People's Prayers

Monday, May 2, 2022

Prayers of the People: Get Up and Follow ~ 4th Sunday of Easter '22 Yr C

For Sunday, May 8, 2022, Readings: Acts 9:36-43, Psalm 23, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30

Peter...knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." The she opened her eyes and seeing Peter, she sat up...This became known...and many believed in the Lord. [Acts 9:40b-41, 42b]

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want... [Psalm 23:1]

“…for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to the springs of the water of live, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” [Revelation 7:9-17]

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him...If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly. Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe...because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. [John 10:24-25a, 26-27]

A few days before Peter’s arrival in Joppa, he, in Christ’s name, healed a paralyzed man named Aeneas, nearby. It may be that disciples heard the news and sent for Peter to come and heal their beloved Tabitha, though she had died before his arrival. The power in these miracles is less about a paralytic who then walks, or Tabitha – Dorcas in Greek – rising from the dead, but about the effect of those who witnessed the results and told others who told others and who then believed in Jesus as Lord.

It is significant that he sent people from the room and then prayed – he was not attempting to act on his own power – and also that he then commanded Tabitha to get up. He didn’t ask her, he told her with the authority of and full faith in Jesus within him. As a result, many believed in the Lord. What Peter did had an impact – not just for Aeneas and Tabitha – but for all who heard or saw. Just as today they will know we are Christians by our love, says the hymn; what we do in the name of Christ can draw near or repel the faith of others. In claiming our faith we must also claim the wider impact of our faith: what we do, what we say, the actions we take are noticed and likely considered as a measure, a reflection of that faith we claim. A burden, perhaps, yet offset by what we are given in return.

In the lyrical and mystical readings from Revelation, the 23^rd Psalm*, and John’s Gospel** we see Jesus as Lamb and Christ as Shepherd, and, Jesus as human. The Lamb at the center of the throne, says Revelation, will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life… As the human Jesus, he tells the gathered in John, I have told you, and you do not believe. This line often requires me to stop, think, and question just what do I believe? Am I a step removed, as were those who were beyond Joppa and only heard about Peter’s miracles and believed? Or, am I with Thomas and still need to “see” something for myself?

It also might be that in this human sojourn we forget that our faith isn’t just about what is to come in the eternal pasture of Heaven as long as we are reasonably well-behaved. We are to live now as followers of Christ Resurrected, in the peaks and valleys of life, the light and the dark, the days of more faith and the nights of less. Lutheran Pastor Bobby Morris puts it quite beautifully saying: We look eagerly to experience resurrection life beyond the grave. But let us not overlook the resurrection life – the very refreshing of our souls – that the risen Christ offers daily to those who follow him. [emphasis added]

Jesus was gently adamant when he said My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. Let us allow our souls to be revived, to fear no evil, to know that goodness and mercy are following us all the days of this life. We are in the grasp of Jesus from whom we cannot be taken away. Let us live the resurrection life we have been given and rest in the knowing that God will wipe away every tear. Now get up, Follow our Shepherd, and live!

* The symbolism of what is one of the most well-known pieces of Scripture across all faiths and none, is fascinating and complex. I commend to you a charming and interesting little book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller, who himself was a modern-day shepherd, for a closer look at the connections between the Psalm's imagery and real-life sheep farming. I can certainly find myself among Keller's sheep, especially in those unruly moments when I wander away.

** While Tabitha/Dorcas is less familiar to us than others spoken of in Scripture, she certainly continues to have an impact. While little is known but her good works and acts of charity, tunics and other clothing she had made, there is today an organization that uses her Greek name to help those in need of immigration services, legal, education, path to citizenship, and a clothing collaborative. While not a faith-based organization, the impact of Dorcas continues. Click here to see more: Dorcas International

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, awaken our desire to follow Your voice through the peaks and valleys of our human sojourn. Teach us to live the resurrection life now, through words and actions of goodness with mercy, and Your refreshment of our souls each day, until we dwell again in Your Heavenly House.

