Some
Thoughts on Passion Sunday in the Plague Year 2020
Here are some Christian facts about Passion Sunday: “In
the liturgical year of
some Christian denominations, Passion
Sunday is the fifth Sunday of Lent,
marking the beginning of the two-week period called Passiontide. In
those Anglican churches which follow the Sarum
Use,
crimson vestments and
hangings are
pressed into service on the fifth Sunday of Lent – replacing the Lenten
array (unbleached muslin
cloth) – and vestments are crimson until (and including) Holy
Saturday. Reflecting the recent shift away from the observance of
Passiontide as a distinct season, the Church
of England's Common
Worship liturgical resources suggest red for Holy
Week only (with the exception of the Maundy Thursday Eucharist)”.[1]
This is a strange year, to be sure. We will not be celebrating Passion Sunday in
the traditional way, that is, inside our beloved St. Paul’s. No, we are aiding the civil authorities in
“tamping down” the spread of the current plague, COVID-19. In this, we are not surrendering to secular
pressure, but are instead doing our Christian duty in obeying the civil
authorities. Consider these words from
St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans: “Romans
13:5-7 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for
conscience sake. 6 For for
this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending
continually upon this very thing. 7
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to
whom fear; honour to whom honour.” As always, Christians make the best subjects. After all, it is our deep-seated religious
sense that makes the exercise of a free republic possible. We obey the law, because it is the right
thing to do.
However
our Holy Week plays out, whether it be inside our church, or if it be in front of
our computer screens, or just time alone with our Prayer Books, let us continue
to practice a Holy Lent. We are almost
there, to the glorious celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Yet, we are not there yet, as the gospel for Passion Sunday
indicates. Here, in the eighth chapter
of St. John, we see the pressure building around the person of Jesus. The last line of the Gospel selection says, “59 Then
took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the
temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”
The reason
they were so incensed? Jesus has just
told them, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Without saying it directly, He told the Jews that He was God. All they
saw was blasphemy, despite the signs Jesus worked among them.
In these
waning days of Lent, let us strive to hold Jesus in our hearts as Lord and God.
Let us adore the One who gave all for us.
Let us supplicate Him for His mercy, that our nation may have a glorious
rebirth of health, as we are delivered from the COVID-19 plague. -Fr. Stephen Stults
