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maundy thursday

blog, trauma

Why this Parkland shooting photo is so painful

Another shooting, another community in grief. I’m not going to repeat the shooter’s name because that what people who do this stuff want. A shooter walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL and killed 17 people and injured many others.

Of the many images of the Parkland shooting that emerged, one brought tears to my eyes instantly.

The Associated Press photographer Joel Auerbach took a picture that was truly painful. I saw this picture shared on social media dozens of times on Facebook and Twitter. The photo came up on the news on television. It is being shared over and over.

Why are so many people sharing it?

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Maundy Thursday

Why we call it Maundy Thursday

Today is Maundy Thursday — no, not Monday Thursday, which would be an interesting concept: society could work Monday through Thursday, with Fridays off!  Some Christians misunderstand that this day is only a “Catholic” celebration.   Christians both ancient and modern have remembered Christ’s last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, which begins the great triduum, the three days of the paschal celebration.

The word “maundy” comes from the Latin word maundatum for “commandment”, which comes from Jesus’ words from the last supper: “I give you a new commandment; that you love one another…”   The full Latin phase is maundatum novarum, which means “a new commandment.”  According to Robert Webber (The Services of the Christian Year, #252), these words were translated in the French word mande.  This in turn was anglicized into “maundy.”

During this day, Christians celebrate Jesus’ last supper with his disciples through serving and receiving communion with a special service. Often, all of or some of John 13 is read.  This scripture recalls: Continue Reading…

Holy Week, Maundy Thursday

Prayer for Maundy Thursday

Prayer for Maundy Thursday

Loving Provider,
you gather me in this upper room with your son,
to be fed by your love.
At that supper, Jesus told us to “love one another”
and I know that is the heart of his gift,
his sacrifice for me.
I ask that I might find the source of my own heart,
the meaning for my own life, in that Eucharist.
Guide me to the fullness of your love and life.
Amen.

Lent

What makes Holy Week so… Holy?

This past Palm Sunday kicked off a week, to most Christians, that represents an important time in the life of the Church: Holy Week.  The week before Easter is a special time in which Christians remember the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Is this week holier than all others?  Well, yes and no.

Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University and an executive editor of Christianity Today,  helps us understand this week in light of its “holiness”:

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Holy Week

What is Maundy Thursday?

Today, Christians around the world commemorate Maundy Thursday — no, not Monday Thursday, which would be an interesting concept: society could work Monday through Thursday, with Fridays off!  Some Christians misunderstand that this day is only a “Catholic” celebration.   Christians both ancient and modern have remembered Christ’s last supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, which begins the great triduum, the three days of the paschal celebration.

The word “maundy” comes from the Latin word maundatum for “commandment”, which comes from Jesus’ words from the last supper: “I give you a new commandment; that you love one another…”   The full Latin phase is maundatum novarum, which means “a new commandment.”  According to Robert Webber (The Services of the Christian Year, #252), these words were translated in the French word mande.  This in turn was anglicized into “maundy.”

During this day, Christians celebrate Jesus’ last supper with his disciples through serving and receiving communion with a special service. Often, all of or some of John 13 is read.  This scripture recalls:

Continue Reading…

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