Good Friday 2024

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this is a busy week for me. And the two things shared below are a big part of that busyness. I highly recommend setting aside your usual Good Friday practices and joining us!

The first is a good ecumenical reflection on where Christ is being crucified in our world today. The second is a beautiful, musical and meditative prayer (with the music of the Taizé community in France) that invites us all to center ourselves in prayer for the world. Neither of them are your typical Good Friday church experience -- but if we are followers of Jesus, we can take our faith to the streets and pray with people of all faith backgrounds. After all, he included all of us.

I will be attending both events. If you're in the Edmonton area, it would be lovely to see you there!

If you're in the neighbourhood...

Please consider this an invitation to join us for these two in-person Good Friday events, the first since the pandemic began: 

The Outdoor Way of the Cross is an ecumenical prayer event marking the suffering and death of Jesus. It is a time to reflect on how the gospel values of Jesus apply to individual and public life today. This year's theme is based on Micah 6:8 -- "And what does God require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." 

People of all faith traditions are welcome. The 2 km walk is reasonable for most ages and ability levels. Free street parking is available near the start location. Light refreshments will be provided at Hope Mission after the final station. 

For more information, search "Good Friday Outdoor Way of the Cross Edmonton," or use this link.

Good Friday Prayer Around the Cross is an ecumenical and musical evening of meditation with scripture, silence, and the songs of the Taizé Community, much like what happens in the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé, France, every Friday evening. It's an opportunity to allow beautiful, meditative music to wash over us and bring us to peace, to remember that Christ knows what it is to be human, and to understand that God accompanies each of us in our own struggles as we look forward to resurrection for ourselves and all of creation.

See https://www.facebook.com/events/1329978891255015

These are two of my favourite events of the year. I hope you can join us! Bring friends.

A Good Friday Evening Prayer Around the Cross

If you are able, please join me in prayer and reflection this Good Friday Evening at 7 pm Mountain Standard Time. Christians from all denominations are welcome to pray in this ecumenical prayer that includes scripture, song, and ten minutes of silence. It's the silence that I particularly love, and knowing that I am not alone in it, that there are other people praying with me.

Every life is touched by suffering, and Good Friday is the day when Christ shows us how to suffer, and how to love beyond suffering. Tonight's scripture will be proclaimed in English, French, and Ukrainian, and we will sing of the mystery of Good Friday in a few different languages using chants from the Taize Community. 

All are welcome. Please share this livestreamed event with your friends -- praying together, even online and at a distance, is a powerful thing. If the 7 p.m. timeslot doesn't work for you, the video will be available for at least 24 hours.

You'll find the prayer live (and after the fact) at this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1020594508867486.

Blessings of these holy days on you, dear readers!

Ecumenism on Good Friday

It's been a busier Holy Week than I expected, so I may be too late with sharing this moodling of invitation to my readers to join in our family's more recent Good Friday tradition. We like to attend and participate in ecumenical Good Friday commemorations in our city because Good Friday is one thing all Christians hold in common (along with many other things).

If you are looking for a less denominational way to mark the day we remember Christ's self-giving, I'd like to invite you to two special events tomorrow:

The Outdoor Way of the Cross begins at 10 a.m. at Immigration Hall (100 St and 105A Ave). It's an opportunity for Christians of all denominations (and people of any faith who want to join them) to walk with our inner city brothers and sisters, to reflect on social justice issues, and to sing and pray. It's a very meaningful reflection on Christ's presence in our world today. I just hope the forecasted snow doesn't get in the way!

And the second event is the annual Ecumenical Prayer Around the Cross, held at 7 p.m. at Providence Renewal Centre (address on the banner). It features silence, scripture, and the songs of Taizé. The music is gorgeous and easy to learn, a piece of Luke's gospel will be read in as many languages as we can muster, and the prayer is always from the heart of the gathered community. So if you're looking for some gentle meditative and musical prayer, you're most welcome. Bring a friend, and come sing and pray with us.

Here's a little taste of what we will be praying with tomorrow evening... the last words of Jesus:
In Latin: In manus tuas, Pater, commendo spiritum meum.
In English: Into your hands, Father, I commend my spirit.

Good Friday, again

I can't believe how quickly time goes. Here we are, at the end of Holy Week. As always, if you are in the Edmonton area, I invite you to join in two beautiful ecumenical events...

The cross at the top of Mount Tzouhalem
near Cowichan Bay, BC

The first is the 36th Annual Outdoor Way of the Cross, which begins at George Spady Centre (10015 105A Avenue) at ten a.m on Good Friday. I love this way to mark the day because has a strong social justice component, it attracts people of all ages and Christian denominations, and there's just something really amazing about being together and walking with our inner city sisters and brothers for two hours in an atmosphere of prayer and song. This year's theme is "Transformation -- Ourselves and Our World," and will include reflection on the UN's sustainable development goals.

The second is the Good Friday Taizé Prayer Around the Cross, 7 p.m. at Providence Renewal Centre (3005 119 Street). It's a contemplative prayer with music, scripture and silence, and a different way to be open to God's presence in our hustle-bustle world. I prefer it over Good Friday services, because it's a reflective space without so many words. In the community of Taizé, France, you can bet that the young people present will sing and pray well past midnight, but our prayer will run a little over an hour.

All are welcome to both events. Join your fellow Christians to pray and reflect on God's deep love for all God's children. And if you're not in the Edmonton area, have a beautiful Good Friday wherever you may be.

Triduum starts here

The cross from Taize

It's Thursday of Holy Week, one of my favourite weeks of the year. I'm finding, though, that my whole understanding of Jesus' death has changed. It's not so much about him saving us from our sins. I mean, what kind of God would demand an atrocity -- the death of one of his and her children -- to atone for other atrocities known as sin?

