Holy Week Schedule

9:45 am Palm Sunday Procession (beginning at McMechen and Park Avenue) 

10:30 am Palm Sunday

M-W Holy Week Eucharist 5:30 pm 

Maundy Thursday 7:00 pm  (Agape meal at 6:30 pm)

Good Friday - Noon at St Katherine of Alexandria

Holy Saturday 9:00 am 

Easter Vigil 8:30 pm 

Easter Sunday 10:30 am


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The View from Bolton St.

From now on...

“From now on we regard no one from a human point of view”

It’s fair to say that Paul’s bold statement to the Corinthians here was... aspirational.  Either that or humankind has taken some big steps back since Paul’s day. But it is perhaps enough to say that the early Christian community sincerely desired to no longer see anyone from a human point of view. No more Jew or Greek, slave or free, woman or man, black or white, rich or poor. Just children of God.

Why? Because, as Paul states we once saw Jesus from a human point of view. We saw him as a poor Palestinian Jew of no account. A poor man with a few friends who was born to the wrong parents in the wrong city at the wrong time.  We saw him as the lowly son of a carpenter. As a refugee. As a outcast. As less than. 

And what a mistake it was! Paul made that mistake, the Authorities made that mistake, even his own followers made that same mistake at times! And all those mistakes led to the death of the incarnate God in all of God’s self on the cross. It led to the darkest day one could imagine.

So you MAY think I am going to tell you that we should also no longer see each other from a human point of view. Right? Don’t see the color, the height, the waist line, the dress, the style, the country of origin, the political affiliation of those who come into our doors and into our lives. And sure that would be nice:

But first we need to ask ourselves - do we still see Jesus from a human point of view? Or do we now see Jesus from God’s point of view? Is Jesus the poor Palestinian - or the incarnate God? Is Jesus a teacher - or a savior? Is Jesus living? Or dead?

Because we cannot see each other as other than from a human point of view until we can see Jesus from God’s point of view.  Until we can take seriously the divinity of Christ, until we can believe that God came into the world in this most unexpected way for us! And to love us! We can never truly see each other as anything more than human. 

So who is Jesus for you? Can you imagine this most unexpected savior? This most unlikely Lord?

The View From Bolton St.

You are standing on holy ground.

This week in the Old Testament reading, we are reminded of Moses’ direct encounter with the divine in the form of a burning bush. It’s dramatic imagery of a burning bush that flames but is not consumed! and it called out to Moses, calling those him out of his exile and sending him back to Egypt. It is so so dramatic and so compelling that sometimes we forget exactly what God is calling Moses about!

Has that ever happened to you? Do you ever have such a dramatic or emotional encounter that you are stuck with the memory of the moment but have perhaps forgotten the content of the conversation? I think that happens to us when we learn about the death of a loved one, or an unexpected job opportunity, or a new relationship or even a broken relationship. And a day or so later we find ourselves wondering, what exactly did that doctor say? Or what exactly am I supposed to do now?

So it is, perhaps, with the burning bush. We as people of the book, hear the story and remember the moment but forget what God calls us to. So let’s take a moment to remember.

“I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

God doesn’t call Moses to talk to Moses. Just as God has not called us to talk to us. But God called Moses to send him to free his people. God has seen their misery and heard their cries And needs Moses to do something about it. And so perhaps God has seen misery and heard the cries today and needsus to do something about it as well.

What will you do then with the burning bush? what will you do with the misery that surrounds us? Complain? Vent on Facebook? Move? Give up?

Or listen to God’s call for I go into Egypt, into the slave pits, into the challenge and seek to free Gods people?

But perhaps it is you that needs liberation? Perhaps you feel trapped? Stuck? Perhaps you feel like you have “impostor syndrome” and are worried of being found out? This is serious business.

Then join us - for bible study on Wednesday’s, for the Stations of the cross on Friday, for liturgy and living on Sunday and ask those questions of your faith. Or join us for confirmation classes starting in April if you have real questions! Real challenges! Because God embraces your challenges and loves your questions — and seeks to provide you a way forward in faith and in community. 

Children's Chapel!

Hello!

For lent we asked the Children to really look outward and think about someone else and not themselves. We are making blankets for St. Jude’s Hospital! We are trying to make sure that the kids who have to stay long in the hospital know other kids are thinking about them! We are also looking into what else we can do for them. The kids had so many ideas and really get excited about the thought of service!

During Lent we have also connected with the other two churches Children/Youth person. We are all contributing a night of fun for the kids each of the Tri-Church Lenten Wednesdays! My Wednesday is the first one TONIGHT! We will be making Lenten Finger puppets! It should be a really fun time and hopefully all the kids will meet some of their church neighbors!

We have loved being in the library the kids already have a sense of ownership over the room. They feel much more comfortable sharing and opening up in the room than they did in a corner! Thank you so much to everyone for helping and supporting us!

-Hannah :)

The View From Bolton St.

“Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, 'Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way.” Luke 13:31-32

What path will you take? 

When faced with danger, worry, fear, heartache — do you run away? Or do you keep moving forward? 

When faced with discomfort, with challenging truths, with disquieting realities — do you stop? Or do you lean int to the challenge? 

This is the question put before Jesus in the gospel today, and perhaps the one put before us as well.  ‘Jesus - don’t go that way! Its dangerous!’  If you are a new arrival to Baltimore you have likely heard this from family, friends and others — ‘don’t move to Baltimore! Its too dangerous!’ And certainly it might have turned out better for Jesus the man if he had not continued on to Jerusalem - but it would have been significantly worse for us.   There would be no salvation available for us. No opportunity for us to connect to God, to walk with a living God in our own life if Jesus had simply taken the easy way out.  

What path will you take? 

Sometimes it is easier to burn the relationship than repair it.  Sometimes it is easier to move out of the neighborhood, the city, than to work to heal the problems.  Sometimes it is easier to ignore the truths in front of you; whether it is about the racist history of an institution, the challenging reality of your current situation, or how you really feel about the world - and just keep going as if everything is okay.  But the reality is, ignoring the truth doesn’t make it okay.  

If Jesus simply hid from Herod and waited till the coast was clear - the demons would not have been cast out, the people wouldn’t have been healed, and salvation wouldn’t have been offered to all.  If we simply hide from the challenges and difficulties of this world, what demons will be left unconfronted? What illness will be left uncured? What salvation will be left un-fulfilled? 

The Lenten Call for Christians is a call of discomfort.  We often interpret this as a call to diet. To exercise. To the things we don’t want to do for ourselves.  But in reality, it is a call to be uncomfortable with the state of the world around us. To allow ourselves to be challenged by the injustice we see at our doors and the hurt we carry in our hearts.  So this Lent perhaps we should reflect on this famous Franciscan prayer — about the blessing of discomfort. 

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.