Dear friends,
I recently heard Bishop Susan say that as she travels through our diocese these days, the people she encounters are hungry for hope. This is a tough time in our country and in our world, particularly for those who live on the margins of society and those whose livelihoods have suddenly been eliminated. Hope can be hard to come by.What is hope? According to the Oxford Dictionary, hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Both expectation and desire are required for hope. To expect something but not desire it sounds to me like dread; to desire something with no expectation of ever getting it crushes a person’s soul.
During the Clinical Pastoral Education portion of my seminary training, I spent 12 weeks providing pastoral care in a kidney dialysis unit in Beverly, MA. Because the patients had to come in every other day, I got to know them well. One was a frail elderly widower whose wife had died recently. I asked him once what gave him hope, and he immediately replied, “That I will see Helen again.” And then he quoted Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. That faithful man’s hope was tied not to the vicissitudes of earthly life but to the divine work of Jesus.
I pray that the same is true for each of us, even and especially when the world around us is dark and threatening. That’s exactly what the world was like when Jesus came into it as one of us. That’s why Jesus came into the world as one of us—to save us, and through his death and resurrection to give us life. The sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ (BCP 501) is what we celebrate at Easter, no matter how bleak things seem all around us. All our hope on God is founded, as the hymn says.
Toward the end of his long letter to the Romans, Paul writes: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13). That is my prayer for you as we celebrate the Resurrection together again this year. In Easter season—and in every season—may you abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And may we together be a source of hope for those in our world who so desperately need it.
Happy Easter! And may your hope abound!
Blessings. -Anne
PS. As is customary here at St. Andrew’s, an Easter offering envelope will be included in this Sunday's bulletin. Please bring it with you on Easter Day along with your Mite Box offering for Episcopal Relief & Development and your flowers to help decorate our outdoor cross.
I look forward to walking through Holy Week with you so that we arrive together at Easter ready to receive, celebrate, and proclaim the sure and certain hope of resurrection.
Holy Week and Easter Services at St. Andrew's
Maundy Thursday - April 17
- 5:30 PM - Maundy Thursday Family Service. This gathering is designed for families with young children (although anyone is welcome!) and will include dinner, communion, foot washing, and activities for young children.
- 7:00 PM - Maundy Thursday Service (also live streamed)
Good Friday - April 18
- 12:00 PM - Stations of the Cross
- 7:00 PM - Good Friday Service (also live streamed)
Holy Saturday - April 19
- 7:00 PM - Holy Saturday/Service of Light
Easter Day - April 20
- 6:30 AM - Sunrise Service behind Hilton School
- 8:00 AM - Holy Eucharist, Rite I
- 9:45 AM - Children’s Chapel and Easter egg hunt (meet in Parish Hall).
- 10:30 AM - Holy Eucharist, Rite II (also live streamed)