The Holy Week tradition that is the most meaningful for me is the stripping of the altar and sanctuary of the church at the end of the liturgy on Maundy* Thursday. As the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and Psalm 22 are read, anything that can be carried out of the worship … Continue reading Stripped Bare: A Reflection on Maundy Thursday
"Course he isn't safe, but he is good. He is not a tame lion." These are the oft-quoted words with which C.S. Lewis describes Aslan, his Christ-figure from The Chronicles of Narnia. They are 'oft-quoted' because they hit at something profoundly true about Jesus. He is not safe. He doesn't fit into our preconceived notions … Continue reading The Judas Within: A Reflection on Wednesday of Holy Week
There was a great New Yorker cartoon the other day that featured a woman looking down to the empty streets below and saying into her phone, “We’re in the part of the movie that’s usually a montage.” This desire to speed up time and just get through to the other side of this pandemic been … Continue reading This Hour: A Reflection on Tuesday of Holy Week
Well, friends, welcome to Holy Week, a week like no other. We speak of Advent and Lent being times of reflection. And they are. But Holy Week goes one step further, as we walk alongside Jesus and his friends and followers towards disaster. In today's Gospel reading, which actually takes place before the triumph and … Continue reading Offering: A Reflection for Monday of Holy Week
We are in a time of crisis. The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on our health, on our healthcare systems, communities, and economies is going to be immense. We don't know what is going to happen or when this is going to end. The old battle between faith and fear is being waged in all … Continue reading Crisis: A Reflection on Palm Sunday
Matthew Root 