The Marys of Easter Weekend

 

The Three Marys at the Tomb (manuscript illumination of a 1396 antiphonary -- Lorenzo Monaco 

So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Matthew 27: 59-61

Nearly ninc years after retiring from pastoral ministry my psyche is still oriented toward Holy Week and Easter in a powerful way. When we lived in Sudbury there were services on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday (for a few years), and Easter morning along with everything else related to ministry. I was also a husband and parent of three children who didn't see much of me through that time, sad to say. 

I suppose it's understandable that I continue to be mindful of the unfolding of this week in all its drama, from sorrow to celebration. This morning I read the "grave" daily readings for Holy Saturday which focus on Jesus' burial and those who keep vigil at the tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy follower of Jesus who may also have been a member of the Sanhedrin.

One of the gospels, Matthew says that two Marys were there between the time of Jesus' burial and Resurrection morning, One of them is Mary Magdalene, the woman mischaracterized as a prostitute in misogynist Christian tradition. This Mary was the first to encounter the Risen Christ on Easter morning and the first evangelist because she was the one who informed the disciples, hidden away in shock and fear. 

Honestly, it's a challenge to keep up with the Marys or Miriams in this dramatic phase of the gospels. The writers agree that there was more than one, but how many? Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at the cross, along with at least two other Marys. But who they were is not clear, although Mary Magdalene was a constant. Confusiingly, the gospels aren't consistent in who the Marys actually were -- could the parents have used a little more imagination in naming their girls? 

What strikes me is that in the too often patriarchal history of the church the argument has been made that the disciples of Jesus were men, therefore only men can lead. Yet the gospel evidence is clear that when the men made themselves scarce women mourned Jesus at Golgotha, they attended to his body after death, and the first Christian witness was a woman. What more evidence of true discipleship is necessary?  it's almost as though there has been male collusion against women despite the biblical witness! 

I do feel gratitude for those brave women who continued to be faithful despite their grief and the risk to their safety.

                                                        Christ Carried to the Tomb -- Rembrandt

Creation and the Cross

                                                               Tree of Life -- Blake Debassige 1982

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

                        John 3: 16-17 NRSVue 

Good Friday has always had great meaning for me as a Christian. The holy improbability of the incarnation of God in Jesus, and what seems like the train wreck outcome of Jesus' ministry of radical love and inclusion. Good Friday is the dismal failure which becomes glorious hope on Easter morning. There were times leading Good Friday services when I was so moved by the import of the day that I fought back tears. During my final Good Friday service after near four decades I had to pause for what seemed like forever because of my emotion. 

Today I'm grateful once again and pondering the cosmic "God so loved the world" aspect of what is called Black Friday, Jesus the Christ came for humanity but what about the rest of Creation? If Jesus considered the flowers of the hillsides and the birds of the air and calmed the storm, could salvation be the gift for all that lives and the Earth itself, in all its astonishing variety? 

There is a book by Roman Catholic nun and theologican Elizabeth Johnson called Creation and the Cross: The Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril which wisely and somewhat provocatively explores these themes and I have returned to it on a number of occasions.

I will admit that I feel a heaviness this year that seems to have seeped into my bones because our planet is in peril. The senseless war against Iran is causing huge environmental damage that doesn't even get mentioned. We are neighbours to a country where environmental protections established over decades are being dismantled in the blink of an eye by a president who is a climate emergency denier. I have an increasing discomfort with our own government touting Canada as an "energy superpower" which means ramping up the production of fossil fuels. We are rarely shown the landscape and waters around the tar sands projects in Alberta anymore but to me it is has looked like hell.

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.

      Luke 23: 44-46 NRSVue 

The implications of our human activity is literally far-reaching. Last August we were on a small island off northeast  Newfoundland in the Atlantic. Unprecedented wildfires were raging in the province but the heavy smoke we experienced one day was from fires in Western Canada. Can we make a connection between our darkened skies and the crucifixion? 

Admittedly, these are grim examples of a crucified planet but I pray for salvation and resurrection, God's mercy for our planet. 

Through this solemen day I'll go outside to experience the goodness of Creation. I'll ponder our reproduction of the Tree of Life by Ojibewe artist Blake Debassige which is in the chapel of the Anishnabe Spiritual Centre on the way to Manitoulin Island. 

Christ came for the healing of the nations and all of Creation so we can and must be partners in that redemption. On this Black Friday I yearn for Resurrection hope. 

 We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.  

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

                                          Romans 8: 22-25 NRSVue 

4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were a present far too small:

love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all.

