Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Dear friends,
This weekend, we begin the final two weeks of Lent. These final weeks are often called “Passiontide,” as we participate in a series of prayers and meditations which lead to our remembering deeply Jesus’s passion, death and resurrection. The first week of Passiontide is where our prayers and preparations begin, as anticipate the final week of Jesus’s life. Then, during the second week, which we call Holy Week, we pray through Jesus’s final days specifically, as we then prepare to celebrate his resurrection at Easter.
This time of year is therefore very much one of remembrance and mourning but also joy as we look ahead to the resurrection. Indeed, this is something which we contemplate on our lives as Christians as well as in the lives of the figures in the Biblical landscape who we recall at this time of year, as we contemplate our own journey into the heart of God made known in Jesus Christ.
In light of this, we do indeed find ourselves bidding farewell this weekend to two longtime and much beloved members of our own community. On Saturday, Apr. 5 at 10 a.m., we will be celebrating the Requiem Mass for Elizabeth “Betsy” Bishop; and on Monday, Apr. 7 at 10 a.m., we will be celebrating the Requiem Mass for Bradford S. “Brad” Barton. Both services will take place in the parish church and will be livestreamed on our Facebook page as per usual.
As we remember and give thanks for these two wonderful people who mean so much to our community, we are reminded of the hope of the resurrection to new life which God calls us to in this season. Through Jesus Christ, God calls us to new life in which sorrow and death are no more, and the promise of eternal life is made real. Let this be our prayer for Betsy and Brad, and for all those who we love but see no longer, as we await Christ’s coming again in glory, and the day when we all meet again face to face in the new creation and love of God.
Rest eternal, grant unto them O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.
May the souls of Betsy and Brad, and all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, and rise in glory. Amen.
With every blessing,
Ed.
The Rev. Edward Thornley
Rector of The Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist