, common attractions are the penitents who are nailed to crosses on Good Friday.

In Marinduque, the colorful and unique Moriones festival attracts thousands of tourists every year. The spectacular features male participants wearing oversized masks and costumes patterned after the ones worn by centurions who tormented Christ. One stands out from the crowd, Longinus, the one wearing the largest mask that is blind in the left eye and whose eyesight was later miraculously restored.

Religious processions featuring life-size images depicting the passion and death of Christ as well as images of the Holy Mother and other saints are traditionally held on Holy Wednesday and a longer, more elaborate one on Good Friday in key cities and provinces all over the country.

In the evening of Black Saturday, the “salubong” will be re-enacted after the Easter vigil mass to mark the Resurrection of Christ. During the religious play, the Blessed Mother’s black veil will be lifted by an angel (played by a little girl) as she is reunited with an image of her resurrected Son. The ringing of church bells and occasional display of fireworks accompany this event.

Ride on, ride on

St Gargoyle cartoon(Church Times)

Entombed

The Tomb of Jesus Question: The tomb where Jesus was buried... Where is it?  What does it look like? Is there a picture of the tomb?  Can you visit the burial site of Jesus? Answer: It would be really nice if I could tell you that the photo below is of the tomb that Jesus once was laid in.  Though this tomb, well outside of Jerusalem, serves as a  great example of a first century burial place, that's all it is... a great example.

Note the track for the stone to roll in. Some of these  tombs had even larger stones and a steeper incline...  making it easy to close the tomb and very difficult to open.  The steel band, of course, was not part of the original  and now prevents the stone from being moved. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean  linen cloth, and placed it in his own new  tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled  a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb  and went away. (Matthew 27:59-60)

A Public Execution

In the public square

SHEFFIELD TELEGRAPH

Members of the congre gation of Christ Church, Stan nington, use narration, mime, and music to re-enact the Passion and resurrection in Fargate and in the Peace Gardens, in Sheffield city centre, last week. (a city and church familiar to me) SHEFFIELD TELEGRAPH

Hot Cross Buns

SAINSBURY’s in St Albans will be batch-baking the Alban Hot Cross Bun for its customers on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, using a recipe that dates from 1361.

The Alban Bun, which uses wholemeal flour, milk, cardamom, and yeast, is an established part of the history of the Abbey and Cathedral. It can trace its roots back to Fr Thomas Rockcliffe, who baked the buns to give out to the local poor. The tradition has continued in the Cathedral for hundreds of years, and proceeds this year will go the local charity for homeless people, Open Door.

“The hot cross bun is now available throughout the year, and its connection with the Easter story has been lost,” Hamish Thompson, a director of Cathedral Enterprises, said. “We felt that publicising the Alban Bun was a great way of reconnecting the symbolism of the bun with the Easter story.”

The Cathedral sought a com mercial partner to make the bun on a bigger scale, and has been delighted with the response from Sainsbury’s. “It all felt to us like the intersection of God and Mammon: a chance to get the point across about the sym bolism, but at the same time po tentially raise some additional money for the Cathedral’s mission,” Mr Thompson said.

“The buns do have a very dis tinctive taste, and what Sainsbury’s see is the opportunity potentially

to retail an interesting new prod-uct.”

Canon Kevin Walton said on Tuesday that the reception so far had exceeded all expectations. “There’s been a lot of press interest. Indi viduals have been emailing us for the recipe, but we’re having to hold that back for the time being for com mercial reasons,” he said.

“As well as promoting the mean ing of Easter, it’s also raising the profile of St Albans as a place of missions and pilgrimage.”

Easter Triduum

The Easter Triduum

Since Ash Wednesday, when Lent began, we have been preparing for Easter. But Lent, as many believe, doesn't end on Easter Sunday. It ends when the Easter Triduum begins - on Holy Thursday. The Triduum encompasses the three days - Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil/Easter Sunday - when we celebration the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

On Holy Thursday we remember the Last Supper. Jesus gives us the Sacrament of the Eucharist…

Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you. (Luke 22:19-20)

Jesus then washes the feet of his disciples as an example of the service to which we are all called. At the Holy Thursday Mass the presider, and oftentimes other members of the parish, wash the feet of all those present who wish to participate.

The only Masses celebrated on Holy Thursday are in the evening. No daytime masses are scheduled anywhere within our universal church except the evening mass, which marks the beginning of the Easter Triduum.

