The Three Days 2013

Life involves crossing various boundaries: from childhood to adolescence, adolescence to adulthood, single life to married life for some, and ultimately life to death. Salvation also involves crossing boundaries. For Israel, the exodus meant journeying from slavery to freedom. From its earliest days, the church has celebrated Christ’s journey from death to life with a liturgical observance known as the Triduum or Three Days, which begins Maundy Thursday evening and concludes on the evening of Easter Sunday–the liturgical day being reckoned from sundown to sundown. In one continuous celebration encompassing three consecutive days, the church remembers Christ’s salvific acts and experiences his presence in the sacraments of baptism and the eucharist.

Maundy Thursday, March 28, 2013: Join us for worship on Thursday with Holy Communion at St. Peter’s at 7:00pm. Prayer of the Day: Eternal God, in the sharing of a meal your Son established a new covenant for all people, and in the washing of feet he showed us the dignity of service. Grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit these signs of our life in faith may speak again to our hearts, feed our spirits, and refresh our bodies, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Good Friday, March 29, 2013: Join us for worship on Friday at Messiah at 7:00pm.  Prayer of the Day: Almighty God, look with loving mercy on your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, to be given over to the hands of sinners, and to suffer death on the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Sunday of the Passion Palm Sunday March 24, 2013

The passion story in Luke’s gospel is filled with human and cosmic images of what God is doing through the death of Jesus: restoring all creation to the grace and peace of paradise.  Join us for worship on Sunday with Holy Communion at St. Peter’s at 9:00am and at Messiah at 10:30am. Easter Egg Hunt at Messiah at 9:30am, and at St. Peter’s there will be a brunch at 10:15am followed by an Easter Egg Hunt. Prayer of the Day: O God of mercy and might, in the mystery of the passion of your Son you offer your infinite life to the world. Gather us around the cross of Christ, and preserve us until the resurrection, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 17, 2013

The Lenten preparation is almost at an end. Something new is about to happen! Mary’s act of anointing Jesus is extravagant, but when we know that grace has come to us, it is time for lavishness. Our old values get rearranged when we realize how deeply we are loved. Join us for worship on Sunday with Holy Communion at St. Peter’s at 9:00am and at Messiah at 10:30am. Sunday School classes meet at Messiah at 9:30am, and at St. Peter’s at 10:15am. Prayer of the Day: Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert. Open our hearts to be transformed by the new thing you are doing, that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT, March 10, 2013

Lent is the time for coming home. In the ancient church it was the season for reconciling lapsed Christians to the community of the faithful. Today’s readings provide images of homecoming–Israel’s entry into the land of promise, a prodigal son who returned to his waiting father.  Join us for worship on Sunday with Holy Communion at St. Peter’s at 9:00am and at Messiah at 10:30am. Sunday School classes meet at Messiah at 9:30am, and at St. Peter’s at 10:15am. Prayer of the Day: God of compassion, you welcome the wayward, and you embrace us all with your mercy. By our baptism clothe us with garments of your grace, and feed us at the table of your love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.