Risen Lord

RESPONSE: Our Shepherd, our Shelter

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, revive the souls of all who govern across this Earth, this Country, and this Community. Strengthen their spirits as You guide us all along right pathways for the health, safety, and equality of every sheep of Your pasture. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Risen Lord

Our Shepherd, our Shelter

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, anoint the hearts of all in chronic pain, in the woes of addiction, or lost in despair, and restore hope and energy to all who give them care. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need…add your own petitions

Risen Lord

Our Shepherd, our Shelter

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, wipe the tears from those who mourn as those who have died now drink from the springs of new life in You, forever. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Risen Lord

Our Shepherd, our Shelter

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently…add your own petitions

Risen Lord

Our Shepherd, our Shelter

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, we give You thanks and ask Your blessings for the chosen Disciples of our own time who spread Your table before us, feeding our faith and confirming Your presence in our lives. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Risen Lord

Our Shepherd, our Shelter

The Celebrant adds: O Christ, our Messiah, grant us the faithfulness to awaken each day with You first in our thoughts, then inspired by Tabitha and others, to live in deep devotion to You. May our own prayers, good works and acts of charity among Your flock, fill us with such depth of faith, that our moments of unbelief are few. We ask through the Holy Spirit, our Comforter; and the Almighty, our Creator; who together with You reign as One God, now and forever. Amen.

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Monday, April 25, 2022

Prayers of the People: Cast to the Other Side ~ 3rd Sunday of Easter '22 Yr C

For Sunday, May 1, 2022, Readings: Acts 9:1-6, Psalm 30, Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-19

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?...Who are you, Lord?...I am Jesus…get up and enter the city, and you will be told what to do. [Acts 9:4b-6]

Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning…Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; O Lord, be my helper. [Psalm 30:6, 11]

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them singing, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessings and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” [Revelation 5:13]

...Jesus stood on the beach [and] said to them, "Children you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat"...and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish...When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread...Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast..." When they had finished breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John...do you love me...Feed my sheep." [John 21:4a-5a, 6b, 9, 12a, 15a, 17c]

Distrust and suspicion seem to be the norm of the fraught times of today, and so it was with persecuted Christians about Saul as the most ferocious pursuer of those who belonged to the Way. Suddenly Jesus blinds Saul and orders him into the city to wait for instructions. Who is more confounded ~ Saul or those he meets in the city? Who would most confound you today if you encountered a danger to yourself and others who was suddenly desperate for your help?

In the passage from John’s Gospel, Jesus is cooking breakfast by the sea; another unexpected post-Resurrection appearance. Aiding them in their fishing, he tells the disciples to throw their nets to the other side and when they do they struggle in to shore with nets so full they can hardly manage ~ and the nets never break! After dressing to impress, Peter swims ashore to greet the Lord, and the real agenda for this moment commences directly after the fresh fish were grilled and devoured. Peter was hurt by the continuing questions of Jesus as to whether Peter loved him. It seems that Peter has forgotten his recent triad of denials! Yes, of course, says Peter and Jesus tells him to “feed my lambs.” After the second round Jesus tells Peter to “tend my sheep.” And the third time, Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” He then says Follow me.

Although not in our readings for this Sunday, I find it useful to remember that it is in Matthew 4:18-19, when Jesus first calls Simon Peter and his brother Andrew to follow him and he will teach them to be fishers of people. Now they and we are called again to follow and to tend and feed the youngest to the oldest ~ the cantankerous and the pliant, the fearful and the docile, those who think as I do and especially those who do not ~ as they all belong to our Most Worthy Lamb, our Lord Christ. Everyone we meet are his instruments, however we find them, loving them whatever they profess to believe in religion and otherwise. Let us polish up our Lenten promises and good intentions, and overcome our reluctance to give of ourselves in new and different ways. Let’s cast our nets on the other side of Christ’s boat, the one we usually avoid, to go fishing in God’s pastures wherever they are, simply caring for all the Flock, as we continue following the call of Christ our Lord.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Risen Christ, Lord of the Way, turn the tide and pull us in from drifting on the shallow sea of earthly wants, setting our sails to be fed, loved, and energized to follow You.

