April 3, 2023
Dear friends,
I’ve shared this message the last couple of years, and it bears repeating again.
Holy Week is a gift to us as the days leading up to Easter are set apart for giving special attention to the Passion of Jesus. It is called his Passion because the root of that word means suffering. While Lent and Holy Week are a time for fasting and prayer and exercising ourselves in self-denial and discipline, they are most importantly a time for meditating in faith on the suffering and death of Jesus.
One of the best ways to do that is coming to church throughout the week:
Maundy Thursday @ 7pm
Good Friday @ 7pm
Easter Sunday @ 9am
You’re also welcome to chapel on:
Tuesday morning @ 9am
Wednesday morning at 9:30am
Thursday morning at 9am
There is also a traditional set of readings for you to do at home each day of the week.
Pastor Andy Richard, from Mount Hope Lutheran Church in Casper, WY, compiled those traditional readings with some beautiful artwork that illustrates them. That compilation is called a Passion Book. You can download it here: http://www.concordialcms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Passion-Book.pdf
You’ll see that there are readings for each day beginning with Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday). The readings are not all the same length – some are quite long, and others are quite short.
Download it and give it a try! Read each day and rejoice in Jesus’ suffering and death, which mean forgiveness and eternal life for you!
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs