Welcome.
We begin our Calendar by listening to the Palm Sunday Gospel. Click here for the audio file.
Jesus, when you rode into Jerusalem
the people waved palms
with shouts of acclamation.
Grant that when the shouting dies
we may still walk beside you even to a cross.
The collect for today, from A New Zealand Prayer Book – He Mihinare o Aotearoa is:
Jesus, you spoke with passion,
you acted without fear, and we remember.
Help us when we have to speak out,
to speak the truth
and without malice to speak.
What might you be reluctant or fearful to speak out about?
Click here to read the National section in today’s NZ Herald. Are there issues of justice you might be called to speak out about?
Michael Leunig wrote this prayer:
We give thanks for our friends.
Our dear friends.
We anger each other;
We fail each other.
We share this sad earth, this tender life,
this precious time.
Such richness. Such wildness.
Together we are blown about.
Together we are dragged along.
All this delight.
All this suffering.
All this forgiving life.
We hold it together.
By Good Friday Jesus’ friends would have deserted him. Who are the friends who have supported you? Do you need to say thanks, to forgive or seek forgiveness from a friend? Contact a friend today.
The Auckland City Mission has seen a huge increase in the need for food parcels and other emergency support ever since the first COVID-19 lockdowns last year. Read about the Mission’s response to the effects of the pandemic here and consider donating money or food.
Today, Maundy Thursday, we cross the threshold into the The Great Three Days. Notice today’s picture, taken in Christ Church, Alfriston. A stained-glass image of Jesus holding the cup at the last supper is juxtaposed with the glass baptismal font in front. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus asks James and John, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with?” Jesus’ question comes into sharp focus on this day.
With the busyness that comes as Holy Week progresses, it is possible to feel very crowded. We invite you to still yourself using an ancient practice called Centring Prayer. Click here to read a description of Centring Prayer.
Good Friday is the most holy and harrowing of days. We stand with the disciples in their fear, bewilderment and grief.
Click here to watch Divinitus, the choir of Dilworth and Diocesan Schools sing Haere Ra. This piece was written by Grace Brebner, who was at the time a student of Diocesan School for Girls.
Click here to watch a beautiful depiction of Jesus’ journey to the cross, by Dan Stevers.
Post a photo to our Facebook Page which captures the essence of something you found meaningful in worship today.
As Christians, we know that Easter is just around the corner. But we’re not there yet.
It is very tempting to rush past Good Friday to Easter Day. Holy Saturday is
characterised by silence, absence and hope. The invitation is to sit with the discomfort
of all that has happened on Good Friday, with the hope of Easter as yet unrealised.
Click here to read a poem entitled The Sadness of Holy Saturday.
Click here to watch and listen to the Choir from Holy Trinity Cathedral sing And I saw a new Heaven by Edgar Bainton. This piece is based on Revelation 21:1-4. You’ll find those words here.
Each Saturday in this calendar you are invited to undertake a prayer practice called
The Examen. Click here to learn about it and here to be led through The Examen.
Concluding Prayer:
God of opportunity and change,
praise to you for giving us life at this critical time.
As our horizons extend, keep us loyal to our past;
as our dangers increase, help us to prepare the future;
keep us trusting and hopeful,
ready to recognise your kingdom as it comes.
Amen.