St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Port Royal, VA
We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.
Palm Sunday, March 24.
Coming up!
Quick link to Feb, 2024 Lent Calendar
Quick link to March, 2024 Lent Calendar
Holy Week
Holy Week introduction
Summary of the days
Why was Jesus killed?
Holy Week services
Holy Week Day by Day
Tenebrae, March 27
Maundy Thursday, March 28
Good Friday, March 29
Good Friday is essential
Easter Voices, Year B
Easter Year B
Easter Commentary
Ministries
Portland Guitar Duo at St. Peter’s
Help us advertise the concert!
Past Concerts at St. Peter’s
This week was the culmination of the Lenten part of God’s Garden. They reviewed the Palm Sunday story which they had heard earlier. They made beaded crosses to hang around their necks. Finally, after working on the Lord’s Prayer with hand movements earlier in Lent they presented their work to the congregation today on Palm Sunday, March 24,2024
1. Reviewing the story on Palm Sunday
2. Creating crosses
3. Reciting the Lord’s Prayer – Palm Sunday in Church
00 Liturgy of the Palms
00 Congregation
01 Opening Hymn – “All Glory, Laud, and Honor “
02 Readings
03 Epistle -“Let the Same Mind Be in You”
03 Epistle -“Let the Same Mind Be in You” – Gallery level
04 Hymn-“Were you there”
05 Gospel- Passion Reading
06 Sermon
07 Prayers of the People
08 Announcements
09 Offertory
10 Communion
11 Closing Hymn-“Alone thou goest forth, O Lord”
Click here to view in a new window.
Mark 15:33-47
Jesus tomb in the Edicule within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
What a devastating ending for a man who had brought abundance, healing, and hope to so many. The twelve disciples, overwhelmed and full of fear, had deserted Jesus. They did not even reappear to claim the body of their leader as the disciples of John the Baptist had done for him.
The disciples must have sadly said to themselves the same thing that the chief priests and the scribes so mockingly taunted Jesus with as he was dying on the cross. “Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Why did Jesus accept death on a cross?
An article in the 2024 edition of Living Well Through Lentpiqued my interest. It is about the bystanders on Palm Sunday and written by Victoria Garvey.
Many of the characters in the Palm Sunday Liturgy we know well- Pilate, Jesus, Peter, Judas, Barabbas, Mary Magdalene. We don’t see any such leaders in the “crowd.” Garvey writes “Only after Jesus’ arrest does the tide turn, and the “crowd” moves from support to condemnation because they listened to loud voices muttering fake news, because they were afraid to be counted among the risk-takers, because they feared losing hold of their own tenuous grasp of what was deemed acceptable behavior by their contemporaries. Over and over, we are reminded that even those closest to Jesus during his ministry are capable of turning way, of betrayal and cowardice.”
This sounds like today. We listen to the loudest voices, not necessarily those who makes the most sense. We tend to be timid over confrontation. And then there is the issue of fake news. We don’t analyze what we hear and assume those who speak or write have facts and/or reality on their side.
Bishop Robert Wright of the Diocese of Atlanta in his message prior to Palm Sunday considers that we prefer a Jesus who looks at issues in particular ways, particularly those we on which we agree. Facts and logic may not have been applied.
“The rise of Christian nationalism in our nation is us crying out “crucify him” because Jesus chooses to be Messiah in a particular way: unbought by any political party and unbiased toward race, gender or country of origin. Biased only towards sharing and healing those in pain. It seems we prefer a Jesus who votes as we vote, lives where we live and who hates who we hate.