Spy Wednesday*
Wednesday in Holy Week
Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be
whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept
joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the
glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Collect for Wednesday in Holy Week BCP p. 220
Dear ones,
Blessings in this Holy Week. This week’s edition of the eBB contains information on what is happening at StJB this week and beyond this week. Whatever your practice and devotion are for this season, I pray that is is spirit-filled and blessed, and that you are able to be with us in person, or on Zoom, in prayer and worship.
This evening (I’m writing on Wednesday morning), Jews around the world begin the feast of Passover. Muslims are in the midst of the holy month of Ramadan. And we prepare for Maundy Thursday, and the great three days of the Triduum, observed in our worship as Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. These holy times often, but not always overlap.
This is also a time when increased anti-Semitic acts and terrible anti-Jesish violence have erupted. I’m attaching two links to articles about how to engage with Christian antisemitism in this season in particular.
The first is by Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt Divinity School:
If you don’t have time to read the entire article, at least read the last few paragraphs as a starting point.
The second is from The Rt. Rev. Deon Johnson, Bishop of Missouri, and addresses his position on “Christian Seders.” https://www.diocesemo.org/blog/bishops-letter-to-the-diocese-christian-seder-meals-banned/
Like the work of anti-racism, there are no easy solutions and answers to broad systemic problems, but that’s not reason to not address them. Especially in light of recent acts of antisemitic, racist, transphobic, and homophobic vandalism in nearby New Hampshire communities, if we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we need to be willing to examine the anti-Jewish rhetoric and action that may be derived from our scriptures and other texts.
In God’s peace,
Parson Kit+
*Spy Wednesday, the Wednesday in Holy Week, is used to refer to Judas’s betrayal of Jesus to the authorities.