We are moving from Passion Sunday to Easter: Holy Week

Dear Saints,

We are reaching the end of Lent and entering a very busy and intense part of the Christian year: Holy Week, the week before Easter. During Lent this year, we reflect daily on Matthew's version on the Passion of
Christ. We fast on Fridays, concentrating on the Stations of the Cross, reflecting on the last day of Jesus' life. In our Lenten Bible Study, we reflected on the centrality of the poor in the bible and the ministry of Jesus. The Church's liturgy and worship during Holy Week are a proclamation of the unity of Christ's life, suffering, death and resurrection in the life and witness of the Church.

Passion Sunday
Holy week starts with Passion Sunday, also known as Palm Sunday, Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And that on a donkey of all modes of transport!This will take place in our regular Sunday Worship time slot at 10h30. On Sunday, we will start our service at the Hut, which will continue with a procession as we re-enact Jesus's final entry into Jerusalem.

Holy Monday
On Monday, 3 April, we continue our regular Evening Prayer at 19h00 via Zoom.

Triduum
In the middle of Holy Week, what was begun on Ash Wednesday is brought to a close on this Holy Night of Maundy Thursday. What begins on the evening of Maundy Thursday, does not end until the resurrection of our Lord on Easter Morning. It is the beginning of the ancient Triduum, which means 'three days' in Latin.

Within the Church, it means the Great Three Days
– Maundy Thursday
– Good Friday and the Easter Vigil.

This is the time when the Catholic Church observes the Paschal Mystery, in which the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ saves and redeems us. The mystery of our faith.

This is one event, not three separate events. The Triduum is a single, unitary event of the Paschal Mystery. Not just a commemoration of a historical event but a solemn entry into the saving mystery of the passion-death and
resurrection event in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, who has been revealed through this process to have been fully human yet fully God.

The structure of our liturgy over these three days will bear witness to the unity of this world-changing event. At
the beginning of Maundy Thursday, we start with a greeting, but at the end of the service, there is no dismissal, nor recessional hymn, the service has an abrupt ending. The Good Friday devotion you will find has no
formal beginning or ending. It just starts and ends in the air. The Service of the Light, Easter's first service, has
no greeting. Only at the end of the Vigil Service does the congregation join in a joyful dismissal.

Be ready for a roller coaster ride over these three days, an experience that will take you to the depth of despair
and to the height of exceeding joy.

The gift of the Church to us during the Holy Days from Ash Wednesday to Easter gives us an opportunity as
disciples of Christ to deepen our faith and strengthen the fellowship of all believers.

Let us continue this journey during Holy Week. Having moved with Christ towards Jerusalem, keeping our eyes
fixed on the Cross, we move towards the resurrection of our Lord and living our lives as people of the resurrection.

Yours in Christ as always,

Jacque