It is my privilege to preach Maundy Thursday evening at exciting St. John’s Church, Tallahassee – informed by the Liturgy of the Palms and Passion Sunday today, which is a special Outreach Sunday for this wonderful, growing congregation; and by prayer time in the old missions of San Antonio last week (where I took the photo) with son Allston and his girlfriend; and by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land just before Ash Wednesday that makes me mindful of the sandy, rocky paths Jesus and his followers would have also walked; and by a brief sabbatical a year ago which included for Sarah and me Holy Week in the old city of Prague, and in its churches and synagogues.

Wherever you are this Holy Week, and wherever you are in your spiritual journey, there is a church and congregation near you, expecting you, and ready to welcome you as you prepare for the human horror of Good Friday – and the divine joy of Easter Day and the Great Fifty Days beyond.

Jesus invites us to his table, cleanses us, gives himself as our example, and then he sends us forth to live into his commandments of love.

Come, be nourished in Word and Sacrament, and then go in peace to love and serve the Lord – and all his people, so in need of forgiveness and reconciliation – and of hope and joy.