On Good Friday we remember the passion and death of Jesus Christ. It is a day of fasting and abstinence. There are a variety of services held on Good Friday, from the solemn Liturgy of Good Friday - where the Passion of Christ is proclaimed and the opportunity to venerate the cross given - to the Living Stations of the Cross. My parish has a Tenebrae service that is one of the most powerful Good Friday services I've ever experienced. Tenebrae is Latin for "darkness" or "shadows" and its purpose is to recreate the emotional aspects of the passion story through narration, meditation, prayer and song. With the telling of the story and the seven words Jesus spoke from the cross, candles are extinguished; one at a time after each time Jesus speaks from the cross until all candles are out and the church is in darkness. Then a loud noise is made to symbolize the earthquake at the time of his death. All leave in quiet and darkness. The light of Christ doesn't burn again until the Easter Vigil.

Easter Vigil is when we proclaim with fire and song that Jesus Christ, our Lord, has risen. The Vigil Mass is long, but is one of the most amazing Masses of the year - at least in my experience. Easter Vigil is when we welcome many who have been preparing to enter the Catholic Church into full communion with us.

Easter Sunday is just part of the story. To experience the fullness of the Easter story - the Easter Triduum - the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord, give yourself the awesome gift of attending the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, a service on Good Friday and either the Easter Vigil or Easter Sunday Mass.

The Liturgy of the Palms

Mark 11.1-10 RSV

When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, "Why are you doing this?" say, "The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately."' And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door out in the open street; and they untied it. And those who stood there said to them, 'What are you doing, untying the colt?' And they told them what Jesus had said; and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it. And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut in the fields. And those who went before and those who followed cried out, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!'

Sermon

IN PLACES as diverse as Sunderland and Southampton, Blackpool and Brighton, Christians will again be taking to the streets for a Palm Sunday procession.

Even after the Reformation in the Church of England, the drama of this event never lost its attraction as part of Holy Week and Easter. The poet and architectural historian Laurence Whistler noted that, in the mid-19th century, people still went “palming”, leaving the cities for the countryside to collect sprigs of willow, the English equivalent of palm branches.

In 1725, a book entitled Antiquities of the Common People by Henry Bourne, a Curate in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, noted that “your Palm-Sunday Procession was horrible Idolatry . . . you turn the Holy Mystery of Christ’s riding to Jerusalem, to a May-game and Pageant Play.”

The Palm procession is undoubtedly a blend of sacred and secular pageant. In the secular context, the triumphal procession of conquering potentates is also a template for the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. He, however, is redefining kingship: not bringing captives as trophy, but offering freedom and life in a Kingdom, as he will explain to Pontius Pilate on Good Friday, which is “not from this world”, though it is real none the less.

The Gospel reading from Mark appointed for the Liturgy of the Palms this year presents us with a typically succinct statement of the event, and contains one glint of rich detail not mentioned by other accounts. By the time Jesus has entered Jerusalem, it is late. The excitement seems to have evaporated, and Jesus seems to be alone. We are not told where the Twelve are at this stage.

Jesus goes to the Temple. We get the impression of things being closed down for the day, and that strange atmosphere of calm having returned with the departure of the crowds, as is common in places of intense daytime busyness. With the turbulent cries of fickle popularity still ringing in his ears, Jesus “looked around at everything” in the Temple, and then retired to Bethany with the Twelve.

The crowd might not have expected that the first act of the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the blessed one, would be the cleansing of the Temple, the next morning, in Mark’s account. But the harbinger of this new form of kingship went straight to the Temple as the place that represented the heart and soul of the people who acclaimed him.

He had “looked around at everything”: this was judgement. It was also cleansing in preparation for the sacrifice that will seal the terms of the covenant of love by which the new Kingdom is governed.

London, like any capital city, is familiar with processions. The Lord Mayor’s Show is perhaps the most regular of them. For a day, the City is lit up with pageantry and a good time is had by all. But there is also a sombre note to this celebration. It occurs on a Saturday in the season of remembrance, between the Church’s own day for commemoration, All Souls’ Day, and an international day, the 11th day of the 11th month, at the 11th hour.

Mark’s words in this year’s Palm Sunday Gospel make me wonder what judgement would be made of us if Jesus “looked around at everything” on a day when festivity had ended and we were in repose and available for inspection.

Some scapegoats could quickly be found as candidates for judgement, and I guess that quite a few might work in the City of London. But others should not let themselves of the hook so easily. What about our heart and soul as a nation — what would be seen in us that might be in need of cleansing? Two things occur to me forcefully.

The first is our level of waste. When the Lord Mayor’s Show is over, out come the cleaners. They are perhaps more symbolic of our life than we might wish. We discard huge amounts of waste, and our Western, industrialised, IT-driven society has exported this habit around the world, to the detriment of the earth and its people, especially the poor, who in many places live off what we have learnt to discard.