No, I think this weekend is about Jesus being with us in our struggles and our human suffering. He went through a most horrific end in solidarity with his human brothers and sisters all over the world who experience oppression, injustice, and personal disaster. It's as if he's saying to us, "See, I am with you. Don't be afraid. Love wins in the end."

So this weekend is not about the institution of the priesthood, or salvific death, or the "happy fault" and "necessary sin of Adam that won for us so great a redeemer." It's about getting through the struggles of life, with God's help, and reaching paradise with our brother who showed us the way. It's a weekend to remind us that God is all about mercy, justice, and love, not vengeance. It's a reminder of the resurrection of each one of us to a life of joy and celebration -- the now and the not yet. It's an opportunity to remember those embroiled in their own struggles, and to be in solidarity with them through prayer and action.

If you're looking for a special ways to mark this Easter Triduum, I invite you to join me tomorrow at 2 different events:

1) The Outdoor Way of the Cross. Participants will meet at 10 a.m. at Immigration Hall, 10035 105 A Avenue and walk an outdoor route with stops for reflection along the way. I find this to be particularly meaningful, as the messages given at each station often put us in touch with the struggles of our inner city brothers and sisters, and communities working against injustice in other parts of the world. Afterward there are refreshments with the inner city community.

2) Good Friday Taize Prayer Around the Cross, 7 p.m. at Providence Renewal Centre Chapel (3005 119 Street). An opportunity to pray for the world with Christians of all denominations, using song and silence at the foot of the cross. It's always very beautiful.

And Saturday evening, I'll celebrate the resurrection at Easter Vigil with my family. I hope you, my readers, will find special ways to celebrate the fact that life does not end -- our God loves us too much for that!

Happy Triduum!

Holy time

We're coming to one of my favourite weekends of the year, that of Easter. I love it because it is a time of story, ritual, and community, and because Christ chose solidarity with all those who suffer in order to show us what it means to really live. His actions call us to do the same in our lives.

The entire weekend is a grace-filled time in my books, but two ecumenical events stand out for me. The first is the 34th Annual Good Friday Outdoor Way of the Cross that begins at Hope Mission at 10 a.m. Christians from all over will come to be with our inner city brothers and sisters and reflect on the theme, "Be Not Afraid -- Love drives out fear." (1 Jn 4:18). It's threatening to be rainy this year, so I guess we'll be carrying umbrellas on the 1.8 km walk.

The other event is Good Friday Taizé Prayer Around the Cross at 7 p.m. at Providence Renewal Centre (3005 119 St). I love the chapel there, and the meditative music fits the day so well. Praying around the cross with other Christians underlines the importance of Christ's s life for us all no matter our denomination.

Of course, the Easter experience also includes Holy Thursday (today), Saturday's Vigil celebration of the Resurrection, and a whole lot of alleluias on Sunday. Lest you think I'm nothing but a religious nut, I will say that there will also be the fun of egg colouring, a search for chocolate bunnies, and a delicious family barbecue. A blessed Holy time to you all! Here's a lovely footwashing video... Enjoy!

For a good Good Friday 2012

This Sunday, I'm thinking about Friday. Last year, I recommended as much silence as possible for Good Friday. It's still a good plan to have a quiet day (we have a no computers/TV rule), but this year, I'd like to invite you to participate in my favourite Good Friday reflections.

Invitation #1: At 10 a.m., you're invited to gather with a good-sized crowd, rain or shine, outside of Hope Mission (9908-106 Avenue) to participate in the 32nd Annual Outdoor Way of the Cross. It's an ecumenical prayer event commemorating the suffering and death of Jesus, that offers time to notice how the gospel values of Jesus are important to individual and social life today (I'm plagiarizing from the advertizing and throwing in my own comments as well, but I suspect this is a case where the organizers won't mind being plagiarized). People of all faith traditions are warmly welcome. The walk begins and ends at the same location, and participants are advised to dress for the weather (I'll add a few exclamation marks to that last statement)!!! It's not a strenuous walk, as our L'Arche Edmonton community, including those in wheelchairs, participate every year -- the picture above shows one of my L'Arche friends closest to the camera. This year, we're particularly excited because we get to present Station 5, which focuses on Homelessness. I'm looking forward to participating in the music group, too.

The full walk takes about two hours, and there is fellowship with refreshments after the final station. Donations of non-perishable food and toiletry items are welcomed. As much as I appreciate church services on Good Friday, I appreciate this even more, because there's something really powerful about walking in the inner city in solidarity with the brothers and sisters there, reflecting on what we are called to  as Christians, and re-enacting Christ's walk to Calvary. Many of our inner-city brothers and sisters join us as we reflect on Christ's words in the 25th chapter of Matthew's Gospel, bringing his words to life:

" Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you? Or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?"

And the King will answer them, "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me." 

Invitation #2: You're invited to Good Friday Taizé Prayer Around the Cross, at 7:30 p.m. at Providence Renewal Centre (3005-119 Street). It's a beautiful hour of meditative scripture-based song that centers on a simple wooden cross.

If you're in the neighbourhood, please come to either or both of these events. The reason I love them so much is because they gather Christians from every denomination together to remember what is common to us all... Jesus, who set us free by leading us to new life! Laudate omnes gentes, laudate Dominum! Sing praises, all you peoples, sing praises to the Lord!

If you're nowhere near Edmonton, I'd love to hear about your own meaningful ways to mark Good Friday wherever you are.

Have a blessed Holy Week.