hallelujah!
happy holy week!
the boy and i are thrilled to be spending the week of easter in the holy land, where the saviour jesus christ lived, ministered, atoned, died and was resurrected two thousand years ago. while we are sure this experience walking where he walked will be deeply enriching and really wonderful (it certainly was for me during my time studying abroad in jerusalem nine years ago), we heartily believe that christ's love and power fill the whole earth, and we all can follow him and find new life through him no matter where we are geographically or in circumstance.
our love for jesus christ and our faith in his reality and divinity, power and mastery is so very deep. we are immensely grateful for the tremendous hope, healing and joy that knowing him brings into our lives.
hallelujah! he lives!
here's a post i wrote about why my heart so earnestly beats with hallelujah each easter (and throughout the year).
click here for another great video about following the saviour.
click here for a fantastic overview of the events of the original easter week.
and here to watch voices from all over the world join with the mormon tabernacle choir to sing hallelujah!
Happy holy week charity! :)
ReplyDeleteLet's be friends!
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ReplyDeletei'm catholic and I find it a joy to know that you as a Mormon are interested in holy week. Mormons don't normally get involved in ideologies outside their own church boundaries. (not attending church on Christmas- as a catholic that borders on blasphemy- never understood why Mormons who want to be considered Christian aren't honoring that holiday in attendance at church). I think it is great that as a Mormon you are introducing your LDS readers to the grander scale of holy week and not just easter with pretty dresses and bunny rabbits. holy week is profound time of preparation for the easter triduum (latin for 3 days). the catholic church is the "founder" of holy week. I am proud that the church I belong to set in motion a week of prayer and fasting and rituals dedicated to understanding Jesus' mystery. Good for you Charity for being open minded enough to the Christian faith and realizing that the Mormon church is very young and has no history like that of the founding religions that came from Judaism. I appreciate you and enjoy the holy land--what a place to be for this holiest of holy weeks!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. As an LDS church member who grew up with wonderful Catholic friends, our family looks forward to holy week. It is truly a sacred and reverent time for our family. Anonymous, I loved what you had to say. I have found in my own community of friends, who come from all religions and all walks of life, that as Christian's, we all have a lot in common. One of our biggest common goals is our love for the Savior, Jesus Christ, his life, his sacrifice--and what it means to us individually and collectively. It is amazing that we all get a long so well, as we raise our families and try to be the best that we can be. That happens through friendship and respect and asking questions. Thank-you, Anon, for your perspective and a view that causes me to pause and think.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things for me about joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about 20 years ago, was the joy of keeping all of my former friendships and family associations, regardless of their religious affiliation - not just that Church leaders "didn't mind", but that we're actively encouraged to honor those relationships. I love spending Christmas Eve family service at Stanford Memorial Church ("pan-denominational") with my "Mormon" friend and her family, and seeing many members of our ward in the congregation, side-by-side with families of many different faiths packing the pews to celebrate the birth of the Savior. I've been deeply impressed at the appreciation the LDS Church has toward other faiths, tolerant but also collaborative and participatory in their forms of worship and concern for their members - particularly when the LDS Church hasn't always enjoyed the same in return.
ReplyDeleteSome of the most penetrating and memorable Easter observances I've had have been with members of the LDS Church; others have occurred at sunrise in the Methodist Church I was born into; and of course I, along with many of my friends, remember many Easters in childhood where baskets and new dresses were highlights. However, I'm happy to have moved beyond the candy-and-dresses years to celebrations far more meaningful...
Charity, I hope you and Ian have a fantastic Easter Week and you are filled with memories of your time spent studying in Jerusalem years ago.
I've never understood as members (LDS) why we don't recognise Good Friday more.
ReplyDeleteIn a lot of churches in the UK they do stations of the cross etc, singing hymns, reading scriptures & then having hot cross buns at the end.
I often wondered if it's because it's something that is considered negative.