The second is the way we talk to each other and about each other. The media creation of a celebrity culture has set a questionable standard for invasion and superficiality, while self-absorption with our own needs renders us increasingly incapable of common courtesy.

Physical attacks on railway staff are perhaps an extreme example; the way people talk to the cashiers in the shops here in the City is another. The way children might talk to parents or teachers, recently described in the understandably anonymous Living with Teenagers (Headline, 2008), is yet another.

Palm Sunday is a day of curious pageantry and celebration, with its own undercurrent of sombre judgement. If we have sung Hosanna for the one who comes in the name of the Lord, we might also, quietly and calmly, wish to “look around at everything” in our lives, personal and societal, and ask how it looks from the perspective of the Kingdom — not of Pontius Pilate, but of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Longest Week

Reconstructing Holy Week

John Court on a vivid piece of detection

The Longest Week: The truth about Jesus’ last days Nick Page Hodder & Stoughton £14.99 (978-0-340-97980-8) Church Times Bookshop £13.50 TWENTY-FIVE years ago, John Wenham, famous for his textbook of New Testament Greek, wroteEaster Enigma, in which he adopted the methods of a fictional detective story to piece together a coherent account of the Easter events from the five versions in the New Testa ment. It needed “imagination and reasoned conjecture” to establish the motives of all the witnesses. Now Nick Page, a prolific author who de scribes himself as a freelance writer, designer, and former actor, has taken a similar approach to Holy Week, and sought to produce “a history of the last week of Jesus’ life”. For him “it’s a darker, more com plex story than we realise, a tale of politics and double-dealing, of be trayal and compromise, of remark able, earth-shattering events, of apparent failure and astonishing triumph.” He claims that his narra tive resembles “a white-knuckle ride”. Page seeks to present “all the sights, sounds, smells of Jerusalem at Passover”; he acknowledges the use of imagination and modern par allels, as well as the source mater ial of ancient literature, Ro man, Jewish, and Christian. Such a reconstruction is necessarily specu lative as to the days and timing of the events. John’s Gospel is pre ferred for the chronology (apart from the Triumphal Entry), but on individual narratives Page is select ive, sometimes preferring Mark’s version and sometimes Luke’s. The theology is underplayed; in its place is a discursive emphasis on politics and economics (e.g. the contrast of powers between Jesus and Pilate — entering Jerusalem from east and west respectively — and the profit eering within the Temple system). The language of the narrative is vivid, and sometimes jokey to the point of irritation (e.g. “Houston we have a problem” applied to the con trast between John and the Synop tics on the question of Passover). The book is well-researched, to judge from the footnotes and bib lio graphy, but not always up to date. The author says that writing it af fected him exceptionally and drew sweat and tears, if not actually blood. Unusual features include identifying the young man who fled naked from Gethsemane as Lazarus, and the other disciple accompany ing Peter to the High Priest’s house as Judas Iscariot, because he would be well-known there. Annas has a larger role because he is offended by Jesus’s interference with the Temple trade in which he had a personal interest. And the Last Supper is summed up in these words: “Real bread, real wine: the ordinary stuff of life. Yet transformed into the stuff of sharing and story and symbol.” Dr Court is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Biblical Studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Holy Saturday

On Holy Saturday, the Church waits at the Lord's tomb, meditating on his suuefring and death. The altar is left bare, and the mass is not celebrated until after the solemn vigil during the night, held then in anticipation of the resurrection. Only then does the Easter celebration begin, with a spirit of joy that overflows into the following period of fifty days. The early church continued to fast through Holy Saturday.

The Easter Vigil

Some may think of the Easter Vigil as just a longer mass but this is only part of the story. There are things we do at the Easter Vigil that we do at no other time in the church year.

We light the new Easter Candle from a large fire outside to remind us that Jesus is our light in the darkness, we then process into the darkened church. We hear the great hymn of praise called the 'Exultet', in which we praise Christ for saving us. The hymn says that we would greatly prefer a fallen universe with Christ to a perfect one without him. 'O Happy fault which deserved so great a Saviour'. We hear more readings than usual on this night, recounting the history of our salvation. Most significantly we welcome new members into the Church and with them we all renew our Baptismal promises.

We need time to do all these things well, so we begin a fifty day season of feasting with this long liturgy that is packed with all the riches the Church has to offer.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, the Church invites us to fast and abstain from eating meat.