                                                       Jesus, Son of God
RESPONSE:                Our help and our direction

~ Risen Christ, Lord of the Way, may those who navigate earthly governments blinded by the pursuit of unhampered power and personal glory, suddenly discover an inner vision of peace, justice, and mercy for Your people and Your Earth. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, Son of God
                                                       Our help and our direction

~ Risen Christ, Lord of the Way, grant hope and healing for all in physical or emotional pain, and lift up the hearts of all who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need…add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, Son of God
                                                       Our help and our direction

~ Risen Christ, Lord of the Way, release the grief of those who weep in the night to let the morning reveal the joy of our beloved, who now live again in the glory of Your eternal kingdom. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, Son of God
                                                       Our help and our direction

~ Risen Christ, Lord of the Way, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently…add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, Son of God
                                                       Our help and our direction

~ Risen Christ, Lord of the Way, nourish the spirits of all who are chosen to guide us on our journey to You, that as they feed our souls through Your Word and Sacraments, we, in turn, will be shepherds to Your flock, feeding them with Your love. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Jesus, Son of God
                                                       Our help and our direction

The Celebrant adds: Christ Jesus, Master of the Earth and Sea, in casting Your net to the other side, You brought Saul aboard to open his eyes to a new Way. Grant us new sight, leaving all judgment to You, to be Your love-in-action for all sides of Your boat. We ask through the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and the power of the Almighty, who together with You reign as One God, now and forever. Amen.

Monday, April 18, 2022

Prayers of the People: Simply Prove It ~ 2nd Sunday of Easter '22 Yr C

For Sunday, April 24, 2022, Readings: Acts 5:27-32, Revelation 1:4-8, Psalm 150, John 20:19-31

The High Priest questioned [the Apostles] saying, “We gave your strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching…” But Peter answered, “We must obey God rather than human authority…” [Acts 5:27b-29]

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah! [Psalm 150:6]

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. [Revelation 1:8]

Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said "...Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." [John 20:28-29]

The reading from Acts is perfect for this Sunday after Easter. A “what-happened-next” sequel to the drama of the Crucifixion and Resurrection narratives and a prequel to Pentecost. I would encourage everyone to read through to verse 42, as some may be surprised that the Apostles didn't just hide out until the day of Pentecost. What they were doing immediately after the Resurrection was quite courageous. But of course, a compelling piece always is the telling of the story of the Apostle Thomas. Widely known as Doubting Thomas, he is the one who simply didn’t/couldn’t/or wouldn’t accept what he was told: that Jesus had risen from the dead. He wanted proof.

I can put myself in his place quite easily. It was a head-spinning week beginning with the glorious Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem with crowds even more jubilant at Jesus’ arrival than ever before. As the week progressed it was time for the Passover dinner in an evening that turned strangely mysterious as Jesus shockingly washed everyone’s feet, and again said things not easily understood, then later he was suddenly arrested. The next day Thomas watched as this man he loved and admired more than any other and had given up his normal life to follow, was brutalized, degraded, and then confusingly vilified by many of the same people who had been singing Hosannas to him just a few days before! Then he was nailed to a cross, suffered an agonizing death and was buried in a tomb with a heavy stone rolled across the entrance. Thomas must have spent the following 24 hours trying to comprehend it all – the glory, the joy, the shock, the horror, and the shiveringly cold reality of the death of one so beloved. NOW Thomas is told that Jesus has come back from the dead?! He says, Prove it.

Perhaps it wasn’t so much that he didn’t believe but more that he had chosen not to until he had seen for himself. The crucifixion and death of Jesus was so traumatic and so very final. How could he dare to believe in the hope of such a thing as resurrection without the concurrent fear of soul-crushing disappointment? Anyone who has experienced the searing grief of significant loss will understand.

Today we’re in an age of instant communication, “viral” social media posts, never-ending “breaking news,” overwhelming us with data that is real, slightly real, not at all real, and frequently bizarre. Like Thomas, we just want to be given answers with a little explanation so we don't have to think through all the conflicting information. It's also easier when the people or organizations we like and trust tell us what we want to hear. Yet, how do we distinguish between oft-repeated gossip and rumor that begins to sound true after the eleventeenth forward on Facebook or Twitter and actual truth? In Thomas' case, he had the benefit of seeing and touching the Resurrected Christ wounds. For us, we must rely on our sometimes-faltering faith. In the ways of our current times, it’s fine to trust your source of information yet it is prudent to keep an open mind, accepting that sometimes checking other sources might yield better data. In the ways of Christ, our information comes from the legacy of the Apostles in the writings of the New Testament that stand 2,000+ years later: "[These] are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name."

