Holy Week

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, p. 515)

Read:  Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24              

I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked. The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. 

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

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Reflect

Today is the day of great waiting as we stand between the Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We can look in both directions.

Today is also the final installment on this Lenten calendar. If you have used this resource over the past forty days, there should be no question that God is deeply concerned about the material world, our economic life together, and the ways in which we get and hold our goods. Central to God’s deep concern over the material world and economic life is the plight of the poor, the weak, those for whom the ways of this world have not resulted in sufficiency, rest, and security.

In his epistle, James reminds us that the cause of righteousness is not advanced when we simply offer prayers and good wishes for the poor when we are in a position to offer material help too. Words and thoughts on their own are not sufficient, but they are significant. On this day of waiting and expectation, we can use today’s reading as a model for offering up our own laments to God on behalf of the poor, on behalf of the earth, on behalf of the economies of the world. Paul tells us that the whole creation groans before God as it awaits its redemption. Today, join your voice to that groaning as you prepare to welcome the fire of Easter.

Pray

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with your and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, p. 170)

Author

Stephen Fowl is a professor of theology at Loyola University in Maryland.

Read:  Hebrews 5:7-9

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

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Reflect

Throughout the readings for this week, we see the importance Jesus places on fellowship around meals and the provision of food for the poor. We are invited to reflect on God’s wisdom and human wisdom with regard to food and reminded that our food choices connect us to others and that water binds us in many ways. Today, this bleakest day in the Christian calendar, we remember how easy it is for us to reject all these things and turn our back on Christ.

All of the gospels were composed a generation or more after the death of Christ. No doubt there were people in congregations back then who thought to themselves, “If I had been there, I would have stayed by Jesus.” In their own distinct ways, the gospel writers’ subtly point out that virtually everyone who had anything to do with Jesus in that last week of his life failed him, betrayed him, fled from him. We subsequent followers of Jesus have no reason to think that we would have done  any better.

Failure is the term and the tone that marks this day for Christians. When we look prayerfully and thoughtfully at our lives and how unsustainable our practices seem to be, it is also hard to avoid a sense of failure. When offered life, a true life offered back to God and each other, time and again we choose death.

Pray

Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow workers in your creation: Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature, that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, p. 827)

Author

Stephen Fowl is a professor of theology at Loyola University in Maryland.

Read:  John 13:12-15

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord— and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

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Reflect

Foot washing and baptism. These two central Christian practices are centered on water. Water is central to our identity as Christians. On this day when we wash each other’s feet as a sign of our call to serve one another, it is worth reflecting on the ways in which water binds us together and tears us apart.

Water seems to always be on the move. It rarely respects human borders. From ancient times, people have recognized that whoever controls the flow of water has enormous power over those who depend on that water for life. Both in this country and abroad, there are looming conflicts over control of water. The water we use today as a sign of our service to each other is also being used as a tool to control others or to enhance our lives at the expense of others.

Water also must be clean. Dirty water sickens or kills millions of people each year. Pollution on an industrial scale threatens to render rivers and lakes lifeless. Our hyper-consumptive lifestyles are very costly when it comes to water. From fracking to the production of plastics to agribusiness, to crumbling infrastructure in cities, our water footprint is large and dirty.

On this day, it is good to remember that we Christians are water people. The presence and significance of water is deeply embedded in life of the people of  God. Perhaps it is so common that we have taken it  for granted.

Pray

We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation. Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life…. Now sanctify this water, we pray you, by the power of your Holy Spirit, that those who here are cleansed from sin and born again may continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Savior. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, p. 306-7)

Author

Stephen Fowl is a professor of theology at Loyola University in Maryland.

Read:  John 13:21-27

After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.

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Reflect

Jesus’ final meal was an occasion for him to display his enduring love for his disciples, to impart his final hopes and desires for them, to pray that his Father would keep and sustain their life together. Think also of the extraordinary intimacy of Jesus’ final meal. The disciples are close to each other. Jesus stretches out his hand to share bread with the one who will betray him: food, fellowship, intimacy, betrayal.

