Hello Blog Friends!
Holy Week has been special in many ways. On the Day Camps front I did have news of a couple more potential Camps, although no more forms, and we also sold another copy of the Come Together e-book.
Personally I have been spiritually nourished by a Holy Week series on the Canterbury Cathedral YouTube Channel in which the Dean of Canterbury and the Bishop of Dover unpacked this passage from Eccelesisates 3 relating it tellingly to the current global situation, the series is well worth watching, even after Easter!
During the week I spent quite a bit of office time editing more blogposts and am slowly chipping away at that mountain 🙂
Of course by Thursday all church-related correspondence (90% of our constituency) ground to a halt, and for good reason as peoples’ hearts and minds turned to the events of Holy Week and as we drew nearer to Good Friday. Oh my goodness, at St. Matthew’s there used to be so much going on in preparation for Easter! On top of all the extra Holy Week Services for many years there were always Liturgical Dance practices and from noon on Maundy Thursday to noon on Good Friday a 24 hour Prayer Vigil was held in the church. The Youth always took the shifts from midnight to 6 am and so we brought sleeping bags and slept on the floor of the Parish Hall. Everyone who was old enough also fasted all day Maundy Thursday and then I used to cook a brunch for us on Good Friday morning. From noon to 3pm there was a 3 hour service with a concurrent children’s program, which I organised, assisted by some of the older youth. That evening we would attend a performance of Messiah at one of the big downtown churches and my father often took part in the choir for that event.
Holy Saturday we ran a special morning for children where they gathered to decorate Easter Eggs and hear a reading of the Easter Story. Often children from the church brought friends and relatives, it was always incredibly messy but very special 🙂. As soon as we vacated the Parish Hall an army of ACW (Anglican Church Women) ladies, led by my Mum would descend upon the space, transforming it into a dining room ready for the Easter Sunday Parish Breakfast. The finale of course was Easter Sunday when there would be Services at 8am, 9am and 1030am. WHEW!! It was quite the joyful marathon.
Reflecting again on the Ecclesiastes passage has helped me to “let go” and recognise that there is truly a “time for every purpose under heaven”. Of course I always miss the community of my Parish Family but I am blessed to have many wonderful friends, several of whom have visited me this week for lunch or tea or just to drop off some Easter Gifts. I have been distributing my Pysanky and also the baskets I made, filled with the Fluffy Sugar Cookies, Pysanky and Easter Bookmarks.
Today my friend Barb came to collect the basket for her family. She is just recovering from COVID so even though it was raining we met outside, duly masked, and she asked to have a short tour of my garden where there is a nice display of crocus, chinodoxa, snowdrops and a few iris reticulata.
I have just finished hanging my Easter garland on the staircase railing and am about to begin baking –GF Sourdough bread, 2 sandwich loaves, a Tropic Aroma Cake (as this year Easter Monday will be the anniversary of my Mum’s Birthday) and a pizza for my supper 🙂.
Afternoons this week I managed to get all the windows cleaned and curtains washed and rehung, despite several rainy periods. I also finished the Gansy pullover I’ve been knitting throughout Lent and the earrings I crafted during a session of our Lenten Program.
Last evening I watched Messiah Complex, which is being aired over the Easter Season on YouTube for the third year.As I said at the beginning of this post, all in all it has been a very special Holy Week.
And tomorrow we can share the greeting:-
“Christ is Risen…the Lord is Risen Indeed, Allelulia!”
Maundy Thursday I always feel inspired to create some sort of Middle Eastern Dinner to reflect the ambiance of the Last Supper. This year a friend had recently gifted me some lamb sausages so they made the perfect base for Lamb Gyros
Lamb Gyros
- 4 lamb sausages or 8oz..ground lamb
- 4 Greek Pita
- 1 cup Tzatziki
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
Make the Tzatziki first and set it aside. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Sauté the sausages or ground lamb, if using sausages, cut them into slices once fully cooked.Warm the pita in a low oven. Cut 4 12”squares of aluminium foil or parchments paper and place a pita on each. Divide the lettuce evenly then top with the meat, tomatoes and tzatziki. Using the foil or paper as th outside wrapping, roll the gyros into a cone shape and twist the wrap to hold everything together. Serves 2.