THE LAST SUPPER: LOVE FROZEN IN TIME

From Episcopal Relief-

The Last Supper: The first image that comes to mind is that of the great and majestic fresco of Leonardo da Vinci, in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie.  Some critics of its latest restoration claim it now unrecognizable, but I see no danger of it ever fading from the West’s common cultural memory. Countless reproductions of The Last Supper, good and bad, have sealed its image into the minds of countless people. The fresco’s hold is so strong that even as I write I can see the long rectangles of the table and windows and the flowing reds and blues of the apostles’ robes. I can picture the soon-to-be-betrayed innocence in the eyes of Christ, the shocked look of those who have learned that one among them is a traitor, the unbelieving and uncomprehending pointing and self-accusation of Peter and the damning icons of the split salt and the clutched moneybag of Judas Iscariot.

No matter that this is extreme artistic license: there was no such table, no such scenic views, no such opulence in blues and reds. The image of da Vinci’s Last Supper is so powerful, so commanding, that it threatens to block other images, other ideas of this holy meal on the night in which our Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed. And perhaps the most dangerous aspect of its power, its dominating image is that for all its artistic vividness, da Vinci’s Last Supper is temporally static and motionless. It captures a moment in time. It is Maundy Thursday preserved in aspic.

More here-

https://www.episcopalrelief.org/stories/the-last-supper-love-frozen-in-time

Pontius Pilate: You should have listened to your wife

From Lindsay Hardin Freeman-

The story of Jesus’ life and death could have turned out differently, had Pontius Pilate listened to his wife. Kind and intuitive (and unnamed), she is known for these few words:

“Have nothing to do with that innocent man [Jesus], for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” Matthew 27:19

Allow me to paint the story. Perhaps it happened something like this…
___________

As the morning light spills into her room, Pilate’s wife jolts awake, her eyes stretched like saucers. “No! Don’t do it! No!”

Hearing her distress, servants tumble into the room. And there they see a strange sight: their disheveled and shaking mistress scrawling words onto a linen napkin used at dinner the night before.
More here-

http://www.lindsayhardinfreeman.com/pontius-pilate-you-should-have-listened-to-your-wife/

This 3D “carbon copy” of Jesus was created using the Shroud of Turin

From Aleteia-

"We believe that we have the precise image of what Jesus looked like on this earth," said Professor Giulio Fanti of the University of Padua.

“This statue is the three-dimensional representation in actual size of the Man of the Shroud, created following the precise measurements taken from the cloth in which the body of Christ was wrapped after the crucifixion,” explains Giulio Fanti, teacher of mechanical and thermal measurements at the University of Padua, who studies the Shroud. Based on his measurements, the professor has created a “carbon copy” in 3D which, he claims, allows him to affirm that these are the true features of the crucified Christ.

Therefore, we believe that we finally have the precise image of what Jesus looked like on this earth. From now on, He may no longer be depicted without taking this work into account.” The professor granted exclusive coverage of his work to the weekly periodical Chi, to which he revealed: “According to our studies, Jesus was a man of extraordinary beauty. Long-limbed, but very robust, he was nearly 5 ft. 11 in. tall, whereas the average height at the time was around 5 ft. 5 in. And he had a regal and majestic expression.” (Vatican Insider)
More here-

https://aleteia.org/2018/03/28/this-3d-carbon-copy-of-jesus-was-created-using-the-shroud-of-turin/

Moving deeper into Holy Week, Presiding Bishop visits Bethlehem, Nazareth

From ENS-

The gift of spending Holy Week in the Holy Land grew deeper and more real on March 28 for those on pilgrimage with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

In a small sample of the ecumenical hospitality that the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem both enjoys and offers, Curry and those traveling with him were the guests of Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Jordan and Patriarchal Commission to Bethlehem Theophylaktos in Bethlehem. The group traveled there at his invitation to hold Morning Prayer in the St. George’s Chapel at the Church of the Nativity and meet with him. He also welcomed them to pray in the Grotto of the Nativity below the church, which is undergoing extensive renovation and conservation.

