Good Friday Passion Vespers 2024

in

Other people hurt us. They hurt us with cruel words, breaking promises, or not including us. And when these things happen to us, our natural reaction is to be angry.  We might respond in kind – hurt the person back in the same way. But even if we don’t, we tend to hold onto the sin. We remember it, ruminate on it. Over the years, the grudges heap up. The grudges make us angry and bitter.

What does not come naturally is to forgive. Not just move on and pretend nothing happened, but really, truly forgive. Forgiveness is a gift worked by the Holy Spirit….

Read More

Holy Thursday Divine Service 2024

in

Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread and gave it to His disciples. And the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ immediately started to quarrel.

St. Luke tells us, “Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.” (Luke 22:24 NKJV) After this, instead of praying, they slept. Then they fought the guards, Peter slicing off a man’s ear. Then they ran.

But first, they argued. About who was greatest.

Read More

Holy Thursday 2023

in

Jesus, the enfleshed God, stoops down into our filth. The emperor becomes a servant. The earth is a graveyard filled with innumerable rotted corpses. Their dust clings to the soles of our feet. The ancient sin corrupts our hearts. But Jesus, the enfleshed God, cleans us and feeds us, as a father cares for his children. This is love. Not mere sentiment, but bold action. Action that costs….

Read More

On Worthy Reception of the Lord's Supper

in

If we charted the history of the age for admission to communion, you would see it be very low for well over a thousand years, then rise sharply in the ages of rationalism and pietism, until the mid-to-late twentieth century when it begins to come back down. There are a number of factors involved in this, but underlying it all is this question: what makes a person ready to receive the Eucharist? …

Read More