Palm Sunday

St Barnabas Anglican Church, Warrington

Palm Sunday, 5 April 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Grace and peace to you from God.

Today is called Palm Sunday, the Sunday next before Easter.

The 2nd Sunday of Pandemic Level 4.

The Gospel lesson is Matthew 21:1-11; 26:14 –27:66.

This is not a Sunday for reading my words: rather read the Gospel.

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Surely for the Christian world this must be the most unusual Easter ever.

We don’t know when Christians first began to make an annual (as opposed to a weekly) memorial of the death and resurrection of Christ. At first this was a night-long vigil, followed by the celebration of the Eucharist at cock-crow, and all the great themes of redemption were included within it: incarnation, suffering, death, resurrection, glorification. Over time, the Pascha developed into the services of Holy Week and Easter. Through participation in the whole sequence of services, we share in Christ’s own journey, from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the empty tomb on Easter morning. The procession with palms, which was already observed in Jerusalem in the fourth century, is accompanied by the reading or singing of the Passion Narrative, in which the whole story of the week is anticipated. Maundy Thursday (from mandatum, ‘commandment’ John 13.34) contains a rich complex of themes: humble Christian service expressed through Christ’s washing of his disciples’ feet, the institution of the Eucharist, the perfection of Christ’s loving obedience through the agony of Gethsemane.

After keeping vigil (‘Could you not watch with me one hour?’), Thursday passes into Good Friday. It is a widespread custom for there not to be a celebration of the Eucharist on Good Friday, but for many the consecrated bread and wine remaining from the Maundy Thursday Eucharist to be given in communion. The church remains stripped of all decoration. It continues bare and empty through the following day, which is a day without a liturgy: there can be no adequate way of recalling Christ being dead, other than silence and desolation. But within the silence there grows a sense of peace and completion, and then rising excitement as the Easter Vigil draws near.

Below is a prayer of intersessions, for Palm Sunday. It is in the form of a communal prayer, but if we all say in our own place, at our own time, God will bring it all together. It is strangely apt for the times in which we find ourselves living. I have been tempted to change it to address explicitly the pain brought by Corona virus, but have only added 1 part. Surely you will see the needs and include your own thoughts? My heart breaks for those who die separated from their families, and for the families who have not been able to say goodbye.

My sister’s old GP, an elderly Muslim who came out of retirement to care for the people of his community, has caught and died from Covid-19. Please remember him to God.

Jeremy

Rev Dr JJ Nicoll, 0274 361 481

Priest-in-Charge St Barnabas, Warrington, NZ

Let us bring to the Father our prayers of intercession through Christ who gave himself for the life of the world.

We stand with Christ in his suffering.

For forgiveness for the many times we have denied Jesus, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For grace to seek out those habits of sin which mean spiritual death, and by prayer and self-discipline to overcome them,

let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For Christian people, that through the suffering of disunity there may grow a rich union in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who make laws, interpret them, and administer them, that our common life may be ordered in justice and mercy, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who seek to make strife out of difference, let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy. For those who have the courage and honesty to work openly for justice and peace, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For those in the darkness and agony of isolation, that they may find support and encouragement, let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy. For those who, weighed down with hardship, failure, or sorrow, feel that God is far from them, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who are tempted to give up the way of the cross, let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy. For those who fear your grace is weakened because you people are scattered For those who faith is weakened by the absence of our sisters and brothers For those who miss the shared bread and wine Bring them your spiritual gift of life restored. let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

That we, with those who have died in faith, may find mercy in the day of Christ, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

Holy God,

holy and strong,

holy and immortal,

have mercy upon us.