The Holy Week and Easter schedule is below this introduction.
Thorns take the shape of a crown. Popular acclaim turns to public execution. Sorrow and love flow mingled down. Life ends and begins. This coming Holy Week tells a powerful story of change—a story that continues to change the world, and to change people’s lives.
It’s possible to fast-forward to the great celebration of Easter and hear only the story of joy that came on that resurrection morning. But the impact, indeed the change, will be deeper and more powerful if you walk with us through these holy days. Begin with the power of the triumphal entry celebrated this year with the Liturgy of Palms on Palm Sunday. Join the disciples gathered for the last supper on Maundy Thursday and discover something about what it means to serve. Answer for yourself what is “good” about Good Friday. Catch the first rays of hope on Easter Day.
This guide to Holy Week is offered as a way to encourage you to find your own path through these important days. As St John’s continues to grow, we seek rich and moving ways to observe these meaningful days, ways to get in touch with the themes of death and life, sorrow and joy, hope and resurrection.
People find the Holy Week celebrations marked with honesty. They find the measured pace of the week helps them to absorb the intense meaning of the events being celebrated. Life, of course, cannot be put on hold—but this week, above all others, is an invitation to pause and reflect on the gifts of faith and community.
You can simply attend Palm Sunday and Easter, but you are deeply encouraged to make time to enter deeply into the entirety of the liturgy of Holy Week as described below. You may find more than you can ask for or imagine.
Picture: Alleluia banner painted by the children of the parish