LITURGIES OF THE HEART April 8, 2020
Well, here we are in the strangest Holy Week ever experienced. Some of us found solace in the quiet, sometimes sad, contemplative liturgies of Holy Thursday, and Good Friday.
For many Lutherans the Good Friday Passion is the highlight of the liturgical year. In Germany that is very evident. Perhaps those of you who come from that tradition feel that. When I was a girl, my friends and I would go out to buy new hats, the Easter Bonnet. Then, perhaps even a whole outfit for Easter. It was a chance to be extravagant and elegant, sometimes even with white gloves. My brothers would laugh at us and say that we were wearing ‘lamp shades’ on our heads.
So, this morning I was experimenting with the masks I am making, perhaps adding feathers or lace to them! How funny they looked. I was going to send a picture to you all but then I saw myself in the mirror and thought…. hmmmm, NO. Maybe my brothers were right!
The shopping and dressing up was all part of the preparation and the buildup for the big day – Easter – the celebration of the Resurrection. Being ‘shut in’ by the virus raging around us gives us pause to hold on to what is most valuable, to appreciate one another and the gift of our church. We won’t be able to see one another. No hats or masks of any kind will be viewed or commented on, no listening to blessed music, smelling candles burning, feeling the silence and comfort of just being in that beautiful loved and lovely space.
Alas, Jesus gets the final word even on this. I imagine him saying, “find it in yourselves”. The true Resurrection is there. It comes from the finest of God’s gifts, Grace. And you can’t buy that in any store. It is in the storeroom of your heart. Sit still, call upon the Lord, recognize God’s presence, open yourself to the love so abundantly shared and be at peace this Holy Week and Easter. In the meantime, there is talk of a huge celebration after we are cleared for socializing! A feast of extraordinary proportions!
That resurrection will surely light a fire in our hearts. In the meantime, stay close to one another in the distances we are permitted and remember that Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, celebrated on Maundy Thursday and that the death of Jesus on Friday was GOOD – because life begins when all is lost and we are brought to our knees in adoration of the greatest gift of all, God’s son, Jesus.
With love,
The Rev. Joyce Caggiano