Dear Siblings in Christ,
Holy Week 2020
Dear Siblings in Christ,
I am enclosing a few materials for your Holy Week/Easter devotions. I hope that you will find them meaningful and thought provoking.
Maundy Thursday: Read John 13:1-17, 31b-35. After, you may choose to wash your hands in warm soapy water (in lieu of foot washing). Notice your hands, your fingers, wrinkles, etc. Give thanks to God for your hands. Ask God to use your hands in God’s service to others. (The above can be done with feet, if preferred)
Good Friday: Reflect on the seven last words of Christ, and as you read, ask:
- Luke 23:34 “What in my life needs forgiveness?”
- Luke 23:43 “How do I long to be with Jesus?”
- John 19:26-27 “Who am I to care for? Who cares for me?”
- Matthew 27:46 (Mark 15:34) “How do I feel forsaken?”
- John 19:28 “How am I thirsty? For what am I thirsting?”
- John 19:30 “What in my life is yet unfinished?”
- Luke 23:46 “What am I committing into God’s hands?”
End by giving thanks for God’s presence in your life. Give thanks for God’s forgiveness, the way God fulfills your thirst, and cares for you.
Easter: Read Matthew 28:1-10. Then read or sing the attached hymn by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette “This Easter Celebration.” Even though we are not in our church building this Easter, we are still the church. Christ is still risen. And nothing in creation can keep God’s love away, not even death!
God be with you until we meet again!
For Christian M. (Marines) and all service personnel.
For those in our community who are ill or recovering from illness this week, their friends, and the loved ones who care for them,