Dear friends,

At this point we’re midway through Holy Week. It is strange and unusual to be apart at this time but I hope you are finding ways to slow and enter into the mystery of Christ’s Passion this week with special intention. I was speaking with a parishioner this week who said, “I have definitely been enjoying a much more full prayer life this Lent, but I miss the communal liturgies so much.” Like me, you probably resonate especially with the last part of that comment.

Tomorrow (Thursday) begins the Paschal Triduum as we walk towards the Resurrection of our Lord on Easter Day: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Our worship during these three holy days are not distinct liturgies but rather one continuous liturgy spread out over three days.

Here are our plans for celebrating the Paschal Triduum during quarantine.

• Maundy Thursday: Thursday, April 9th at 7:00pm on the Facebook page for St John’s (live streamed). CLICK HERE. The liturgy for both Maundy Thursday and Good Friday can be found in a single booklet HERE.
• Good Friday: Friday, April 10th at 10:30am on the Facebook page for St John’s (live streamed). CLICK HERE. The liturgy for both Maundy Thursday and Good Friday can be found in a single booklet HERE.
• The Easter Vigil: Saturday, April 11th at 8:00pm at home. The liturgy for a home version of the Easter Vigil can be found HERE. Some good tips in the introduction.
• Easter Sunday! Sunday, April 12th at 10:30pm on the Facebook page for St John’s (pre-recorded, Watch Party). CLICK HERE. The liturgy for Easter Sunday will be sent out on Friday or Saturday.
• For other ways that you can deepen your experience of Holy Week CLICK HERE.

I have heard that some of you were unable to participate in the service on Palm Sunday because you were not able to access Facebook. I’m sorry for this. We’ve now posted the video on the website and you can watch it HERE.

That said, you don’t need an account to watch the videos live and participate with everyone else. For example, if you click the link above to tune in to the live stream of Maundy Thursday tomorrow night it should simply take you straight to the St John’s page where you can scroll down, find the live stream video, and join in. Facebook may prompt you to log in or sign up for a new account but there should also be an option that says, “Not Now.” If you click that it will take you through. We will make sure that everything is accessible on our end but if for some reason you are still unable to access the videos we will post them to our website immediately after streaming them on Facebook. Should you have any technical issues please contact me and I will try to help you with trouble-shooting.

Friends, we are days away from sharing in the joy of our Lord’s resurrection. But first we must share in his suffering. This week, may you know his sorrow and his joy. His absence and his presence. The darkness of the tomb and the brightness of his risen life.

Yours in Christ,

Jonathan+