Mid-Week Message - March 25

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be always with you!

Here we are, on the threshold of Holy Week.  On Sunday we will remember Jesus's entry into the city of Jerusalem, riding a donkey, accompanied by people waving branches and spreading their cloaks on the road and shouting "Hosanna!" which means "Save us!"

Our next stop on Holy Week will be Maundy Thursday - the night before Jesus died. If you read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, or Luke, the story associated with this night is the story of the last supper - Jesus and his friends gathered around a table, sharing a meal. Jesus takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it, and gives it to his disciples saying, "This is my body given for you. Each time you do this, remember me." Then Jesus takes a cup of wine, gives thanks, and shares it with his disciples saying, "This is the cup of promise in my blood. Each time you do this, remember me."

In the Gospel of John, the last night of Jesus's life unfolds a bit differently. Jesus and his friends are still sharing a final meal, but instead of sharing the bread and the cup, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, and tells them that they are to love and serve others in the same way. The name that we use for this day, "Maundy," comes from the Latin "Mandatum" which means "commandment" - Jesus says, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Maundy Thursday is a tender, intimate time in the week, and we honour it by incorporating all three symbolic acts - sharing a meal together, sharing the bread and cup of communion, and washing one another hands (more practical than foot washing in our time and place).

Then we move on to Good Friday, when we remember Jesus's arrest, his trial, his suffering, his crucifixion, and his death.  This is a very somber day in Holy Week.  We don't turn away from the suffering, but we accompany Jesus right to the end of his life and beyond. This service ends in silence.  We know that the story doesn't end here, but for the moment, everything is over.

Holy Saturday is an interesting moment in Holy Week. We don't have any gatherings on Holy Saturday, but it is an in-between sort of day.  We are through the horrors of Good Friday, but we haven't quite come to the empty tomb of Easter. (I was saying to a group this week that I think that all of us encounter Holy Saturday times of life on a somewhat regular basis - those times when the past is finished, but the new thing isn't here yet.)

And then we come to Easter - the empty tomb, and Jesus is risen from the dead.  On Easter, we travel through grief and fear ("they have taken his body, and I don't know where they have placed it!") through to joy and new beginnings.  Love is stronger than death itself, death has lost its sting and its power over us, and the worst times we go through are never the last times.

There is a full story arc to Holy Week - if you were to skip the in-between points on the journey, you would jump straight from a joyful parade to the joy of resurrection; but if you slow down and journey with Jesus through the week, the joy of resurrection will be all the greater.

So please consider this to be your invitation to join us on our full journey through Holy Week this year.  This story is at the heart of who we are as followers of Jesus.  We are an Easter People - we are people who trust in resurrection and new beginnings - but in order for resurrection to hold any meaning, we need to journey to get there. You can see the poster for Holy Week by clicking here (and please feel free to share it with others), but here is a summary of all of our gatherings:

Palm Sunday (March 29) - 9:15 at Long Reach; 11:15 at Westfield and FB Live

Maundy Thursday (April 2) - 6pm at Westfield, with a catered meal. Pay-what-you-can for the meal, with a suggested amount of $20 (but if you can't give that much, that is OK; and if you want to give a bit more to help cover those who can't pay, it will be gratefully received)

Good Friday (April 3) - 11am at Long Reach and FB Live

Easter Sunrise Service (April 5) - 7am outside at Brundage Point River Centre, followed by a potluck breakfast at Westfield United Church

Easter (April 5) - 9:15 at Summerville and 11:15 at Westfield and FB Live

In addition to these gatherings, I am going to be hosting a brief gathering on Facebook Live at 1pm each day of Holy Week (other than the two Sundays), so that we can read the parts of the story that we will miss - for example, did you know that the Wednesday of Holy Week is called "Spy Wednesday"? We will read, and we will pray together as we move through the week.

Moving on to announcements for this week:

• Worship on Sunday (as mentioned above) will be at 9:15 at Long Reach and 11:15 at Westfield and on Facebook Live. We will be reading the Palm Sunday story found at Matthew 21:1-11.

• Long Reach - Easter Egg Hunt - the annual Easter Egg hunt will be held this Sunday, March 29, immediately before worship. If you have children, grandchildren, or great-grands who would like to be part of this, please make sure that you have them to church before 9:10 on Sunday morning! (And children from our other churches are very welcome to participate too!)

• Westfield - Lenten Socials - this Sunday will be the last of our Lenten Socials for this year, following worship. Anyone with a last name between Q and Z (along with anyone who missed their regular week) is invited to bring "eats and sweets" to share, and Session will have the coffee and tea made.

• Choir Concert - The Best of the Best - the third concert in our 2025/2026 season is coming up tomorrow night, and you don't to want to miss it! Each choir member has selected their favourite anthem from our repertoire, and will be introducing it, explaining why they chose it. We are going to be singing the music that we like to sing (which is also likely the music that you like to hear)! You can see the poster by clicking here.

• Pray for Peace with Hands and Heart - next Tuesday will be our final gathering, and we will be praying for Peace Within Creation. We will be at Long Reach for this final gathering, and it will be at 7pm. (On a personal note - this is the one that I have been looking forward to the most! Karol and I came up with a great activity to pray for the interconnected web or community of creation.)

• Birthday Party Invitation - Most of you who are reading this newsletter know Joel Crabbe - Joel is turning 50 this year, on April 6.  If you know Joel, you know that his two favourite days of the year are Christmas and his birthday - he has been counting down the days to his birthday since Christmas!  Joel would like to invite all of you to an open-house birthday party on Saturday April 4 between 2pm and 4pm at his house (4 Carter's Point Road). No gifts please; but birthday cards would be gratefully received as Joel is hoping to receive 50 cards, one for each year of his life.

• Bible Study - Our Student Minister Steve has finished his Lenten bible study, so next week we will be returning to our "regular" Wednesday morning bible study. 10-11:30 in the parlour at Westfield United Church. We have been reading our way through the Old Testament over the past couple of years getting a sense of the story arc - God's people are currently in exile in Babylon - the only remaining parts of the story will be getting them home from exile, then re-building the land. Everyone is invited!

Thank You Corner - this week's "thank you" goes out to the members of our Two Rivers Pastoral Charge Session. This group of people oversees the spiritual life of our pastoral charge, making decisions about worship, sacraments, pastoral care, and Christian education. They meet faithfully, once a month, with extra meetings, phone calls, and emails as needed. I am deeply grateful to be able to work with such a dedicated group of people who are willing to dive deeply into their own faith in order to lead the rest of our pastoral charge.

For a closing thought this week, I want to share a piece that I heard on CBC's The Current yesterday. It is an interview with biologist Nalini Nadkarni who studies the ecosystems in tree canopies. She tells some interesting and profound stories about her time spent climbing trees; and towards the end the conversation takes a deeply theological turn. She and the host talk about why we only value trees for their "extractive value" rather than their inherent value. Why do we only value trees for what we gain from them, from what we can extract from them, rather than valuing them because they are trees? I think that the same question could be asked of all of creation - from humans to rivers to rocks to oil. Do we value these things because they are part of God's beloved community of creation, or do we value them only in as much as they can give to us? You can listen to the interview by clicking here.

Blessings to you and yours, today and always,

Kate.

Rev. Kate Jones

Two Rivers Pastoral Charge

(506) 757-2201 (office)

(506) 343-1307 (mobile)

www.tworiverspastoralcharge.com

Pronouns:  she/her/hers

"Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: "You must love your neighbour as you love yourself."

(Matthew 22:36-39)