Rector's Reflections - Holy Week and Easter 2006

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The central story of the Christian faith begins with a man riding on a colt. He enters the Holy City of Jerusalem as a hero. Crowds place palm branches before him on the path. They shout his name, wanting even a glance, a bit of his attention. But this adoration is a threat, both to the religious and to the secular power elite. His enemies coalesce, and putting aside their own differences, decide to put Jesus to death.

In short order, Jesus is catapulted from adulation to ridicule. Subjected to a sham of a trial, he is tortured, mocked, assaulted, then, nailed to a cross and left to die. And there the story should have ended, as it did for others whom history has forgotten.

But Jesus we do remember. Good Friday was not an ending, but a beginning; not closed door, but an open door. The crucified Jesus has become liberated from 1st. century Palestine to live in the hearts and minds of his disciples in every time, every culture.

May Christ enter our hearts and minds anew this Holy Week and Easter, renewing our faith, empowering our lives for creative and faithful living. And let us pray that through us, the world might reorder its priorities and find new life.

Happy Easter!

(The Reverend) Susan W. Klein