Theophylaktos later offered the group sweets, short glasses of brandy and small cups of Arabic coffee during the early-morning conversation in his office in the new, 250-year-old wing of the Church of the Nativity. The older part of the church is 500 years old. His office walls were lined with religious icons, as well as an icon symbolizing the 2 million pilgrims who annually visit the church: a flat-screen TV with nine camera views of the shrine. Five church groups had arrived at 5 a.m. that morning to tour the church.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2018/03/29/moving-deeper-into-holy-week-presiding-bishop-visits-bethlehem-nazareth/

Since 1993, I Have Learned to Observe Good Friday on My Knees

From Patheos-

On Good Friday, 1993, around noon, I slipped into the chapel of the nearby Episcopal church where I prayed weekly for an hour or so and was surprised by something I saw. Someone had positioned a low table before the altar. On it was set a linen cloth, a small crucifix, a pottery chalice filled with wine, and an earthenware plate holding Communion wafers.

A woman bustled in the nearby sacristy.

I called out to her, “What a wonderful aid to prayer!”

Often when my mind is wandering, it helps to have some token on which to fix my eyes. Postcards sent by friends are tucked in my desk organizer, a fixed point of beauty from which to build a center for concentration.

“Did you arrange this?” I asked.

Still finishing her tasks, she paused, calling back that the Communion elements were brought from the previous evening’s Maundy Thursday service as a reminder to keep vigil over the broken body of Christ. Then, her work completed, she left me to the silence.


Read more at

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/gospelforasia/2018/03/since-1993-i-learned-to-observe-good-friday-on-my-knees/#LHUuKCkzXgyfVdkh.99

WHY CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT HOST THEIR OWN PASSOVER SEDERS

From Religious Dispachtes-

I recently moved back to my hometown: a western suburb of Chicago that borders a town that is home to one of the largest and most influential evangelical Christian colleges in the country. As with most college towns, graduates often settle nearby. This makes my neighborhood a hub for evangelicalism and means that my neighbors tend to have followed the injunctions of their pastors to “keep themselves pure” from culture that is not specifically Christian. Even if folks didn’t attend Wheaton themselves, the school’s values permeate local culture. Add to this a simple demographic isolation and overall, my neighbors tend not to have had much exposure to cultures other than their own.

When people learn that, as a lifelong and practicing Christian, I am married to a Jewish man and that we practice both religions in our house, I often become the safe person to ask about Judaism. I like this advocate role for the opportunity it gives me to gently encourage folks to look at ways in which their privilege as a member of a majority population can sometimes cause them to cause offense.

More here-

http://religiondispatches.org/why-christians-should-not-host-their-own-passover-seders/

LDS musician writes music for St. Mary's Holy Week celebrations

From Utah-

For the Christian world, Sunday begins the celebration of Holy Week, the days leading to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, also known as the Passion. It is followed by Easter Sunday, and what Christians believe was his resurrection.

To celebrate these series of events, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Provo will feature special presentations from Christian Asplund’s “The Passion and Resurrection according to St. Mark” at 7:30 p.m. Good Friday and 8:30 a.m. Easter Sunday.

Asplund, a Mormon and professor at Brigham Young University in music composition and music theory, is known for his avant-garde pieces and garage/home performances.

The Asplund version of the Passion involves a marriage of classical and jazz with a bit of hymns from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints blended in for choral pieces.

“I’ve been doing house concerts all my life,” Asplund said. “I do music that’s between the cracks.”

More here-

https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/faith/lds-musician-writes-music-for-st-mary-s-holy-week/article_40f30315-c49e-5b04-8a4d-9c4f030be1f0.html

Presiding Bishop begins a Holy Week pilgrimage in the Holy Land

From ENS-

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry began Holy Week in the Holy City of Jerusalem by proclaiming the good news that Jesus has shown the world a way to live that is based in love, not tyranny, and can lead to the coming of the kingdom.

