​Date: Saturday, March 30
Contributor: Mary Rowe
Lectionary Link   www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Easter/BEasVigil_RCL.html
 
Today is Holy Saturday. We are so ready to celebrate Easter after the horror and sadness of Good Friday. But, today is the day set aside to reflect, if just for a short while, on the horror and chaos that Jesus’ disciples felt when their leader was IN THE GROUND and BURIED! They were totally cut off from Him. The darkness was complete. The horror of Good Friday was over, and the reality of what had happened was beginning to sink in.
 
Would he return? How could he return? Is it all over? Our hope is gone! Their fear, anxiety, and desperation grows with every passing hour.
This was truly the dark time of the soul.

​Date: Friday, March 29
Contributor: Elizabeth Stoltz
Lectionary Link https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/GoodFri_RCL.html
 
For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
 
 
And Jesus will answer as the King to the questions put to him.  I believe that this is the most important message for us Christians.  It is a message of love, and we have been given this message to follow in the length of our lives.
 
 
In ancient Greece, the people believed that hospitality was of extreme importance.  The gods they believed in could take the form of their neighbor, a visitor or an important person.  So they never knew if it was a regular person or a personification of a god whom they encountered.  That mystery has been solved for us with these words of Jesus.  He IS the person who is naked, the person in prison, your crabby next door neighbor, your political leader, the immigrant at the border.  We are asked to treat each person we know, and those we don't know, as if they are Jesus.  How changed our lives would be if we would see the Jesus-like person inside of everyone. 
  
And when we don't see, Jesus is there on the Cross, suffering, saying I will take the weight of your inaction, your lack of compassion, your unwillingness to see, myself.  And I will forgive you.

We gather as beloved community to share the Collect:
Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
 
The Last Gift
After Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and dined with them, he asked them a question, “Do you know what I, your Lord and Master, have done to you?”
 
He then answered His own question by saying, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done."
 
As we remember Christ’s last night as flesh on earth, we cherish this gift:
 
Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with you;
peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.
 
We gather as beloved community,
We gather to receive Jesus’ last gift,
We gather as beloved community,
To receive Jesus’ gift of His own peace,
We gather as beloved community,
To receive peace which only Jesus can give,
We gather as beloved community,
To receive the gift that only Jesus can give to us.

I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have
loved you.
 
We gather as beloved community,
We gather to receive a new commandment together,
We gather as beloved community,
To Love one another as Jesus loves us

Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with you;
peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.

We gather as beloved community,
We gather to receive Jesus’ last gift,
We gather as beloved community,
To receive Jesus’ gift of His own peace,
We gather as beloved community,
To receive peace which only Jesus can give,
We gather as beloved community,
To receive the gift that only Jesus can give to us.

Date: Wednesday, March 27
Contributor: From Richard Rohr’s Eager to Love
 
Lectionary Link https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/HolyWed_RCL.html
 
For a number of years Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr, wrote many meditations and books on spirituality. In 1987 he established the Center for Action and Contemplation in the south valley of Albuquerque. Following his death the Center continues to share snippets of his writings through email. This is a copy of one of those emails derived from Richard Rohr’s Eager to Love. It offers a different perspective on Jesus’ Passion from within a framework of Franciscan spirituality.

 “The common Christian reading of the Bible is that Jesus "died for our sins"--either to pay a debt to the devil (common in the first millennium) or to pay a debt to God the Father (proposed by Anselm of Canterbury, 1033-1109). This is an old notion of retributive justice: theologians call this "substitutionary atonement theory"--the strange idea that before God could love us God needed and demanded Jesus to be a blood sacrifice to atone for sin-drenched humanity.

With that view, salvation depends upon a problem instead of a divine proclamation about the core nature of reality. It is as if God could need payment, and even a very violent transaction, to be able to love and accept "his" own children--a message that those with an angry, distant, absent, or abusive father were already far too programmed to believe in.

A Franciscan philosopher and theologian, John Duns Scotus (1266-1308) disagreed with this understanding. He was not guided by the Temple language of debt, atonement, or blood sacrifice (understandably used in the Gospels and by Paul). He was inspired by the cosmic hymns in the first chapters of Colossians and Ephesians and the first chapter of John's Gospel.

For Scotus, the incarnation of God and the redemption of the world is not a mop-up exercise in response to human sinfulness, but the proactive work of God from the very beginning. We were "chosen in Christ before the world was made," as the hymn in Ephesians puts it.

