Preparing for Holy Week

By: Pastor Manisha Dostert

Holy Week is coming (April 12-19)!  

What does that mean for me?  This week is set apart for all Christians to take some time to walk with Jesus, who will go to the cross for their sake.  Participating in Holy Week allows you to do something different to begin to enter into the mystery of God’s love as shown through the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.   

How do I walk with Jesus?  The church has services every day of holy week, to help you experience Jesus’s last week on earth before his death.  Worshiping is a powerful way to observe Holy Week and the gift of your precious time to do so is an act of sacrificial love on your part. It  is a small way to thank Jesus for loving the whole world so much that he would give up his own life for us. 

Do I have to attend all the services?  No!  Many parishioners decide to go to every service offered during Holy Week.  It becomes a pilgrimage for them and it does beautiful work for their faith, trust and love for Jesus. Others choose a couple of services based on their schedules.  Each service is different and can help shape your Holy Week experience. At minimum, you will want to hear the story of Jesus’s death before you hear the good news of Easter Sunday!

What services do you recommend? Pick a Plan that makes sense to you (or any combination)! Click the event titles for detailed information on each:

• Plan A – 1 service:  Attend the Palm/Passion Services on Sat, April 12 or Sun, April 13. We start by waving palms and shouting, “Hosanna!” (which means “Save us!”) and the liturgy ends with nailing Jesus to the cross and shouting, “Crucify him!”
  
• Plan B – 1 service:  Attend Good Friday, where we remember the day Jesus died on the cross and say our own prayers at the foot of the cross, asking Jesus to take whatever burdens us and give it up to God.
• Plan C – 3 services:  Participate in the Triduum, the three holy days. Maundy Thursday is when we follow Jesus’s commandments to love one another by washing each other’s feet (or hands), eating the Last Supper, stripping the altar, and remembering when they stripped Jesus. The next day, attend Good Friday where Jesus died on the cross and we kneel at the foot of the cross. Finally, experience Easter Vigil, where we light a fire in the dark and by candlelight, listen again to the stories from the Old Testament. Then, in a burst of light and great exclamation, we celebrate the good news: Christ is risen from the dead. This is our first Easter service.
• Plan D – 7 services:  Attend all seven services (Palm Sunday through Easter Vigil) and experience the powerful week of walking with the Lord in these beautiful and mystery-filled services.

What if I cannot make it to any service?  They will all be live-streamed here, on our YouTube channel or Facebook.  And you can always watch the services afterwards here.  

Also consider reading the Passion story of Jesus from any of the Gospels, just two chapters (Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23; John 18-19)!

To find full programming information for Holy Week & Easter events this year, please visit www.ccc-info.org/easter!

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