Blessed greetings this Holy Week, however you are in the midst of it. At least, for me, there’s something rather beautifully re-assuring to know we’re not the only ones in the midst of it. Yes, that should be rather obvious knowing we’re not the only church around, including the churches who are more church calendar and liturgically-driven, but still…it’s a holy re-assurance knowing we’re all journeying together to a hillside of some brutal unpleasantness to the ultimate eternal re-assurance.
With that in mind, I offer you this reflection from our Northeastern Ohio Synod (ELCA) Director of Communication and Formation, Deacon Jenny Frantz-Kaplan, who led our all boards gathering last summer as we envisioned Divinity’s ministry for the upcoming year and beyond. She wrote last week, in our Synod’s weekly e-communication, “Walking Together.”
There is a particular kind of tired that settles in right about now.
As ministers and church staff look at this coming week, the calendar is full. There may still be services to plan, words to write, and spaces to prepare. The week ahead holds some of the most demanding moments of the year, and also some of the most meaningful. It is heavy work, and it is holy work.
If you are not the one planning or leading, you may not see all of that. You may simply arrive, take your seat, and enter the story as it unfolds. That matters too. The gathered community is part of what makes this week what it is.
Holy Week does not ask us to be perfect or impressive. It asks us to be present.We walk with Jesus through a week that holds everything: celebration and betrayal, love and denial, grief and hope that is not yet visible. There is no shortcut through this story. We do not skip ahead to Easter morning. We move through each moment intentionally, as it comes.
Scripture gives us a simple image: “Remain here, and stay awake with me.” (Matthew 26:38 NRSVue)That is the invitation.
For those leading, it may look like preparing what you can, letting go of what you cannot, and trusting that God will meet people in ways you cannot control. For those attending, it may look like showing up, paying attention, and allowing the story to speak again.
None of us carry this week on our own. Not the pastors. Not the musicians. Not the volunteers. Not the people in the pews. This is the work of the whole body of Christ, held together by the grace of the one we follow.So, if you are tired, you are not alone.
And if the week ahead feels like a lot, that does not mean you are doing it wrong. It means you are standing at the edge of something that matters.
Questions For Reflection:
• What does it look like for you to be present during Holy Week this year?
• Where might you release pressure and simply receive what this week offers?
• How can you support or pray for those leading worship in the days ahead?
So, however you are in the midst of all this week’s wandering, all of this worldly and real-life-ness still going on, not to mention all the holiness, too: however you are in the midst of all of it, may you still experience the Gospel however it comes to you. Because, yes, all of this, is for you, too. Thanks be to God, indeed!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad
To subscribe to our Northeastern Ohio Synod (ELCA)’s “Walking Together” or other communications from our Synod office, please visit:
www.neos-elca.org/walking-together-our-newsletter.html