As close to three o'clock(the traditional hour of Christ'd death) as possible, we celebrate the Lord's passion. The altar is bare and the celebrant enters and makes the dramatic gesture of prostrating himself before the altar and all pray in silence together. The act of prostration is a recognition of the magnitude of what Christ did for us on the cross. We bow down and acknowledge what we are: fallen creatures whom only he can set on their feet.

We then listen to John's gospel account of the Passion. It tells of Jesus freely submitting to all his sufferings to save us. Just as Christ died for the whole world, the Church then turns its prayerful attention to the whole world and ten solemn intercessions are made. The next part of the liturgy involves a solemn veneration of the cross. We each approach the cross and kiss it or touch it, venerating the wood on which hung our Saviour and the Saviour of the world. It is not a matter of feeling sorry for Jesus, but of gratitude for his saving help.

After the liturgy there are many forms of devotion and prayer among which one of the most beautiful is the Stations of the Cross.

Here in Scarborough

10.00 a.m. Churches Together in Scarborough March of Witness through town and up to the castle.

12.00 noon Stations of the Cross.

3.00 p.m. Good Friday Liturgy.

Maundy Thursday

The Easter Triduum

The Triduum means 'three days', each from sunset to sunset. Each day tells a different part of the story of Jesus' saving action. The Church celebrates one liturgy each day with all three forming a single extended liturgy. There is no dismissal and blessing at the endof the Maundy Thursday mass and no formal beginning and end to the Good Friday liturgy. The three day liturgy concludes with the solemn blessing at the end of the Easter Vigil or at the morning mass on Easter Sunday. It is good to attend all three parts with the same parish community.

Maundy Thursday

The word 'maundy' comes from mandatum, or command, given by Christ at the Last Supper that we should love one another. This is remembered in the liturgy through the 'washing of feet' in imitation of Christ's humility and service at the Last Supper.

The liturgy also commemorate in a special way the institution of the 'Sacrament of sacraments', the Eucharist.

After the mass the Blessed Sacrament is taken to an altar of repose and reserved there to provide a focus of devotion for the faithful, watching and waiting with Jesus and the disciples in Gethsemane.

Queen to attend NI Maundy service

The Queen will break with centuries of tradition later when she attends the first Maundy Thursday service to take place outside England and Wales.

It is being held in St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh, Ireland's ecclesiastical capital.

The leaders of the four main churches on the island are to attend the traditional alms-giving ceremony.

It marks the final day of a three-day visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to Northern Ireland.
Representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Hindu faiths will also attend the service, at which the Catholic Primate Cardinal Sean Brady and the Duke of Edinburgh are expected to give readings.

Maundy Thursday has been celebrated since the earliest days of the Christian Church.

The word Maundy is derived from Latin and refers to Christ's commandment at the Last Supper to love one another, before he washed the feet of his disciples.

The tradition of the sovereign giving alms to the poor stretches back to at least the 12th Century and there are continuous records from the reign of King Edward 1.

From the middle ages, the number of recipients mirrors the sovereign's years.

The Queen will present Maundy Thursday alms purses to 164 people - 82 men and 82 women.
These people come from all over Northern Ireland and are deemed to have made a significant contribution to church or community life.

The distribution of the alms comes in two parts. The red purse contains an allowance in place of food and clothing given in bygone times.

In the white purse there are Maundy coins, as many pence as the Queen is years old (82).

The coins are legal tender, but because they are so rare are sought after by collectors.

Pupils from local schools, who are known as Maundy children, will attend the Queen.

The Chapel Royal Choir and the choir of St Patrick's Cathedral will lead the worship.

Bishop uses shoe shine to replace foot washing

A Bishop has rolled up his sleeves to give shoppers a free, symbolic, shoe shine in place of the traditional foot-washing.

The Rt Rev Ian Cundy, Bishop of Peterborough, and more than 10 other clergymen and women from across the city gave shoppers' shoes "a bit of spit and polish" in Cathedral Square, reports the local online news service Peterborough Now.

The session, which took place on Maundy Thursday was held to represent a modern version of Christ washing the feet of the 12 disciples at the Last Supper.

Diocesan Mission Enabler the Rev Tim Sledge, who took part in the event, explained: "The message of Easter is that God has given us a free gift ñ his love ñ and the promise of a new start in life.

"He offers to clean us up and set us on our feet again."

"So we're giving people a free, but symbolic, gift by cleaning their shoes."

The bishop, who sat in the line up of clergy members for the full hour the session lasted, added: "This is a good way of telling people about Easter, particularly the washing of the feet.
"Hopefully, people will visit their local church on Easter Sunday, too."

People of all ages sat in front of the shoe shiners to have their footwear cleaned.

