Special Good Friday observances during a pandemic

This second Holy Week during pandemic times seems a bit more organized than last year's. The world community has a better sense of how the corona virus spreads, and with vaccinations becoming more available, it feels like we are moving one step at a time toward the bright end of the tunnel. But we still can't gather together for Easter events like we used to, and I don't think AHS will allow anyone in our churches to sing the Exsultet Proclamation -- the wonderful song exulting in Christ's triumph over death. Not yet, especially with variant cases on the rise.

But I fully intend to sing and celebrate this weekend, even if it's only at home. And I invite you to join me in the two usual ecumenical Good Friday opportunities I like to share each year.

The first is the 41st Annual Edmonton Outdoor Way of the Cross, my favourite ecumenical event of the year. Last year, it was hurriedly switched from outdoor walk to video format when health restrictions came into effect. The organizing committee learned many things about making socially distanced videos on busy streets in the inner city, not least of which was that the video camera microphone picked up city noise more easily than the voices of the presenters! 

This year, aware that our ecumenical community still wouldn't be able to gather for the traditional inner city walk, the committee had a bit more time to plan a different approach toward sharing social justice topics of concern and the ways that Christ walks in solidarity with us as we work for change. The 2021 video will premiere at 10 am on Good Friday morning, and its theme is "From Fear and Fatigue to Hope and Action: Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me." It will also be available to watch on the Good Friday Outdoor Way of the Cross Edmonton website and on the Facebook Page, but the video below should work at 10 am on Friday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo8IhrqjSkE

The second event is the Ecumenical Good Friday Prayer Around the Cross, a musical and meditative space that will feature scripture, silence, and the songs of the Taizé community. When we were able to gather, this was my other favourite ecumenical event of the year, usually held in the lovely chapel at Providence Renewal Centre with a good-sized crowd. This year's comes to you from my home -- I am very grateful that the Brothers of the Community of Taizé have given me permission to broadcast their music and style of prayer to those who have prayed with our Taizé musicians' group here in Edmonton in the past. The prayer begins at 7 pm April 2nd and will last about an hour. It can be found on the Taizé Prayer in Edmonton and Area Facebook Page, and if you click this link, it should take you directly to the event livestream itself:

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/492609458420002. 

For those unable to participate during the livestream, a video will be made available on the Facebook Page for viewing when the livestream concludes.

All are welcome to both online events, and the beauty of it all is that people with internet access can join us from almost anywhere that internet access is available, so it's not just us locals who get to enjoy them. Feel free to share this post with others and spread the word.

Come, sing and pray with me... and have a blessed Easter!

Two ecumenical ways to have a good Good Friday

I remember dreading Good Friday when I was a kid. Such a heavy, heavy day, with that long story of Jesus' ordeal before he died, and that sad song asking, "Were you there?" To me, it was overwhelmingly sad that a good man had to die, supposedly to atone for my sins. I think it was the guilt complex that came with Good Friday that made it so difficult. I mean, was the fact that I fought with my sisters really why Jesus had to die?

But I was missing the point. Jesus came to show us how to live, even in the most impossible circumstances. He was all about love and forgiveness, right to his death, when he said, Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). 

Even so, I'm still not a huge fan of the traditional three o'clock Good Friday service. That's why I offer alternative possibilities for Good Friday observance in these moodlings every year -- ones that are focused less on the reading of the Gospel narrative of the passion, and more on the hope that Jesus gives all people by the way he surrenders himself to God. His deep trust in God and his solidarity with us in the most difficult of human struggles is meant to give us hope and courage. So for the last several years, I have been attending two different Good Friday events that offer slightly different slants on Christ's death. If you've been following my moodlings for a while, you know where I'm going with this...

The first event is the Edmonton Outdoor Way of the Cross. It's an ecumenical event that begins at 10 am outside of Immigration Hall on the corner of 100th Street and 105th Ave. If the weather holds (the present forecast indicates snow and cool weather, so it's important to dress for it), we will walk an easy two-kilometer route, ending a block from where we began. There will be several stations where the crowd will gather to listen to reflections on the theme of "Speaking Truth to Power." As we follow the cross through the inner city, we are challenged to become Christ's hands and feet on the day we remember that his were nailed to the cross -- we are all called to act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly like he did.

The second event is Ecumenical Prayer Around the Cross in the style of Taizé at the beautiful main chapel in Providence Renewal Centre (3005 119 Street) at 7 p.m. It's a little longer than an hour of meditative reflection with silence, a short passage from the Gospel, prayers of the gathered community, and a lot of beautiful music that calms and quiets the soul so that God can be heard.

Both events are free, though donations to Hope Mission are welcomed after the Way of the Cross. The free-will offering collected at the evening Ecumenical Prayer will be divided between Wings of Providence Women's Shelter and the Anawim Food Bank -- two charities associated with the Sisters of Providence, who are hosting the evening prayer.

However you choose to observe Good Friday, I hope it is a deeply meaningful day for you, one that is sad, yes, but also hopeful, motivating us all toward justice and peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL1_IhVTJmk