For the skeptics and atheists and those who just aren’t sure, it is true that we cannot prove the fact of the Resurrection by solid evidentiary standards. Neither can we prove that it didn’t happen. And if you do believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit do not exist, I’m okay with that. If it is critically important to you that I believe in the way you do, I’d be open to a change of mind if you simply prove it.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Holy Jesus, our Christ of Earth and Heaven, in Your grace and peace we see Your living Presence through the willing eyes of our souls. Grant us such fullness of faith, that even as seeds of doubt may sprout within us, we seek and strive to follow Your Word and Witness to everlasting life in Your Name.

Risen Christ, Divine Messiah
RESPONSE: You are our Strength and our Hope

~ Holy Jesus, our Christ of Earth and Heaven, fill the rulers of our Earth, our Country, and our Community with the personal courage and humility to triumph over the temptations of unjust, authority to govern with equity, integrity, and reverence for all of Creation and its inhabitants. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Christ, Divine Messiah
                                                       You are our Strength and our Hope

~ Holy Jesus, our Christ of Earth and Heaven, restore wholeness to all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, and refresh the energy of those who give them care. We now join our hearts to pray for those in need…add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Christ, Divine Messiah
                                                       You are our Strength and our Hope

~ Holy Jesus, our Christ of Earth and Heaven, You have broken the power of earthly death, now bring light to the darkness of those who grieve, as all of heaven is alive with joy, receiving those we love into eternal bliss. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Christ, Divine Messiah
                                                       You are our Strength and our Hope

~ Holy Jesus, our Christ of Earth and Heaven, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Christ, Divine Messiah
                                                       You are our Strength and our Hope

~ Holy Jesus, our Christ of Earth and Heaven, may Easter’s new fire burn brightly in the hearts of all those ordained in Your Church, to inspire and light our pathway to You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Christ, Divine Messiah
                                                       You are our Strength and our Hope


The Celebrant adds: Lord God in Christ, Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, release us from the limits of our earth-bound minds freeing our souls to seek our life’s fulfillment only in You, our Alpha and Omega, our Source and our Completion. We ask through the immeasurable wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and the unwavering love of our Almighty Creator, who together with You reign as One God, in glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.

Monday, April 11, 2022

Prayers of the People: The Rising Son Shines Forever ~ Easter Day '22 Yr C

For Sunday, April 17, 2022, Readings: Isaiah 65:17-25, Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Acts 10:34-43, Luke 24:1-12

I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. [Isaiah 65:17-18]

Peter began to speak to Cornelius and the other Gentiles: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him…” [Acts 10:34-35]

I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me and have become my salvation. The same stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone…On this day the Lord has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it. [Psalm 118:21-22, 24]

…when they went in, they did not find the body.While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen…returning from the tomb, they…told this to the apostles.But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and [the apostles] did not believe them. [Luke 24:3a-5, 9a, 12]

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Easter Day is the most joyous day in the Christian year. While Christmas is lovely and inspiring in its own way, it would be no more than a pagan celebration of the winter solstice without the miracle of the Resurrection. Our Liturgical journey has taken us through the 40 somber days of Lent, and in this Holy Week, we re-enacted the Last Supper with the humility of foot-washing, walked the Stations of the Cross, and experienced the mournful desolation of Good Friday. And now we arrive at the most potent symbol of Christianity ~ the Resurrection of Christ, our Messiah. The bells and flowers, the alleluias, triumphal music, and soaring voices all proclaiming that Jesus, the Christ, IS Risen.

Before we turn to brightly colored baskets filled with chocolate bunnies, hard-boiled eggs with shells dyed in multiple and vibrant hues, marshmallow chicks, and jelly beans, before the ham or turkey or roast has finished in the oven and all settle into the feast, let us take a moment to review the brief and shining life of the man for whom the face of the world was changed forever, Jesus of Nazareth.