To summarize Dun Scotus’ approach, Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity (it did not need changing)! Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.

God in Jesus moved people beyond the counting, weighing, and punishing model, that the ego prefers, to a new world that Jesus offered, where God's abundance makes merit, sacrifice, reparation, or atonement both unhelpful and unnecessary. Jesus undid "once and for all” (Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10) the notions of human and animal sacrifice. Jesus replaced them with a new economy of grace, at the very heart of the gospel revolution.

Jesus was meant to be a game changer for the human psyche and religion itself. When we begin negatively, or focused on the problem, we never get out of the hamster wheel. To this day we begin with and continue to focus on sin, when the crucified one was pointing us toward a primal solidarity with the very suffering of God and all of creation. This changes everything.

Change the starting point, change the trajectory!

God does not love us because we are good; God loves us because God is good.

Nothing humans can do will ever decrease or increase God's eternal eagerness to love!” 

Tuesday, March 26
Contributor: Scott Crow
Lectionary Link https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/HolyTue_RCL.html
 
I have long loved Evensong, and I listen often throughout the year, most particularly during Lent.  This Lent, I have really enjoyed Evensong from Canterbury Cathedral-- a beautiful place with a lovely choir.   Numerous services are posted each week-- a recent one is found at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MEqfABvmZg&list=PLPWrcHf2bX_bLytjGasMGe48FNfeIDYT3&index=2

​Date: Monday, March 25
Contributor: Barb Hovey
Lectionary Link https://www.lectionarypage.net/YearABC_RCL/HolyWk/HolyMon_RCL.html
This is Monday of Holy Week. Jesus is approaching his final days and all the tumult of the coming week. John’s Gospel recounts that Jesus stopped to have a meal with his dear friends Lazarus, Martha and Mary.  Lazarus joins Jesus and others at the table. Martha is busy serving the meal as her way of honoring her friend and guest. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, which is her customary habit to listen to his teaching. This time she takes some expensive nard to anoint his feet.
 
Nard is an oil derived from a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. It is an essential oil that has been used for centuries as perfume, incense and in religious practice. The significance at this meal is that Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with nard. In a few days, she will be among the women anointing his body with nard before burial. She is honoring her friend while also foreshadowing the events at the the end of the week.
 
There are several paintings depicting Mary anointing Jesus. But I want to share another image of Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary by the Dutch artist Vermeer. This painting depicts the earlier incident when Martha chides Mary for not helping serve the meal. Jesus defends Mary for putting the priority on listening to his teaching. I think both women were honoring Jesus in the way that suited their personalities.
 
This is an early painting by Vermeer and unusual in depicting a bible story. Vermeer is known best for intimate views of everyday life and for how he uses dramatic light in his paintings. I like the easy intimacy in this picture. Jesus looks relaxed, showing he is comfortable in the house of his friends. Jesus’ face is in bright light. He looks at Martha and points to Mary. The sisters’ faces are in shadow but they are both looking at Jesus and absorbing his teaching. Gospel stories indicate that Jesus’ life was often hectic. He had crowds around him and was teaching the apostles to continue his mission. This painting shows that he might have had a respite from the hectic life when sitting with dear friends.

​Date: Saturday, March 23
Contributor: Lyn Lawyer
Lectionary Link  https://www.lectionarypage.net/WeekdaysOfLent/SatFifthWeek.html
 
As we head into Holy Week tomorrow it is time to process the journey our spirits have taken these past 40 days. In the adult ed class we have talked a lot about our baptismal vows. What does it mean to believe; to continue; to persevere; to resist; to proclaim; to seek and serve; to strive for justice and peace. How are we keeping the vows made at our baptism? I noticed that these vows that we have to answer to personally aim us towards a life together. They are for the benefit of the community, especially if we all act on them.
 
Our lessons today imply that the past is gone, new ways of being together in God’s presence are what we are being prepared for. It is interesting that it is all God’s action on our behalf. It is what God has promised to do for us as a community. His promise to us whether or not we take our vows seriously. Does our behavior bring about this new reality? Or is it in the keeping of the vows we made (or were made on our behalf) that we experience the new life God promises us?

