All Glory, Laud, and Honor...

Aloha! Our penitential season of Lent continues this week as we draw closer to Palm Sunday and Holy Week. It is my honor and joy to walk with you on this journey as your Vicar.

Last Sunday was the Fifth and final Sunday in Lent, and we focused on a very intimate gathering captured in John 12:1-8, with Jesus in the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. It’s a shocking scene, fragrant with expensive perfume and sacrificial devotion, and it urges us to consider what shockingly generous acts of love we might undertake for our loving Lord here at St. Timothy’s. I hope you’ve had an opportunity to ponder that this week.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, a festive and yet sobering start to our Holy Week experience. We will gather outside in front of Sumida Hall at 9 a.m. to receive palm branches and palm crosses that members have lovingly made for us, and begin our service. Then we’ll process (as you are able) into the Chapel, waving our palm branches and singing “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.” After we celebrate the Eucharist, our Palm Sunday service will conclude with the reading of the Passion narrative, and we will depart the church prepared to observe Holy Week. (And if you are able, please join us in Sumida Hall after worship for fellowship and to help stuff Easter eggs for the keiki with candy and stickers!)

I hope you will make a commitment to attend as many of our Holy Week services as you can this year, so you can experience the full range of emotions and spiritual graces of these holy days.

On Thursday, April 17, our Maundy Thursday service will begin at 6 p.m. in the chapel. After this moving service recalling Jesus’s time with his disciples in the Upper Room, the chapel will remain open for Vigil Watch until 10 p.m. The chapel will open again for Vigil Watch on Friday morning at 7 a.m. until 10 a.m. There is no sign-up for the Vigil—simply come be present and spend as much time as you would like in silent prayer and meditation. Devotional materials will be available for your use.

On Good Friday, April 18, we will offer services at 12 noon and 6 p.m. Following the 12 noon service, you are invited to stay for a Stations of the Cross liturgy, a meaningful way to experience the Via Dolorosa, the walk of tears, that Jesus experienced on his way to the cross and the tomb.

On Saturday, April 19, our Easter Vigil service will begin at 6 p.m. in the courtyard in front of the chapel as we light the Paschal candle. Then we’ll move inside for our service. This service will usher us into the dawning Resurrection of our Lord.

Our Easter Sunday service is on April 20 at 9 a.m. This will be a glorious and joyful celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection. Following the service, all the keiki can enjoy our Easter Egg Hunt on the playground, and all those who can stay will enjoy a special fellowship time in Sumida Hall—and please feel free to bring something delicious to share with our St. Tim’s ohana!

We’re especially grateful to our musician, Zachary Hamada, and our growing choir for offering special anthems in our Palm Sunday, Easter Vigil, and Easter services! We’re also grateful for all the members of the Altar Guild, Eucharistic Ministers, Acolytes, and Lectors, Sue Ann Wargo and Paul Mahuka for all the bulletins, and all who minister in this most sacred time in the church year.

Holy Week is a time of deep, prayerful reflection and spiritual renewal as we journey with Jesus toward the cross. Our 40 days of prayer, penitence, and preparation in Lent will finally come to full fruition on Easter Day. I look forward to seeing you at these services. And why not invite family members and friends to join you? Everyone is welcome at St. Timothy’s!

From the bottom of my heart, mahalo nui loa! I continue to be blessed by each of you, and I invite us all to go forth to bless others all around us in the name of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. 

Aloha Ke Akua!
Fr. Pete+

Watch Rev. Pete’s video invitation to Holy Week and Easter at St. Timothy’s on Facebook!
Click here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/162Uukdy3S/