Now think about our own food consumption. Do you buy a cup of coffee at the same place each morning? If so, do you know the name of the person who serves you? Even if we can answer yes to these questions, it is unlikely we know the name of the person who grew the beans that became our coffee.

The vast majority of Americans stand at the end of a long chain of food production. The people who grow and process our food are, for the most part, invisible to us.

We have little sense of the lives of those who provide our food, a limited understanding of the conditions under which it is produced, and are half aware, at best, of the real cost of our food in terms its impact on the environment, natural resources, and human health.

At the same time, today we have more opportunities to learn about the conditions and processes under which our foods are produced. The rise of communitysupported agriculture, farmer’s markets, and buying cooperatives can enable us to become more closely acquainted with those who produce food. It is not likely that we will develop the type of intimacy that characterized Jesus’ last meal, but we will begin to shorten the distance between us and those who grow and process our food.

Pray

Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits of the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, p. 824)

Author

Stephen Fowl is a professor of theology at Loyola University in Maryland.

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:25-31

For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

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Reflect

Today’s reading from 1 Corinthians reminds us of a theme that is especially poignant in Holy Week: God’s wisdom will often look like folly to us and our own wisdom often turns out to have been misguided. Paul’s sharp contrast between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world is accurate, but this contrast can often only be seen in retrospect. Although the wisdom of the world may turn out to be folly, it never appears to be foolish at the outset. If it did, the wisdom of the world would hold no attraction to anyone. The capacity to discern God’s wise ways is only cultivated in us over time—through prayer, worship, and attention to scripture among other things. We need to be formed to recognize God’s wisdom.

We are only recently beginning to grasp that our plans and policies for using land, water, and other natural resources are not sustainable. Most of the practices that now seem dangerously unsustainable seemed to be wise ways to maximize the production of certain foods at the lowest possible cost. Although the aims were good, our current practices now seem to threaten our very lives. Producing cheap energy seems to come at the expense of breathable air and drinkable water. Using large quantities of grain to produce a pound of beef in a feedlot starts to seem inefficient as well as generates animal waste that pollutes our water.

The wisdom of the cross may help us think further about this question. If Jesus’ self-offering on the cross is the epitome of God’s wisdom, how can that same attitude of self-offering love mark our lives with regard to the world’s resources?

Pray

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(The Book of Common Prayer, p. 832)

Resources

http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/nspills.asp

Author                                                                              

Stephen Fowl is a professor of theology at Loyola University in Maryland.

Read: John 12:1-7

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

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Reflect

The reading for this first day in Holy Week begins with Jesus having a dinner with some of his closest friends. It is a reminder that sharing food is not simply a matter of nourishing the body but is also the occasion for sharing life together with others. In this passage, Jesus will not allow Judas to set the celebratory elements of eating together against caring for the poor. These two important aspects of food need not be in competition with each other. Food’s relationship to our life together changes dramatically, however, when there is not enough to eat.

In the United States, nearly 48 million people qualify as “food insecure.” More than half half live outside cities, and many are in full-time jobs. The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, what you might know  as food stamps, was cut by Congress in 2013. The current payment to individuals amounts to less than $1.50 per meal.

The call to attend to the food needs of the poor is deeply written into the fabric of scripture. This goes as far back as God’s provision for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. It gets expressed in laws around gleaning and the Jubilee. At Paul’s behest, the earliest believers in Asia Minor collected money for famine relief in Jerusalem.

Believers can donate time, money, and food to food pantries. These are often a crucial bridge between pay checks for the working poor. We might also want to reflect on some of the following questions: Why do crop subsidies often go to things like corn and soybeans that are used to make processed foods and render them inexpensive? Why are obesity and food insecurity two sides of the same coin? From where I live right now, could I get to a grocery store if I did not have a car?

Pray

Heavenly Father, we remember before you those who  suffer hunger and the anxiety that comes from not   knowing if they will have enough food. Guide the people of this land so to use our public and private wealth that all may have enough to eat and that the food they have will genuinely nourish their bodies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Author

Stephen Fowl is a professor of theology at Loyola University in Maryland.