Date: Friday, March 22
Contributor: Bruce Warkentien
Lectionary Link https://www.lectionarypage.net/WeekdaysOfLent/FridayFifthWeek.html

LOSING PERSPECTIVE
 I love you, O LORD my strength, O LORD my stronghold, my crag, and my haven. (Psalm 18:1)
 
How often do the stresses and anxieties in our own daily life take our minds away from what really matters? We often lose perspective on our own lives and those of others. This happened to me earlier this month on a day I was finalizing my taxes among many other things I felt needed to be done, and done right away.  We have all been there. Then, that dreaded phone call comes . . . . . a good friend that we vacation with is diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer – you sit there stunned. All of a sudden, your perspective has changed. What is really important? Why does something so drastic have to come along to change our perspective? News like this reminds us of our relationships with God, our family, friends and neighbors. The other stuff does not matter. I pray that I can be better putting “things” in proper perspective. I challenge anyone reading this to pick at least 3 people, outside of your family, and pray for them during the remainder of lent and beyond. KEEP A PROPER PERSPECTIVE!
 
Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! (Jeremiah 20:13}
 

​Date: Thursday, March 21
Contributor: Cassidy Wegwerth
Lectionary Link https://www.lectionarypage.net/WeekdaysOfLent/ThursFifthWeek.html
 
In Genesis 17: 1-8 we are reminded of how putting trust in God might be scary at times, but if we are open with our faith in God we will be rewarded.  This is shown as Abraham, who at 99 years old is told by God to leave his homeland and put his trust in God, and settle somewhere new.  At his age, it could have been a daunting and terrifying task to leave his home and start over on new land and set up a community for his descendants, but he trusted that God would provide for him, and he was indeed rewarded for this trust and faith. This level of faith is inspiring and something that I, if I’m being honest, struggle with at times.
 
As some people know, I lost my mother very unexpectedly and tragically in 2019.  In 2022, I also unexpectedly lost my mother-in-law to a very rare reaction to her chemotherapy medication.  Both of my mothers went to church and believed in God, especially my mother-in-law, whose faith was one of her defining characteristics. 
 
During the sermons at both their funerals there was, of course, the mentioning of how they were no longer in pain and most importantly they had now returned home to God.  At the time, I had a lot of anger about the latter statement.  I didn’t want them to be in pain anymore, but I wasn’t ready for them to be taken from me.  This anger, confusion, and sadness caused me to give up on my nightly prayers.  Each night while lying in bed I would go through and name my blessings followed up with the hopes that I had for loved ones and people in my community.  After my mom died, and without really realizing it, I stopped going through part of these prayers.  I would say what I was thankful for, but then just kind of stop.  I had lost my trust that God would take care of things, so I stopped asking for protection or support.
 
When my mother-in-law passed, I nervously waited to see how my father-in-law would react to losing his soulmate.  While I had stopped fully trusting God, he continued to lean into the comfort brought to him by his faith.  The way he has shown his dedication to God, even through such an unfair time, has helped me find my way back to my nightly prayers.  I realize now that it can be scary to put all my faith in God, especially knowing that bad things will continue to happen, but it can be comforting to know that even through the bad (or scary) things we face in life, a strong faith in God can help bring peace and stability.

Date: Wednesday, March 20
Contributor: Episcopal Relief and Development
Lectionary Link https://www.lectionarypage.net/WeekdaysOfLent/WedFifthWeek.html
 
But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.   Daniel 3:25
 
In the early church, when Christianity was illegal, it was dangerous for Christians to make or have images of Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christians often used symbols and select scenes from the Old Testament stories to covertly signal their faith. Among the most famous of these covert symbols is Jonah and the Whale, as Jonah’s three days in the belly of the beast was thought to be like Jesus’ three days in the tomb. For this reason, Roman catacombs where early Christians are buried feature depictions of Jonah getting swallowed and spit up.
 
Another covert image comes from the famous story in our lectionary today about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, three men who were thrown into the fire for refusing to bow to a king’s image. It’s worth reflecting on why this became a popular early Christian motif. First, it’s a story of miraculous survival, one that brings their persecutors to faith in God. Second, the three men may have served as reminders to early Christians of the Trinity. Third, and perhaps most importantly, the three Jewish men were persecuted for doing what Christians were refusing to do: namely, worship the image of a king (in this case, the Roman emperor).
 
These early Christian images—drawn from the deep well of Hebrew Scripture—emphasize struggle, miraculous survival and faithfulness to God amid persecution and adversity. They explore resurrection as miraculous survival amidst encircling flames and in the belly of the beast.
 
What do these stories say about the themes of enduring faith and resilience in Christianity?