The season of Easter runs for fifty days – a veritable week of weeks – from Easter Sunday to Pentecost. But truth be told, most of us don’t think of it that way. We live in a culture that is much bigger on the thrill of anticipation than on savoring the actual experience, and once the...
Luke 24:1
posted by DJL
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. Christ is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! So goes the traditional Easter acclamation with which Christians have celebrated the resurrection of our Lord for...
Easter Saturday
posted by DJL
Holy Saturday, for all practical purposes, is usually given over to preparing for Sunday. Making sure the ham has been purchased and ready to cook, decorating eggs, readying decorations, cleaning the house. But once in a while – or perhaps even for just a few moments of the day – it might...
Luke 23:56b
posted by DJL
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. Of course they did. Rested on the Sabbath, that is. How could they do anything else? They are exhausted. Put yourself in their place for just a moment. Their world has come crashing down around them. Their hopes and dreams crushed before...
A Guide to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion
posted by DJL
There are two types of worship services most regularly associated with Good Friday. One is the traditional service of the “Seven Words from the Cross.” The service, often held between noon and three – the hours Christ hung on the cross – is composed of hymns, readings and a brief meditation on each the seven words Christ uttered from the cross as recorded by the four evangelists. The other common occasion for worship on Good Friday is the Tenebrae service, usually held in the evening and arranged around the passion story as recorded by St. John. Tenebrae comes from the Latin word for “shadows,” and at various parts of...
Luke 23:54-56a
posted by DJL
It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. It was the day of Preparation, Luke tells us. The day before the Sabbath....
C. S. Lewis On Holy Communion
posted by DJL
On Thursday of Holy Week – often called Maundy Thursday from the new commandment (mandatum in Latin) Jesus gives his disciples – we focus our attention on the Last Supper. On that evening, Jesus, knowing what awaits him, gathers with his disciples to give himself to them in wine and bread and draw strength and sustenance from their companionship even as he prepares to give them his very life. Hence, on this day and evening we often give attention to the Lord’s Supper, that meal by which we continue to be connected to our Lord; receive his body, blood, and blessing in and through the bread and wine; and share fellowship with each other...
Luke 23:50-53
posted by DJL
Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he...
Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choirs
posted by DJL
Eric Whitacre is known for his breathtaking compositions of choral work. He has published more than four-dozen pieces and recorded several albums. More recently, he’s become known as the guy who puts together virtual choirs. What is a virtual choir, you ask. Well, his one first involved inviting 185 voices from a dozen countries to sing and record their various parts in their living rooms, door rooms, or wherever, and send them to him. Whitacre then combined all of these recordings into a single “virtual choir.” The finished piece became an instant You-Tube sensation in 2010. A year later, he gathered more than 2000 voices from 85...
Luke 23:49
posted by DJL
But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. Luke’s generosity as a story-teller again surfaces. Not just for the crowds of spectators this time, but also for Jesus’ disciples. In most of the gospel accounts,...
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