Tarrying in Holy Week
Welcome to Holy Week. Throughout the ages, this particular week leads Christian communities into the principal act of worship for the entire year: the Great Vigil of Easter. It is likely that you have heard from a member of the clergy, including myself, inviting you to tend to Holy Week and to journey with Jesus over the arc of this week. And, perhaps, the invitation comes as something that feels more focused on things like attendance numbers than anything else, but I can say that I do not make that invitation because I want full services. (Though, I will admit that a full church is a wonderfully, glorious experience for everyone.) Rather, the invitation to Holy Week, to attending worship services, and to a week of prayer and fasting, is centered in the spiritual benefit of walking with Jesus from the upper room to the empty tomb.
In Holy Week, we are invited to tarry with Jesus. Dr. Salina Stone defines tarrying as a spiritual practice that is common in Black churches and says that it is ““a collective time of waiting on God.” (Tarry Awhile, p. 11) Over the arc of this week, we tarry with Jesus to see how God will act, how God will companion with us over this journey, and how God will bring about a new creation, a transformed creation, that reclaims the hope God has long held for the very creation God created in that place we call “the beginning.” Holy Week is a time for us to enter into the practices of tarrying and contemplation all the way through the Cross. We are invited to take up this particular journey and to grow in our knowledge and love of God and neighbor precisely because we make this pilgrimage with Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem.
This week, I pray you will find time to tarry with Jesus along this particular road. If you are able, I hope you will join us on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings at 7PM for Compline in the courtyard. Then, beginning on Thursday, we will enter into the Three Days, called the Triduum in the church, and go with Jesus to the cross and ultimately to His resurrection. And I dearly hope you will consider joining us for worship on Maundy Thursday (7PM), Good Friday (12 Noon or 7PM), and The Great Vigil of Easter (7PM).
For those who are not able to join us for Compline on the earlier part of the week, I invite you to consider using the Devotions for Individuals and Families in the Book of Common Prayer. There is a devotion for morning, midday, early evening, and at the close of the day. While you do not have to pray at all four of those times, you can use the devotions for your time of tarrying with Jesus according to the time of day you find yourself entering into prayer. In place of the reading provided in the devotion, you might want to read the Gospel passage assigned for each day of this week, which you can easily find here. As you read the narrative, place yourself there. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Touch? Are you close to Jesus, or are you on the fringe of the action taking place?
Then, spend a time in quiet contemplation of God and how God is moving in your life. Open your heart and soul to receive the blessing God is holding open for you. Pray with God and encounter the love that changes all things, redeems all things, restores all things.
Let us tarry here…for a while…with Jesus…
For reflection:
Have you ever had an opportunity to worship through all of Holy Week? What was that like for you? How did you grow spiritually during that time?
What is your prayer for this week of prayer, contemplation, and fasting?
How will you tarry with Jesus this week?
