Lent 

Things did not go well for Jesus as he began to teach. People began to feel threatened. He challenged their way of thinking and doing and they killed him on a cross. This is a reality in our world. We, too, suffer and die. The marvel of the Faith is that God makes that journey with us as well. Our seasonal observance of this reality is called Lent. It begins with the ashes of Ash Wednesday at the dark end of winter. (The word Lent means, literally, springtime.) It is a time of recognizing our need for God to understand what we face in this life and to accompany us along the way. Its highest message is that God is so willing, and that in the depths of our pain we can be related to our God, who also knows pain and tears and death.Lent is 40 days long (not counting Sundays, which are always feast days) reflecting the 40 days of rain for Noah, the 40 years of schooling of the people, Israel, in the Exodus, and the 40 days of testing of Jesus in the wilderness after his baptism in the Jordan River. Liturgies during Lent are subdued, introspective, and penitential in nature, often beginning in silence and with the general confession of the people. The color used is deep purple, signifying penitence and the mood of Lent.

Holy Week 

At the end of Lent is the one week called Passion Tide, or Holy Week. It begins on Passion Sunday, also called Palm Sunday, and ends at the first Alleluia of Easter in the midst of the Great Vigil on Saturday night. Passion Sunday begins with the triumphal procession commemorating Jesus entering the Holy City on a donkey. Participants experience in the liturgy a stark change in the middle of things. What had been falsely understood as Jesus joining the crowd becomes the confrontation of Jesus with the failures of society and the crowd as well. The day turns decidedly dark and we read dramatically of Jesus being sought for arrest by the threatened authorities. The color for this Sunday is the red of martyrs, the color of blood.The next major liturgy is Maundy Thursday (the name comes from the Latin for mandatein the liturgy for foot washing - a new mandate I give to you, that you might love one another.) This liturgy commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. At the close of this liturgy all kneel as we sing, Goto dark Gethsemane, as we remember that Jesus departed from the upper room for the Garden by that name. At this time, people strip the altar area of all ornamentation and all symbols of God's presence. No Eucharists may be celebrated from this time until Easter anywhere in the world.On Good Friday our Lord was killed for the folly of humankind and the love and willingness of God to let the consequences play themselves out. We gather, often in the darkness and wearing black, for one of the most touching liturgies of the year. Here we share our pain with God, who knows all about pain, and tears, and death, and we begin the observance of the three days of death, when our Lord was in the tomb. The lights go dim and we leave in silence to await, finally, upon God's resolution.

Easter 

The queen of all the liturgies of the church is the Great Vigil and first Eucharist of Easter. We gather in the tomb-like darkness of Holy Saturday night and, suddenly, a great flame is struck among us. This flame is the new fire of Christ in-breaking among us in the midst of the tomb. The Paschal Candle is lighted from the fire and the celebrant processes throughout the Nave (the part of the church where the pews are - from the Latin word for shipor navy), symbolizing the pillar of fire by which God led the Hebrews out of Egypt toward the promised land. The celebrant pauses three times to chant, The Light of Christ; and three times the people respond, Thanks be to God. The people light individual candles from the Paschal Candle and the light spreads in the darkness among the congregation as we chant and read the Old Testament stories of God's deliverance from death and slavery. Then, with the first reading from the resurrection narratives all the lights come on and we sing alleluias for the first time since Epiphany season, and we find the church beautifully decorated for Easter with the vestments of white and flowers everywhere. We then joyfully celebrate together the first Eucharist of Easter tide.Easter tide begins with that first Alleluia at the Great Vigil, continues through the festive Eucharists of the Day of Resurrection, and ends 50 days later on the Day of Pentecost. During this season, the liturgical color is white and liturgies are uplifting and joyful. The General Confession is not used during the first weeks. God has turned us full circle: from the ash heap of our lives of Ash Wednesday He has brought us into fullness of life and joy. God does, indeed, have the final word. The Paschal Candle burns in the church near the font throughout this season and at all baptisms and funerals. We also us it for weddings to symbolize the presence of Christ and the possibility of resurrected living in a marriage relationship.