Reflections for Holy Week, 2021

  In the two churches which nurtured my adult faith, it was traditional on Good Friday for the Liturgy of Good Friday to be preceded by the Preaching of the Passion, that is three sermons preached between 12noon-1.30 at a half-hourly interval, each ending with a prayer, a hymn, and a time for reflection. These three sermons were sometimes based on a selection of the Seven Last Words (statements) of Jesus from the Cross. They are not literal individual words, but rather seven sayings from the Cross. Countless books have been published on the Seven Words, and they have been set to music.   These are my own reflections on the Seven Last Words of Jesus.   Fr Matt   Word 1: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’   Good Friday and the Crucifixion have long been used as a stick with which to beat the Jewish people. They are accused of deicide, of the murder of Jesus, and over centuries have been censured and brutalised for it. The Holocaus...

  Opening Prayer O Lord open our lips. That our mouths may proclaim your praise. O God, come to our aid. O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ‘ κα ὶ ἐ ξελθο ῦ σαι ἔ φυγον ἀ π ὸ το ῦ μνημείου , ε ἶ χεν γ ὰ ρ α ὐ τ ὰ ς τρόμος κα ὶ ἔ κστασις · κα ὶ ο ὐ δεν ὶ ο ὐ δ ὲ ν ε ἶ π αν , ἐ φοβο ῦ ντο γάρ .’ ‘And having gone out they fled from the tomb, seized for them trembling and amazement and no one nothing they told they were afra...

  Opening Prayer O Lord open our lips. That our mouths may proclaim your praise. O God, come to our aid. O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’. [John 1.5]   On Holy Saturday we enter a place of great silence. Scripture is entirely silent about what happens during these silent hours and it can feel that after the events of Good Friday we are entering into the de...

  Opening Prayer O Lord open our lips. That our mouths may proclaim your praise. O God, come to our aid. O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ‘As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ He answered him, ‘You say so.’ Then the chief priests accused hi...

Opening Prayer O Lord open our lips. That our mouths may proclaim your praise. O God, come to our aid. O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ‘On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; f...