St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Fr. Tony’s
Midweek Message &
Daily Physical
Distancing Message & Meditation 2
March 18,
2020
Looking
Toward Holy Week
Strengthen, O Lord, the bishops of your Church in their special Calling to be teachers and ministers of the Sacraments, so that they, like your servant Cyril of Jerusalem, may effectively instruct your people in Christian faith and practice; and that we, taught by them, may enter more fully into celebration of the Paschal mystery; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
Today is
the feast day of Cyril of Jerusalem. He
was one of the Church Fathers who ensured the triumph of Nicene faith and the
doctrine of the Trinity. He also wrote a
full course of instruction—the earliest now surviving—for those to be baptized
at the Easter Vigil, as well as the Holy Week Liturgy for Jerusalem, which saw thousands of pilgrims each year for
the sacred time. His liturgy for Holy Week
was taken by those pilgrims back to their churches throughout Europe, North
Africa, and Western Asia, and became the heart of the Holy Week liturgy in our
current Prayer Book: the procession with
palms on Palm Sunday, footwashings on Maundy Thursday, solemn prayer on Good
Friday, and then the Great Vigil and the celebration of the Resurrection on
Easter Sunday.
So this saint has a lot to do with how we observe Lent and
Easter.
Yesterday, the Presiding Bishop of
the Episcopal Church rightly issued a statement calling on the Church, in
looking forward to Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter, to continue observing
the Physical Rules in place to slow the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. See his statement below. This is hard for most of us: the beauty and emotional
range of the Holy Week services in many cases were what brought us to the Episcopal
Church and Anglican communion within the larger catholic and apostolic Church.
But we need to remember that
Christians have been celebrating Easter for two millennia, often in
circumstances much worse than those in which Cyril or we find ourselves: in catacombs sheltering from the persecutions
of Rome, during plagues and devastating wars, hiding from the Japanese Shoguns
who outlawed Christianity, in concentration camps of the Nazis alongside their
Jewish brothers and sisters who observed their own feasts in their own ways, and
in Mao’s cultural revolution banning of all religion. Through it all, they found ways to celebrate the
joy and hope at the center of our faith, the resurrection of our Lord. These may have differed from the glorious pattern
set by Cyril in 4th century Jerusalem. But
they had one thing in common—they expressed the heart of their faith, and the
aspirations of the Christian community to live together in peace and
health.
We may have to “shelter in place”
and practice “physical distancing” (the new WHO-coined term that suggests we remain
social and in community even while physically separated). We may have to (and have already!) cancel our
orders for palms. We may have to go through
this Holy Week without having our feet washed by clergy, or without being warmed
by the New Fire. But we will celebrate the heart and joy or our faith nevertheless,
even if physically apart. Our services
will remain part of that 2,000 year old practice looking to our Lord’s
sufferings for healing and his Resurrection for hope.
An expanded Pastoral Care team of
the Parish is currently calling every household the parish to assess needs,
pass information, and organize further assistance so that in the weeks to come
we not become isolated in our separation, or depressed or terror-struck in the
face of real health and livelihood challenges.
Grace and Peace. And stay healthy.
Fr. Tony+
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Word to the Church:
Holy Week and Easter Day 2020
Online worship supported and encouraged[March 17, 2020] A word to the Church regarding Holy Week and Easter Day from the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church:
Dear People of God,
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
These affirmations are at the very heart of our faith as followers of Jesus Christ.
In public services of Holy Week and Easter we solemnly contemplate, commemorate, and rededicate our lives as witnesses to life made possible in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Together with Christmas, Holy Week and Easter are the holiest of days in our life together in Christ.
Last week I stated publicly my support for bishops who, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, decide “for a designated period of time . . . to cancel in-person gatherings for public worship.” I write now concerning the need to suspend in-person gatherings for public worship, in most contexts, during the sacred time of Holy Week and Easter Day. Because this is a global health crisis, the principles in this letter apply throughout The Episcopal Church, including beyond the United States.
On March 15th the Centers for Disease Control recommended the suspension of public gatherings in the U.S. of more than 50 people for the next 8 weeks. On March 16th officials of the federal government asked persons in the U.S. to “avoid gatherings of more than 10 people” for the next 15 days. It is reasonable to assume that some form of recommendations restricting public gatherings will continue for some time.
Considering this changing landscape, I believe that suspension of in-person public worship is generally the most prudent course of action at this time, even during Holy Week and on Easter Day. I am also mindful that local situations vary. Bishops must make this determination and the duration of said suspension in their respective dioceses, based on the public health situation in their context and the recommendations or requirements of government agencies and officials.
It is important to emphasize that suspension of in-person gatherings is not a suspension of worship. I very much encourage and support online worship.
In the Gospels, the teachings of Jesus about the way of love cluster during Holy Week and Easter (see John 13-17, Matthew 22:34-40). The primacy of love in the Gospels is given its fullest expression in the shadow of the cross. This way of unselfish, sacrificial love, the way of the cross, is the way of God and the way of life.
It is out of this love for our fellow humans, our neighbors, that we forego the blessing of being physically together for worship. In so doing we seek to promote health and healing needed at this time.
God bless you and keep the faith,
+Michael
The Most Reverend Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
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