          When I Survey the Wondrous Cross -- Voice United 149 

Four protesters from Christian Climate Action displayed a large banner in front of the altar in Westminster Abbey in September 2025

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yOj-jCh9H8L_vqFJ89fbpJHPQibwPgQ0/view?pli=1

Stephen Lewis, Moral Giant

 

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like water
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

                Amos 5 NRSVue 

I have been thinking quite a bit about Stephen Lewis in the past couple of days. Lewis died after dealing with cancer for the past eight at the age of 88. He was a Member of Parliament for the federal New Democratic Party from 1963 to 1978, and served as leader of the provincial NDP from 1970 to 1978. He would use self-deprecating humour to note his lack of success. 

He was a strong social democratic political voice in our country but I admired him most for his two decades working with the United Nations  between 1984 and 2006, including as Canadian ambassador, deputy director of UNICEF, and United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. In that latter role he constantly challenged Western nations to consider the immorality of spending billions on war when the humanitarian crisis in Africa was so pressing. In a speech at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto in 2006 he asked “What kind of a world do we live in when the life of an African child or an Asian child is worth so much less than the life of a Canadian child?”

There were politicians who mocked his oratorical style (lots of multisyllabic words they probably didn't understand) but he had an ability to stir his audiences when he spoke. While he had an incisive mind there was always passion, even to the point of shedding tears, and he was willing to challenge those who were sitting before him no matter what the setting.

 We have no way of knowing how the biblical prophets actually sounded as they preached but  Stephen Lewis had a rhythm, a cadence to his speech that was prophetic, in my estimation. His father, David, also a politician, was born a Russian Jew and Stephen's parents gave him the Hebrew name Sholem, a derivation of shalom, or peace.

There aren't many genuine and trustworthy orators around in this day of teleprompters and shallow slogans and gibbering narcissists. We need more of them in a time when the notions of moral and ethical choices seem to have faded into the background of society. Not long ago we lost Jesse Jackson, another speaker of remarkable ability. 

I came upon a tribute to Stephen Lewis on the site of the London Food Bank and I don't know who wrote it but here are a couple of paragraphs: 

His name — his true name, Sholem — meant peace. But we should understand what kind of peace he sought. Not the false peace of people who look away. Not the peace of the comfortable and the indifferent, those who refuse to speak up because they don’t want to cause trouble. He sought the peace that can only emerge from justice. The peace that requires us to see each other clearly - across continents, across races, across the long distances that separate the privileged from the abandoned - and to act on what we see. That is the hardest kind of peace to build, and it is the only kind that lasts.

Canada produces, every few generations, a figure who reminds us who we are at our best. Who holds a mirror up and says: this is what we could be, if we were braver and more generous and more honest than we usually manage. Stephen Lewis was one of those figures. He was our conscience made eloquent. He was proof that words used with precision and passion can still move the world.

His trumpet has been laid down this morning. The note it played still hangs in the air. 

We should do our best to be worthy of it.

To the Moon!

 

(L-R) mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of CSA (Canadian Space Agency), mission specialist Christina Koch, pilot Victor Glover, and commander Reid Wiseman(Image: Getty Images)

Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun for light by day
    and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord of hosts is his name:

Jeremiah 31: 35 NRSVue

To the moon Alice, to the moon!

This was the misogynistic, disturbing threat, thankfully never fulfilled, issued regularly by the volatile Ralph Kramden to his wife Alice in the brief 50s series, The Honeymooners. 

Astronauts are heading to the moon this evening, weather permitting, a precurser flight for the first actual orbit of Earth's satellite since 1972. The very first orbit was in 1968 with a reading from Genesis on Christmas Eve. I was in my mid teens when Apollo 11, the first lunar landing, occurred in 1969 and as with so many households our family looked on with fascination. Walter Cronkite, the legendary news anchor, was left chuckling and speechless as "the Eagle has landed." 

One of the mission specialists for this Artemis II expedition is a Canadian, Jeremy Hansen. There have several Canadian astronauts but Hansen be the first Canuck to leave Earth's orbit and in select company as one of only two dozen humans  to orbit or land on the moon. 

                         Blessing on the new moon Drawing from 1695 Amsterdam Passover Haggadah

It is an interesting synchronicity that this is the first day of Pesach/Passover. This ancient Jewish festival begins at sundown because it is connected to the rising of the moon. There will be watch parties today for Artemis and there will be watch parties to declare the first sighting of the moon for Pesach to commence. 