During his sermon at the Holy Eucharist at the Anglican Cathedral Church of St. George the Martyr, Curry contrasted the simultaneous entry into Jerusalem of two very different men: Jesus and Pontius Pilate. The latter, Curry said, rode in from the West on a war horse with legions of Roman soldiers and with “all of his disdain and arrogance and worldly power.”

“Jesus came in on the other side of town on a donkey,” Curry said, adding that Jesus’ timing was no coincidence. He meant to show that “there is another way; that you don’t have to live this way. The world doesn’t have to be this way because God has a dream and a vision for this world, and nothing can stop God’s dream.”

War, violence and hatred do not work, Curry said. “They may work for a day; tyrants may endure for a day, but they do not last.”

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2018/03/26/presiding-bishop-begins-a-holy-week-pilgrimage-in-the-holy-land/

Outrage as a crucified Star Wars Stormtrooper hangs in an Anglican church for an art display about the fight 'against the dark side'

From the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" Department-

A crucified Star Wars Stormtrooper on display at a historic London church has been granted a stay of execution after it caused a stir among parishioners.

Artist Ryan Callanan created the ‘controversial’ statue, which shows a fictional Star Wars soldier hanging on a life-sized cross.

It was due to be unveiled today as the centrepiece of the Art Below’s ‘Stations of the Cross’ exhibition held inside the London-based church.
A priest arrived yesterday to decide whether to tear down the statue, after parishioners attending St Stephen Walbrook church in Central London complained to the rector, Reverend Jonathan Evens.
Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5497837/Crucified-Star-Wars-Stormtrooper-hangs-Anglican-church.html#ixzz59oe21vAX

Stop the 2,000-year-old slut-shaming of Mary Magdalene this Easter

From Dallas-

Here's who Mary Magdalene was: one of Jesus Christ's original followers, the last to stay with him while he was nailed to the cross and, Christians believe, the first to see his empty tomb and his resurrection.

Here's who she wasn't: a reformed or forgiven prostitute.

Yet on Easter Sunday, Christianity's holiest day, that's exactly how she will be described in some sermons and how she continues to be portrayed in much of popular culture.

The woman dubbed in the Bible the "Apostle of the Apostles" has spent two millennia being reduced to a seductress. In some ways, Mary Magdalene's story is the story of modern women everywhere.

More here-

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/04/14/time-mary-magdalene-myth-end

Crucified man had prior run-in with authorities

From The Washington Post-

The gentleman arrested Thursday and tried before Pontius Pilate had a troubled background.

Born (possibly out of wedlock?) in a stable, this jobless thirty-something of Middle Eastern origin had had previous run-ins with local authorities for disturbing the peace, and had become increasingly associated with the members of a fringe religious group. He spent the majority of his time in the company of sex workers and criminals.

He had had prior run-ins with local authorities — most notably, an incident of vandalism in a community center when he wrecked the tables of several licensed money-lenders and bird-sellers. He had used violent language, too, claiming that he could destroy a gathering place and rebuild it.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/04/12/crucified-man-had-prior-run-in-with-authorities/?utm_term=.7e0c620d7c70

Holy Week and the Hatred of the Jews: How to Avoid Anti-Judaism this Easter

From Australia-

Jesus of Nazareth, charged by the Roman authorities with the sedition, dies on a Roman cross. But Jews - the collective, all Jews - become known as "Christ-killers."

Still haunting, the legacy of that charge becomes acute during Holy Week, when pastors and priests who speak about the death of Jesus have to talk about "the Jews."

Every year, the same difficulty surfaces: how can a gospel of love be proclaimed, if that same gospel is heard to promote hatred of Jesus's own people?

