Pastoral Message: “Entering Into the Drama of Holy Week and Easter” Week of the Fifth Sunday in Lent March 29, 2023
Pastoral Message:
“Entering Into the Drama of Holy Week and Easter”
Week of the Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 29, 2023
Dear People of God at Faith-La Fe!
This coming weekend, on Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion, we enter into the high holy days of the Christian tradition when in the course of the week we participate liturgically and dramatically in God’s story of salvation with focus on Jesus’ death and resurrection along with so many of the dramatic events of the whole story.
Think of all of the services in the coming week as basically one liturgy, with special focus on the Three Days – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday.
Here’s a run-down of what you can expect as I want to plant the seeds of curiosity and anticipation in you, that you may come for some or all of our liturgies. The schedule of times for the services is also included just below my message.
Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion:
For the 9:00 am service, we’ll begin in the courtyard for a reading of the gospel recounting Jesus’ grand entry into Jerusalem, when we’ll also bless the palm fronds and proceed into the church for our worship. Rather than a full-length sermon, I plan to offer remarks before the dramatic reading of the Passion According to St. Matthew to set the stage for that reading, hopefully to enhance your participation in and appreciation for the story of our salvation. The 11:00 am liturgy in Spanish will offer some of these same features.
Maundy Thursday:
This bi-lingual liturgy on Holy Thursday at 7:00 pm begins The Three Days (Triduum) and includes the opportunity for individual absolution during the first part of the service. After the sermon, we’ll obey Jesus’ commandment (mandate – hence Maundy) to love one another by washing feet as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. This liturgy also commemorates the institution of the Lord’s Supper, and concludes with the stripping of the altar as we remember Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest.
Good Friday:
There will be two opportunities to walk the way of sorrows (Via Delarosa) with liturgies of the Stations of the Cross – at Noon in English in our nave and at 6:00 pm outdoors in Spanish and leading into the church. Then a liturgy for Good Friday will commence at 7:30 in English featuring the Passion According to St. John, bidding prayers for a wide range of concerns for the whole world, and the procession of the cross with time for acts of devotion and adoration. This liturgy concludes in darkness and in silence.
Holy Saturday:
We will celebrate the Vigil of Easter on Saturday, the Eve of Easter, beginning at 7:00 pm in English. Gathering in the courtyard, the new fire will be lit and our new Paschal Candle will be blessed. We’ll follow the procession of the Paschal Candle with our own hand-held candles for the singing of the Easter Proclamation which is followed by the service of readings which recount much of the history of God’s salvific deeds for the benefit of God’s people and the whole world. These readings are followed by the rite for affirmation of baptism, when we renew our baptismal covenant, and this liturgy culminates with the first Eucharist of Easter.
Easter Sunday:
Both the 9:00 am and 11:00 am liturgies on Easter Sunday will be festive and joyful and beautiful as has been the custom in the church for two millennia as we again celebrate Christ’s victory over death. There will be occasion for Easter fellowship and conviviality between the services and also after the 11:00 am liturgy as described elsewhere in the announcements.
The stories of Holy Week and Easter told and dramatically enacted in our liturgies are always a highlight of the Christian year and deeply moving for those who attend. Thus, please plan on your full participation in these central Holy Days of our faith at Faith-La Fe!
Keeping the Holy Days in Jesus’ name,
Pastor Jonathan Linman
Pastor’s Office Phone Number: 602-265-5860
Email: pastor@faithalive.com
Announcements
Holy Week and Easter at Faith-La Fe
Here is our schedule for Holy Week and Easter 2023:
April 2 at 9:00 and 11:00 am + Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday
Please note: There will be no Wednesday Bible Study during Holy Week.
April 6 at 7:00 pm + Maundy Thursday, Bi-lingual, Holy Communion, Foot Washing, Stripping of the Altar
April 7 + Good Friday: Noon, Stations of the Cross in English; 6:00 pm, Stations of the Cross in Spanish; and 7:30 pm, Liturgy in English
April 8 at 7:00 + Vigil of Easter
April 9 at 9:00 and 11:00 am + Resurrection of Our Lord/Easter Day
Easter Fellowship Festivities at Faith-La Fe
Please plan to join us for Easter Brunch in Parish Hall at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, April 9.
We will be serving a hot breakfast casserole and an array of bagels and cream cheese. To complete the feast, we are asking the congregation to bring baked items like coffee cakes, muffins and breads plus other treats either sweet or savory. Please bring your items to the kitchen in Parish Hall by 8:30 on Easter morning. All items should be plated and ready to serve. As a treat for all the children in our midst on Easter morning, there will also be an Easter Egg Hunt after both the 9:00 am and 11:00 am services.
Interested in Membership at Faith-La Fe?
If you or anyone you know is curious about learning more about Faith-La Fe Church toward perhaps becoming a member of our congregation, kindly reach out to either Pastor Linman or Pastor Veronica. They are more than eager to engage you in conversation for your discernment. We are planning to receive new members at our Easter Vigil this year on Saturday evening, April 8 at 7:00 pm.
Thrivent Hospice of the Valley Project
When: Saturday, April 1, 8:30 to 11:00 am.
Where: Dementia Care and Education Center, 3811 N 44th Street. (Park in in the front/west parking lot and meet in the Education Center Café, a two-story building)
Activities: Assemble planter table, fill it with soil (assisted living residents will plant fruits and veggies we provide); assemble SPA baskets with materials we provide ranging from creams, lotions, lip balms and other body care products; bird house kits; make cards for residents to sent to their loved ones. Refreshments will be provided. You might consider bringing screw drivers to assemble the planter table.
Please call Fred at 602-228-3349 to confirm your attendance.
