The heart of the mystery

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and the Gospel reading is the story of Jesus' suffering and death from Mark's Gospel. The reading will take us to the heart of the mystery of our faith. No other religion on earth claims anything like Christianity's story of God becoming human in Jesus and then humans kill the God who was made man. Yet, as implausible as the story might be when stated that way, there is no other story that makes sense of our pain and suffering like Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection.

As I preached in last Sunday's sermon,

Jesus, the Lord of Life, embraces death in order to defeat death. I know it seems all twisted around for wounds to heal, but can any but a wounded healer heal a heart? How can someone who has known no pain or sorrow understand it when you are hurt, lost, alone, grieving? The God who stands far off in heaven peeking down at the world would no nothing of our sorrow, our loneliness, or our fears. It is this Jesus we see lifted up on the cross who knows suffering and it is this Jesus who can redeem pain. This Jesus is the wounded healer.

Tomorrow's worship service begins a week-long journey unique in the church year. There is nothing that can benefit your own spiritual journey like making this pilgrimage through Holy Week. I encourage you to come to as many of the services as you can. The worship will offer fairly brief (a half hour to an hour) ways to put yourself more fully into Jesus' story as we approach the miracle of Easter. A full schedule with more information is found in the latest issue of The Olive Branch.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church