Invitation to Holy Week and Easter

Dear people of Trinity,

There’s a slang phrase — It’s been a minute — that, like much of idiomatic language, means quite the opposite. It’s been awhile is a similar expression, said by two old friends when they finally cross paths after having been apart for a long time, full of so many stories they want to share with each other, to reconnect their lives.

It’s been a minute (three years, in fact) since Trinity has gathered in person and indoors to share the stories of Holy Week: of Jesus’ ragtag, but defiant, parade into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday; of Jesus sharing a final meal with his friends and giving them charge to love each other and the world by serving each other and the world; of his trial and crucifixion on Good Friday; and finally, of the triumph of love and justice over death that we celebrate in Christ’s resurrection at the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday.

The stories of Holy Week and Easter don’t simply tell about times past. They shape how it is we live now. They remind us of who we are and whose we are: beloved people of the God who is with us always, no matter what. They remind us that we are inextricably intertwined with one another and the world, and that we were created to care for one another.

Rebecca Solnit, in her book, A Paradise Built in Hell, observed that so much of our current culture is “built on fear of each other and of scarcity,” which has, inevitably, “created more scarcity and more to be afraid of.” The messages of Holy Week and Easter stand in marked contrast to scarcity and fear. We need to be reminded that we are a people committed to stories of abundance and hope.

It’s been a minute since we heard these stories in the way that only Holy Week and Easter can tell. Let’s catch up and reconnect, and then go out and proclaim with joy . . . Alleluia, Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed; Alleluia!

With faith and confidence,
Elizabeth+
The Rev. Elizabeth Molitors, Rector
Trinity Episcopal Church