The charge against "the Jews" permeates the pages of the New Testament.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Pilate literally washes his hands while "all the people" - all the Jewish people - clamour for Jesus's death: "Let him be crucified ... His blood be on us and on our children!" (Matthew 27:23, 27).

More here-

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2017/04/08/4650428.htm

ON THE PRECIPICE OF HOLY WEEK

From The Living Church-

Palm Sunday is to me the most disorienting liturgy of the year. We begin with a festal procession, waving palm fronds and shouting our Hosannas to the Messiah. Then suddenly it is as though the brakes are applied and there is a screeching turn. The colors change. The mood darkens by several shades. The Passion is sung. Yet more bitterness is portended: betrayal, torture, death. Holy Week is here.

We know what lies ahead, on the other side of the middle distance. Easter is but one week from today. It’s a funny feeling when one makes an effort to engage these mysteries with a more deliberate attention, like looking at contour lines on a familiar map. It’s a pilgrimage we make every year. Unlike the apostle Thomas, perhaps, by now we ought to “know the way” (John 14:5) — every turn, every landmark. And yet. Today, as ever, it only manages to be portended. The destination is somehow a long way off.

More here-

http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2017/04/09/on-the-precipice-of-holy-week/?platform=hootsuite

Evil in Holy Week and the vocation of mission: A meditation

From Titus on Mission-

Evil in the world.  Suffering among the poor, the drought-stricken and famine-stricken.  Agony among people on whom is inflicted excruciating death.  Betrayals on personal, social and global scales.  Gratuitous cruelty in families and neighborhoods.  Outrageous grabs by the powerful who disenfranchise, oppress and impoverish the less powerful.

We see all this around us – locally, regionally, globally.  The headlines need no recitation.  There you have it – evil.

In this world-scape, human-scape, suffering-scape people often ask – in puzzlement, despair or rage – ‘Where is God in all this?!  Where are you, God – that is, if you even exist?!’  And when they’re calmer and more analytical, many conclude, ‘Look at all this!  Obviously  God doesn’t exist, or if God exists God doesn’t care!’

More here-

https://titusonmission.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/evil-in-holy-week-and-the-vocation-of-mission-a-meditation/?fb_action_ids=10212987473821110&fb_action_types=news.publishes

Will this be our last Holy Week?

From Aleteia-

Is Holy Week really worth the effort? If you talk to pastors, liturgists, choir directors, leaders of RCIA, etc., Holy Week is a time of frenetic activity, the culmination of much planning and lack of planning, and somehow—at least sometimes—inspiring. And then…? Well, a few weeks of lilies and extra “Alleluias!” and then back to business as usual. (E.g., First Confessions and Communions in May, a spate of weddings in June, etc.) It seems that Holy Week is a lot of work for a few, an inconvenience for a few more (“How many times do I have to drag the kids to church this week?!?”), and an annual irrelevance for many, if not most Catholics. But does it have to be that way?

Here’s the key problem with Holy Week as described above: People who halfheartedly believe that they’re sinners try to stir up sorrow for an atoning death they’re not quite convinced they need, so that a few days later they can try to stir up joy for the benefits of a resurrection they don’t quite understand or believe in. So understood, it’s not very convincing theater, and even less is it worthy worship.

More here-

http://aleteia.org/2017/04/05/will-this-be-our-last-holy-week/

Jesus Didn't Eat a Seder Meal

From Christianity Today-

Passover has a special allure for Christians. It is on the night of Passover, as all Israel is offering the pascal Lamb and eating matza (unleavened bread) and bitter herbs on the slopes of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that Jesus of Nazareth meets with his 12 disciples for the Last Supper. This may be the best-known Passover meal.

