April 09th, 2020

A Prayer for Holy Week 2020

A Prayer for Holy Week" 2020
by Jamie Lynn Haskins, co-editor, Acting on Faith
adapted by L Sundberg
  
Friend Jesus , we have walked this Holy Week
road before, but never quite like this.
 
As always, palms are behind us, shouts of “hosanna”
ringing in our ears.
As always, we look toward your
death with grief,
your resurrection
with great hope.
As always, you are here with us through it all.
 
Yes, we have walked
this Holy Week road before,
but never quite like this.
 
We hear the gospel story -  
nails will pierce the cross,
and we will mourn in our homes rather than in our pews.
This year your body
will be placed in the tomb,
and we will await word from those faithful women
as we shelter in place.
 
This year, resurrection will come
(it always comes) and we will shout “hallelujah,”
rejoicing in our living rooms,
across computer screens,
over conference lines,
because this year,
as in every year,
you are still with us.
 
Yes, we have walked
this Holy Week road
before, but never quite like this.
 
May we remember, Holy One,
that in every familiar and unfamiliar step,
every “hosanna,” every “hallelujah,”
every Zoom call and every text,
you are with us.
 
As we walk this Holy Week road remind us--
in death, in resurrection,
in joy and grief,
in the unknown and the liminal space between,
we are not alone
we are still a beloved  people.
 
Resurrection will indeed come.
 
Amen.
 
Jamie Lynn Haskins is Chaplain for Spiritual Life at the University of Richmond, Virginia, and is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is the co-editor with Diane Faires Beadle of the new book, Acting on Faith: Stories of Courage, Activism, and Hope Across Religions.