The infant humbly born was celebrated instantly by angels and shepherds alike. A neighboring group of exotic Kings or Wise Men traveled far to honor and worship the One whose Star was a sign for them of a new King in Jerusalem. The current King, Herod, wasn't pleased and so Joseph, warned in a dream, took Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt and while we aren't specifically told, we are given to believe they returned sometime after Herod's death. We get a glimpse of him at Passover, lost and found in the Temple at about age 12 keeping the Rabbis on their theological toes. The timeline loses him until his cousin John, the Baptizer is prophesying his coming and ultimately baptizes Him. He is about 30 and from his 40 days in the wilderness preparing for his ministry, it is a swift and politically fraught period of about 3 years. His teachings upset the theocratic structure of the ruling Judaic leaders who had compromised their own souls to keep a semblance of power during the Roman occupation. Their devious plots to upend his miraculous healings, his preaching and teaching of compassion, peace, cooperation, justice, and mercy in the hearts of his followers ultimately resulted in their seeming success, a politically manipulated murder of a small-town, would-be prophet. But of course, 2000+ years later, Christ is in still our midst.

We worship, study, and pray to follow the Christ who teaches us to this day that our salvation leads us to eternal life if we but follow him. And now, in our time as then, and in all times since, we must also be wary of the false prophets whose shiny exteriors denigrate the very essence of the message of Jesus. Take care to turn away from the sorcerer who can tantalize with completely anti-Gospel charm and lead us astray as quickly as those who cheered with waving palms and loud Hosannas for Jesus' arrival on Palm Sunday and shouted in cold blood "CRUCIFY HIM" only a few short days later.

We find the fullness of our souls in the empty tomb. Christ is within us and we are marked as his own forever. Let us shout ALLELUIA, CHRIST IS RISEN! And let us stay the course, in our own brief sojourns in this life, of the truth and love of his Gospel.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Living Christ, Risen in Glory! By rising from human death, You have brought us to the dawn of a new Creation to be made alive in You. Fill us with the willingness to seek Your strength of humility for ourselves, to die to sin each day, and to mindfully choose You as the cornerstone of our earthly life.

Radiant Lord of Life

RESPONSE: Alleluia! You ARE Risen, indeed!

~ Living Christ, Risen in Glory! Resurrect Your Truth and Your Love in all of us who claim faith in You, especially those who govern in all places across this Earth, this Country, and this Community. Inspire us and our leaders to provide mercy, justice, and respect for the least of our companions in this brief mortal journey. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Radiant Lord of Life

Alleluia! You ARE Risen, indeed!

~ Living Christ, Risen in Glory! Restore hope to the hopeless and faith to the fearful, soothe the suffering and grant stamina to all who serve You in others. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need…add your own petitions

Radiant Lord of Life

Alleluia! You ARE Risen, indeed!

~ Living Christ, Risen in Glory! Lift the veil of grief from all who mourn as our loved ones now dance in the limitless joy of eternal life with You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Radiant Lord of Life

Alleluia! You ARE Risen, indeed!

~ Living Christ, Risen in Glory! We pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently…add your own petitions

Radiant Lord of Life

Alleluia! You ARE Risen, indeed!

~ Living Christ, Risen in Glory! May Your Resurrection be the source of unbounded elation that overflows in all who are anointed to guide our spiritual paths and enliven our desire to be renewed as Your own forever. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Radiant Lord of Life
Alleluia! You ARE Risen, indeed!

The Celebrant adds: Alleluia! Our Lord is Risen! Holy Jesus, excite our hearts and minds, and transform our souls with the miracle of Your return from the dead. Infuse our consciousness with Your Immortal Presence that our thoughts, words, and actions begin and end in You. We ask through You, our Savior Glorified; and the Holy Spirit, the Fire of our Faith; who together with our Luminous Creator, are One God, now and forever.

Monday, April 4, 2022

Prayers of the People: Palm Sunday/The Sunday of the Passion ~ 6th Sunday in Lent '22 Yr C

For Sunday, April 10, 2022, Readings: Luke 19:28-40, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:39-23:49-56

[Jesus said] "Go into the village...and as you enter you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden...

[Luke 19:29a]

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself...humbled himself... [Philippians 2:5-7a,8a]

Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed [the people] again, but they kept shouting, Crucify, crucify him. A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death...But they kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified; and their voices prevailed." [Luke 23:20-23]

Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, "Surely this man was also with him...But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about!"…At that moment…the cocked crowed…Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord…”Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.”