Both of these meals—Jesus’s Last Supper and the first Passover meal—are launch events. Each of them inaugurates a new religious civilization. Thus, for the believing Christian, it is no coincidence that Jesus convenes the disciples at the very moment of the Passover meal to signal that this meal is the fulfillment of and successor to that first Passover meal, and that like the first one, the Last Supper inaugurates a new faith community. For most of Christian history, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, replaced the Jewish Passover Seder.For Jews, however, the most important Passover meal is the very first, described in Exodus 12. It is the meal by which Israel celebrates its
liberation from the pagan culture of Egypt/Mitzrayim by serving the One God and bringing an offering to the One God. That first Passover meal is eaten home-by-home, family-by-family. The guest list consists of all the members of the family, men and women, old and young, wise and foolish, learned and ignorant, boys and girls. In other words, present at that first Passover offering was the whole Jewish family in all of its delight and complexity. When Jews today celebrate the Passover, they are reenacting that moment and connecting with all Jews across time and space who have been celebrating the Passover Seder for millennia.

More here-

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/march-web-only/jesus-didnt-eat-seder-meal.html

Oh, all those religious calendar features! But here’s a good bet for Good Friday

From Get Religion-

News scribes face the perennial task of devising features pegged to major dates on religious calendars.

Due to the somber and difficult theme, perhaps the most challenging is Good Friday – Great and Holy Friday for Orthodoxy, whose date of April 14 coincides with other Christians’ in 2017. One rarely sees a fresh, first-class media article about the day Christ died.

Relief is on the way this year, thanks to “The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ” by Fleming Rutledge, proclaimed the “2017 Book of the Year” by Christianity Today magazine and newly reissued in paperback by Eerdmans. Sample chapter headings: “The Godlessness of the Cross.” “The Question of Justice.” “Condemned into Redemption.”

More here-

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2017/3/20/oh-those-religious-calendar-features-but-heres-a-good-bet-for-good-friday

“Servant leadership”

 From Connecticut-

As Christians, we share a common call to what is known as “servant leadership,” valuing the power of love over the love of power. An example of this is the ceremony on Holy Thursday of foot-washing.

Washing another’s bare feet publicly is just as countercultural today as it was during the time of Jesus, at least among so-called equals. On a recent trip to Israel, we toured the ancient remains of a house of a once-prominent member of Jerusalem’s ruling class, and in the entryway was a place allocated for the house servant to wash guests’ feet, a common custom.

Just as we might hand our car keys to a valet upon arriving at an elegant party, in Jesus’ time, such an entry would begin with having one’s dusty feet cleansed by the lowest person on the social ladder.

More here-

http://www.newstimes.com/living/article/Servant-leadership-11041378.php

Why is it called Good Friday?

From Alabama-

Today millions of Christians worldwide observe the somber holy day of Good Friday, which commemorates the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus.
The faithful often act it out by carrying a large wooden cross and crown of thorns symbolic of the suffering of Christ.

In the streets of Jerusalem, and even in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, people will be carrying wooden crosses to remember Jesus carrying his cross to his own crucifixion.

At first glance, Good Friday seems like the ultimate misnomer. If Jesus suffered and died on this day, then why is it called Good Friday?

More here-

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2016/03/why_is_it_called_good_friday.html

Paschal mystery

From The Living Church-

Years ago, in a diocese far, far away, a colleague surprised me one day by saying how much he disliked the reading of the Passion Gospel on Palm Sunday, particularly when members of the congregation were assigned the various dramatic parts (in precisely the way that over the past forty years or so has become fairly common in churches of all sorts). What he found objectionable was the role assigned to the congregation, the part of the crowd, calling out “Crucify him, crucify him!” in the midst of the solemn liturgy of the day. He was scandalized by the suggestion that his congregation, good Christian people, might be identified with Jesus’ killers.

Just telling this story reminds me of the joys of theological conversation at a certain age, of the thrust and parry over great ideas that can take place in an informal setting. My sense is that theology is often best done in such a setting. I have the sense that much of this give and take happens on social media these days, but that’s another story.

More here-

http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/03/21/paschal-mystery/