The Archdeacon of Northampton, a former Royal Marine, said he had enjoyed polishing shoes.
He added: "People from the marines have a very clear purpose, and so do we with doing this.
"We are polishing shoes today, because it's a bit cold for washing feet."

The Passion

During Holy Week 2008 BBC1 will broadcast The Passion, a dramatic re-telling of the last days of Jesus. The series will be shown in peak time and will be seen by many millions of people.

Episode 1
Palm Sunday 16th March, BBC ONE, 8pm (One hour)
It's Passover in Jerusalem, and the city is bursting with pilgrims. It's a tense time for those charged with keeping order - like Pilate the Roman Prefect and Caiaphas the High Priest. The arrival of a preacher from Galilee called Jesus causes great excitement when he enters through the East Gate on a donkey's colt, fulfilling prophecies of the coming of the Messiah. For Jesus's band of disciples, hardened by several years on the road, this is the moment they've been waiting for, but none of them suspects how momentous this week will be.

Episode 2
Monday 17th March, BBC ONE, 8.30pm (30 minutes)
Caiaphas is growing increasingly anxious that Jesus's preaching will provoke unrest and bring in the Romans, and when Jesus appears to threaten the Temple it's the final straw. As Jesus tries to explain his destiny to the disciples, Caiaphas calls a council and presents it with a stark choice. With Passover approaching, a fateful decision is taken, and Judas finds himself placed in an impossible position.

Episode 3
Good Friday 21st March, BBC ONE, 9pm (One hour)
Jesus shares his Last Supper with the disciples, and teaches them their last and most important lesson. Whilst Judas slips away to fetch the Temple guards, Jesus leads the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane and tries to prepare himself for what is to come. The next few hours will bring him face to face with Caiaphas, with Pilate and with his own destiny.

Episode 4
Easter Sunday 23rd March, BBC ONE, Time TBC (30 minutes)
As Jesus is taken from the cross and buried, his disciples cower in hiding. Caiaphas, fearful that the body will be stolen, orders the tomb to be guarded. But when Mary Magdalene discovers it empty, a chain of events is about to begin that will transform the lives of the disciples and reverberate throughout the world for the next two thousand years.

Guidance from the Churches' Media Council

These notes have been prepared by a group representing many of the major Christian denominations, brought together by the Churches' Media Council. They are intended to help churches and others to prepare for the series.

These are the principles we would like to commend to the Christian community in approaching the series.

We welcome this production
There's no need to debate whether or not the Christian community should welcome this production or not. We celebrate the fact that the story of Jesus is being retold for an audience of millions. We should resist the temptation to focus on details. Instead we welcome this production.

This is a BBC series
We don't wish to “claim“ The Passion in any way as ”our“ series. We have not had any editorial input into the series, nor would we wish to. The story of Jesus is central to the Christian community – but it belongs to the world.

This is a work of drama
That may seem obvious – but it's important. This series wasn't conceived as an exercise in evangelism. It wasn't intended as a dramatisation of the gospel text. It springs from the story of the gospels, and the producers have used the gospels as their source. But this is a work of drama. So we need to judge it as a work of drama and not as a piece of theology.

Let's talk about Jesus
This is the story of the last few days of the life of Jesus. It will prompt believers and unbelievers alike to think about Jesus. This is probably not the moment to discuss the state of the church or the finer points of theology. Instead we should aim to keep the focus of our discussions on the person of Jesus.

Lent's final days

The entire week between Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday is included in Holy Week, and some church traditions have daily services during the week. However, usually only Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday are times of special observance in most churches.

From Monday to Thursday we can live our Lenten promises with particular intensity until on Thursday evening we begin the great Triduum.

Daily Eucharistic worship is common with more readings of the Passion narratives.

A good confession in Holy Week is recommended. The Sacrament of Reconciliation helps in closure of Lent and preparation for Easter. We are called in Christ to pass from our sins to new life.

Chrism Mass

This Holy Week service is usually held on the morning of Maundy Thursday. Priests gather with their Bishop for the consecration of the holy oils to be used at the heart of their ministry and also to renew their priestly vows as they return to their parishes to celebrate the Easter Triduum with their people ( extending the bishop's ministry into the parishes).

Some of us met today with the Bishop of Whitby at St Columba, Middlesboro (in the presence of the Archbishop of York) for these ceremonies. It is something we wish to do with a bishop and priests of our own integrity and not compromise our faith in the ceremonies to be held in York Minster on Thursday. It is one of the consequences of the Church of England ordaining women, against the tradition of the catholic church from the beginning.