[Luke 22:59-62]

Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday are at once separate and also one commemoration. The recounting of the procession with palm branches celebrates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Passion narrative develops the details of his Last Supper, the betrayal by Judas, and the machinations of the Chief Priests whose local standing and power among the Jews and Rome were clearly threatened by this acclaimed and unorthodox prophet and miracle-worker.

His arrival created quite a stir. To this day in the Palm Sunday processions our hymns and shouts with "Hosanna" ["Hoshana" in Hebrew], praise to God with great elation, are as exuberant as when Jesus was greeted by the throngs that lined the road from Bethany to Jerusalem. They sang and shouted Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord [Ps 118: 26]. Cloaks and branches on the pathway for Jesus were a sign of the highest honor. The palm was the symbol of triumph and victory in the Greco-Roman culture of the times. The donkey or colt was itself a deliberate choice of Jesus sending the disciples to specifically retrieve it. The prophet Zechariah says in the Old/Hebrew Testament: Rejoice greatly, O daughter, Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter, Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey [Zechariah 9:9]. Jesus was accused later in the week of proclaiming himself "King of the Jews," yet riding into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey would have been a known and understood symbol that he was coming in peace, as one would do to show a peaceful arrival rather than a warrior King riding in on a grand horse, bent on war.

All these elements were carefully noticed and recorded by the Roman occupiers and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council, who had its own police force and trial court and who set the deadly wheels of what is to come in motion. How easy, it seems, to go from enthusiastic cheers of the crowd to the politically manipulated yet equally enthusiastic and malevolent jeers by the same people mere days later.

The tone is set for this new journey through Holy Week in our own times of political machinations, violence, crowd wrangling, and manipulation. It is time for me to acknowledge to my innermost self the moments of my own betrayal of Jesus through denial in thought, word, action, or plain inaction. Turning away from the unpleasant, the insincere, and especially the dangerous is safer and less stressful in the short run, but, going with the flow by participation or neglect reaps far more tyranny and destruction than standing up to oppression.

Dr. Martin Luther King said it best, "A time comes when silence is betrayal." That time came for Peter, that time is now for us. We, together, are the voice and power of Christ’s love in times of Palms and in the ensuing Storms. Let us always sing HOSANNA in the name of Jesus, our Redeemer Lord.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ O Jesus, our Lord, arouse us out of a mere re-reading to know now the sudden joy of Your arrival in our midst, and to feel the shudder in a few short days as beguiled minds turn to riotous, politically-manipulated, and deadly betrayal. Inspire us in this day, and every day, to experience the breadth, the depth, and the power of Your love, and to never deny You within ourselves or to another.

Jesus, our Christ
         RESPONSE:                   We commend ourselves to You

~ O Jesus, our Lord, we turn to You for the courage to require that all who hold or seek office in the governments of this Earth, this Country, and this Community be exemplars of principled justice, mercy, and peace. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                     Jesus, our Christ
                                                       We commend ourselves to You

~ O Jesus, our Lord, in Your loving-kindness make Your face to shine upon those who suffer through chronic pain, distress in spirit or in life, and refresh all who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need…add your own petitions

                                                     Jesus, our Christ
                                                       We commend ourselves to You

~ O Jesus, our Lord, fill the hearts of all who mourn with the comfort of the joyful and jubilant welcome those we love have received in their new and eternal life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                     Jesus, our Christ
                                                       We commend ourselves to You

~ O Jesus, our Lord, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

                                                     Jesus, our Christ
                                                       We commend ourselves to You

~ O Jesus, our Lord, may each of those who lead us in Your Church be granted the tongue of a teacher and the humility of Your human likeness, as they guide us all to stand up together with faith and trust in You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                     Jesus, our Christ
                                                       We commend ourselves to You

The Celebrant adds: Lord God in Christ, agitate our spirits and provoke our desire to seek Your mind in all that we do. Urge us to empty ourselves of all that draws us away that we may find our true and everlasting life in You. We ask this of You, our Hope and our Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier of our Souls; who together with the Almighty Creator is One God, now and forever. Amen.