Let us bless the bread that gives itself to us
with its terrible weight, its infinite grace.
...
with a love that makes us anew.
Let us gather around these gifts
simply given and deeply blessed.
And let us go bearing the bread, carrying the cup,
laying the table within a hungering world.
Jan Richardson, Circle of Grace.
Holy Week brought a history for me this year - a perspective from the time we joined Creator. What was experienced last year for example? What was important to the congregation? What set us apart and what drew us together? In 2023 Creator commemorated Maundy Thursday and Good Friday together in one
service. It was hard at first to imagine the combination as it was planned. I felt a kairos reckoning asking to be made.
Creator is currently focused on building community. This focus was represented by members of the community at this service giving each other communion individually and many of us either washed each others feet or had Pastor Emillie wash them. The first reading was from Exodus. The story emphasized Christianity's roots in Jewish tradition for me - drawing the communities together through Passover.
The community building practices that have been in place during this Holy Week were having multiple volunteers reading from scripture, tonight's foot washing, and the way communion was shared tonight.
On the national stage during this Holy Week the 45th U.S. president was hawking God Bless The USA bibles on television. The $59.99 Bible, which was first published in 2021 and features an American flag and the words “God Bless the USA” printed on the cover. Inside, together with the words to “God Bless the USA”, the bible has "God Bless America", the text of The Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and other historic American documents. Promotional material for the Bible shows the former president alongside country singer Lee Greenwood.
Historian and author Jemar Tisby says the whole project echoes the values of Christian nationalism — the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation and the government should work to sanction Christianity on a national scale. The tenets of Christian nationalism are historically tied to prejudice, nativism and white supremacy.
“There’s a very long tradition of what is included and what is not included in the Bible,” Tisby wrote.
Through his followers Trump compares his current trials to the persecution of Jesus. As a Christian I find the teachings of Jesus rich with wisdom. This Bible being touted during Holy Week reminds me of what I learn from the story of Jesus together with his teachings. The story of Maundy Thursday starts with a table fellowship among friends. It leads to crucifixion and then to resurrection. What I think about today is that the resurrection stories, from the disciples locked in the upper room of the Last Supper to the beauty of the Emmaus story completes the circle back to table fellowship. Jesus does not promise to his followers "I will be your retribution."
This is not a political blog yet something is not understood from what I read in the "national public square". When Marjorie Taylor Greene, the controversial Republican U.S. Representative from Georgia, writes in a statement released on April 27 that she believes Catholic bishops are “satanic”, that they are protecting pedophiles, and that they are “destroying our nation” through their support of migrants, and that Satan is “controlling” the Catholic Church in the United States as a result. I feel this compels Christians to express a different understanding of scripture if they have one.
I know the Creator community has a different understanding of scripture and our Catholic brothers and sisters motives towards helping migrants than Greene's.
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