Maundy Thursday

On the Night Before... "It was as if a shadow passed across the floor in that upper room. I wanted to scream, to stop him, but my lips were fastened shut as if gripped by invisible fingers; I watched in mute silence, an inexpressible grief gripping my heart as he began washing our feet and wiping them with the towel he was wearing. Simon Peter had protested but relented; I too wanted to refuse him, to hold back my feet... "

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Psalm 78:14-20, 23-25
Exodus 12:1-14a
I Corinthians 11:23-32
John 13:1-15

On the Night Before… “It was as if a shadow passed across the floor in that upper room. I wanted to scream, to stop him, but my lips were fastened shut as if gripped by invisible fingers; I watched in mute silence, an inexpressible grief gripping my heart as he began washing our feet and wiping them with the towel he was wearing. Simon Peter had protested but relented; I too wanted to refuse him, to hold back my feet, thinking that if somehow I could stop him then all that he had foretold might be prevented; if I could cause one dot to remain absent from this script then I could change it. But when he came to me and looked up into my eyes, how could I refuse him? I could only weep; tears rolled down my cheeks. He looked lovingly into my eyes and met my tears with compassion, addressing us all saying, ‘I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done…. You must love one another just as I have loved you…. I will not leave you orphans.’

“Now we are frightened, and he is alone. I wish I could rest my head upon his bosom once more, once more listen to his sacred heart.”

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Newsletter

Parish News: May 24

In this week’s newsletter, the rector notes Pentecost’s reversal of Babel—not by restoring a single language, but by enabling understanding across difference as each speaks and hears in their own tongue. She treasures hearing parishioners read “God’s deeds of power” in many languages during worship, and invites us to consider what it means to speak of God in our own heart language—whether shaped by mother tongue, place, trust, or profound shared experience. In a time of contempt for difference, Pentecost reveals the blessing of many tongues and the Holy Spirit’s gift of mutual understanding across culture, faith, and ethnic background.

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