A Message from Bishop Akiyama
Dear friends in Christ,
It was the 1970’s and I was gathered around the television with my parents and sister to watch ABC’s Wide World of Sports. The theme music began and Jim McKay’s voice introduced the program. His unique style of intonation and emphasis made the phrase the thrill of victory and the agony of defeatring.
The dual themes of “victory” and “defeat” resound during this season as we prepare for Holy Week. The appointed liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer for this Sunday, Palm Sunday, rushes us through the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The liturgy of the palms is our enactment of Jesus’ triumphal entry and, in the same liturgy, we enact Jesus being condemned to die a brutal death. We are given a liturgy on Palm Sunday that assumes the congregation will not likely return for services during the week. So, it attempts to summarize the entire story in one liturgy. This results in a kind of worship whiplash that is far from what I imagine the architects of this liturgy intended.
It is important to remember that Holy Week is actually one entire liturgy. It doesn’t work to compress an entire week of reflection, prayer, and praise into one hour of worship. The power and promise of Christ’s resurrection finds its full expression in the liturgy of the Easter Vigil - the conclusion of Holy Week and the primary liturgy of our tradition.
As you prepare for Holy Week, I encourage you to explore how you might participate in the entire liturgy: Palm Sunday to Easter Vigil. The challenge of worshipping in this pandemic will bring a different sense and feel to our worship, but it may also make it easier to “attend” all the services during Holy Week.
In truth, our Holy Week to Easter Vigil liturgy is much much more than an enactment of the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” It is the human story enveloped in God’s grace: the joys of hope, the tragedy of injustice, the horror of a cruel death, and the lavish promise of new and unending life. It is my hope that, through a fuller engagement with our Holy Week to Easter Vigil liturgy, our understanding of Christ’s resurrection will be rich and full and truly life-giving.
Blessings,
+Diana
