{"id":1587,"date":"2021-03-30T12:23:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T12:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oneking.ca\/wp\/?p=1587"},"modified":"2021-03-30T12:23:10","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T12:23:10","slug":"holy-tuesday-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/30\/holy-tuesday-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Nana B Agyei (Creative Commons BY 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

HOLY WEEK SERVICES<\/p>\n\n\n

Early Christian writing reveals that Holy Week has been marked since at least the 4th century. One such writer, a Christian noblewoman named Etheria, wrote from the Holy Land back to the women in her community describing daily worship in the week leading up to Easter. It is in this tradition that we share services this week.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

SCRIPTURE SENTENCES:<\/p>\n\n\n

In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
\nlet me never be put to shame.
\nIn your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
\nincline your ear to me and save me.
\nBe to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me,
\nfor you are my rock and my fortress. \u2014Psalm 71.1-3<\/p>\n\n\n

PRAYER:<\/p>\n\n\n

Ever-present God,
\nthis day enfolds us and surrounds us:
\nbe in our speaking and in our thinking;
\nbe in our life and on our lips;
\nbe in our hearts and in our souls,
\nbe in our deeds and in our doing,
\nbe in our thoughts and our meditation,
\nbe in our hope and in our longing,
\ntoday and forever.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n\n\n

READING: <\/p>\n\n\n

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things\u2014and the things that are not\u2014to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God\u2014that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: \u201cLet the one who boasts boast in the Lord.\u201d \u20141 Corinthians 1.26-31<\/p>\n\n\n

REFLECTION<\/p>\n\n\n

Think upon the things that are not. It’s hard to do! St. Paul is in high rhetorical form as he creates his homily to God’s wisdom, always more profound than the wisdom of the world. Yet, in the midst of these comparisons and surprising shifts, he goes one further step: God chose the things that are not to nullify the things that are.<\/p>\n\n\n

The things that are not to nullify the things that are. This puts me in mind of another verse from Paul, this one from 2 Corinthians 4: “Don’t fix your eyes on what can be seen, by what cannot be seen. What you see is temporary, what you cannot see is eternal.” Maybe he was talking about idols, since the ancient world was full of them. Maybe he was talking about material things, the things you can’t take with you. Maybe he was talking about overt signs of empire, something that never seem to leave us.<\/p>\n\n\n

So we can’t be certain about what can be seen, or the things that “are.” But things that are not, the things that cannot be seen, they are legion: faith, hope, and love, an example that Paul loved best. Or how about courage, or patience, or conviction? Maybe you can’t see them, in the person who quietly makes their way through life, but they are there. Or the quiet helpers, the ones who serve out of view. Maybe this service is among the things that are not, the things that cannot be seen\u2014but they are certainly eternal!<\/p>\n\n\n

HYMN: My Faith Looks Up to Thee<\/p>\n\n\n