Thrivent Volunteers Help with and Enjoy Mosaic Luncheon
Eight Thrivent volunteers helped with registration and guiding attendees to the right spot for the recent MOSAIC fundraising luncheon at the Pointe Resort. A light rain made it a bit more stressful for the “guides”. The tasty food was partially paid for by a $250 Thrivent Action Team grant. MOSAIC helps developmentally challenged individuals in a number of ways including virtual adoption and guidance of many MOSAIC clients. The luncheon program was highlighted by the touching testimony of several persons in the MOSAIC program and the “adoptive” families who bring joy and meaning to their lives.
Lent 2023 at Faith-La Fe
Join us for one final Wednesday evening during Lent for a soup supper beginning at 6:30 in the parish hall, and followed by evening prayer in the chapel at 7:15.
March 29 + Midweek Soup Supper and Lenten Service
(Hans Nielson Hauge, Renewer of the Church, 1824)
Speakers: Pastors Veronica Alvarez and Jonathan Linman in a dialogue sermon
40 DAYS OF CARING FOR CREATION: A LENTEN PRACTICUM
It’s a beautiful planet, this Earth. Carl Sagan wrote of the view from space, “To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”
Home to 8-billion people now, Earth is heating up and heating up fast. None of us is immune from the resulting climate changes and their catastrophic effects. It’s “code red for humanity,” says the U.N. Secretary-General.
It’s Kairos time, says the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America in its draft social statement on Earth’s climate crisis, “a critical time when decisive action is required.”
This Lent, join us in taking decisive action! Featuring the Christian practices of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, we will renew and improve our care of creation.
Here’s a hard truth: One person’s dietary and lifestyle changes won’t reverse a drought or stop the glaciers from melting or prevent a wildfire.
But here’s another truth, a truth about faith: We don’t have to carry on with our earth-crucifying ways. Nor do we have to be paralyzed by anxiety and despair. Each of us individually and all of us together can do better. We can choose to actively trust God’s vision for creation. We can do our part, small as it may be, to keep this Earth a habitable and wholesome home.
Join learner/facilitator Sheri Brown on Thursdays at 4:00 pm MST (AZ) for six half-hour virtual workshops, beginning Thursday, February 23, as we live into 40 days of caring for creation.
WEEKLY TOPICS
March 30: Purchasing choices and what they say about faith-based earth advocacy.
Communicating Pastoral Care Needs to the Pastors
Pastor Veronica and I are here to serve you in your times of need and opportunity, to support you through our pastoral care-giving. If you are in need of pastoral conversation or visitation, please reach out to one or both of us directly – or have someone in your family or with whom you are close make that direct contact. Please don’t assume that word of your need or desire will come to us indirectly through others. Members of Faith-La Fe attend to each other’s needs in laudable ways, which is a wonderful thing. But there have been some occasions when your pastors have not been aware of circumstances that would warrant our outreach to you. We are here for you and want to be a part of the care that our congregation offers. So, please don’t assume we’re too busy or that what’s happening in your life does not warrant our time and attention. Pastoral care-giving is central to our identities as pastors of the church. Both Pastor Veronica and I regularly monitor our emails and phone messages, so please leave messages and we’ll engage with you promptly. My contact information always appears with my signature line below.
Mark Your Calendars Now for Upcoming Special Worship Services
Further detail about the following special occasions for worship is forthcoming, but please note these special liturgies now in your calendars!
May 18 at 7:00 pm + Ascension of Our Lord, Holy Communion
May 28 at 9:00 and 11:00 am + Day of Pentecost
May 31 at 7:00 pm + Visit of Mary to Elizabeth, Holy Communion
July 22 at 10:00 am + Mary Magdalene, Apostle, Morning Prayer
August 15 at 7:00 pm + Mary, Mother of Our Lord, Holy Communion
September 14 at 7:00 pm + Holy Cross Day, Evensong
November 1 at 7:00 pm + All Saints’ Day, Holy Communion
Upcoming Saturday Quiet Days at Faith-La Fe in 2023
Saturday, April 29 – an introduction to Lectio Divina, or sacred reading, an approach to prayerfully engaging scripture that emerges from the Benedictine tradition and is increasingly popular today among clergy and lay audiences. I’ve done extensive work on the experiential dynamics of lectio divina, and I’m eager to share insights for your inspiration and edification. We do a modified form of lectio divina during our Wednesday bible studies, but spending the day together will give us occasion to do this prayerful form of bible reading as it is more fully intended.
Saturday, June 3 – a day to more deeply explore the spirituality of preaching, with special focus on how sermons are occasions of spiritual guidance. We’ll also spend some more time on your role as listeners to sermons, and how you can get still more out of preaching for your spiritual edification. We will touch on listening to sermons at next Sunday’s adult forum, but focusing on this topic for a whole Saturday will give us occasion to go still more deeply into the topic. On this day, we’ll also learn some of what Luther had to say about preaching!
Saturday, September 30 – on this day, close to the commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, we will explore Franciscan Spirituality and what it might mean for Lutherans in ministry and mission in the 21st Century.
Saturday, October 28 – as we approach Reformation Sunday, this will be a day devoted to revealing key features of specifically Lutheran Spirituality, or Christian spirituality with Lutheran accents. We will discover that there’s a lot to draw from in our own tradition to take us ever more deeply into the spiritual life.
Saturday, November 18 – this day will be devoted to spending our time together in our beautiful nave doing “Stations of Our Stained Glass Windows,” a series of visual meditations on our stained-glass windows and the miracles and parables of Jesus they depict. We’ll explore in conversation the bible stories the windows are based on, and then look carefully at the windows to see features of the story which the stained-glass art highlights. Each station will feature a hymn before we move on to the next window.