Christians are mid-way through Holy Week because the date of Easter is set as the first Sunday following the first full moon of the Spring Equinox. Jesus the Jew was in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and what we term the Last Supper was a Pesach meal. His agonizing  hours in the Garden of Gethsemane may have been bathed in moonlight. 

When I was in pastoral ministry I supported the conversations about establishing a fixed date for Easter instead of careening around the calendar from year to year. One really early Easter in Sudbury we gathered to celebrate the Resurrection on a morning where it snowed heavily enough that one attendee quipped that it felt more like Christmas.

Now I have such a sense of wonder about the changing of the seasons and the marvellous waxing and waning of the moon that I revel in the archaic setting of Passover and Easter when so much of life, including the Artemis launch, is described in precise terms. For all our human striving and accomplishment, the Earth and the Moon, the other planets and their satellites move in stately grandeur in their orbits. Isn't the inconvenience somehow an important part of our shared stories? 

We shouldn't take any of this for granted. Four weeks ago we were shivering outside early in the morning to see the lunar eclipse and it was stirring, in slow motion. 

Godspeed for today's astronauts. To the moon Jeremy, to the moon!

Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem in 2026

 

                                                    The Western Wall & Temple Mount 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

    “May they prosper who love you.

                             Psalm 122:6 NRSVue 

Every day we are reminded that the Middle East is in the midst of uncertainty leaning to chaos as the United States and Israel wage war on Iran. Predictably the evil regime in Iran has retaliated leaving surrounding nations on edge and pushing the global economy toward instability. 

The Americans underestimated Iran's determination and ability to fight back and Israel has been dealing with missile and drone attacks that have done physical damage and the curtailing of regular daily life. This includes Jerusalem at a time of the year when the monotheistic religions usually converge on the city for festivals. 

I wrote recently that Muslims were not allowed onto the temple mount at the conclusion of Ramadan even though there would normally be tens of thousands gathered near or in the Al Aqsa Mosque. For Christians this is Holy Week, beginning last Sunday with Palm Sunday and continuing until Easter in a few days. Tomorrow marks the commencement of Passover/ Pesach for Jews.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said the initial decision to close the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was an "extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship" [Getty Images]

This Palm Sunday there was no procession of Christians pilgrims into Jerusalem because of the restrictions on gatherings due to safety reasons. And the Roman Catholic Patriarch of the city was not allowed to celebrate mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the fourth century church where tradition holds that Jesus was crucified and resurrected from the dead. This was the first time in centuries and while eventually this ban was lifted it was deeply unsettling. The large plaza at the base of the Western Wall will be all but empty during the next few days even though in would normally be teeming with Jews during Passover. 

At this point we have no idea whether the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the Garden Tomb area will be open for Easter. 

I have been following all of this closely because three years ago beginning on Good Friday we were in Jerusalem and while there were cautions for visitors the Old City was alive with Muslims, Jews, and Christians. On Easter Eve we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and took in the mystery of the traditions more than a thousand years old. My evangelical sister-in-law was moved by this experience even though she had never been there during decades living in Israel. We all attended a celebratory Easter morning service at the Garden Tomb and I was enchanted by the butterflies moving through the foliage along with the worship itself. 

We also walked up the ancient steps at the south of the Temple Mount, a surprisingly quiet and holy moment, as well as praying at the Western Wall in the midst of a crowd.  

It was as though we were in an oasis of calm in the Holy City which so often through history has been unholy and even demonic because of strife. Looking back it seems like a dream. Once again this year the troubles of the world come to Jerusalem and it is a nightmare. Will this ever end? We pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the Middle East. 

A missile fragment is seen in Jerusalem following an Iranian attack on March 16, 2026. 

(Fire and Rescue Service)

Waiting for Thoreau

This evening I'm going to pretend that I'm decades younger than I actually am and stay up to 11 PM. Or that's the plan. I want to watch the first of two PBS installments  on the life of Henry David Thoreau. The three hours are described by PBS: 

HENRY DAVID THOREAU examines the life and work of the 19th-century writer in the context of antebellum New England and the larger United States, as well as through the universal themes he focused on in his writings: an individual’s relationship to the state, how to live an authentic life, our connection to nature, and the impact of race on American life. 

Set against the political and social tensions of the mid-19th century, the film traces Thoreau’s journey from his early days in Concord, Massachusetts to his deep engagement with the moral crises of his time, including industrialization, slavery, war, and environmental degradation. Through his essays, journals, and landmark works such as Walden and Civil Disobedience, he became an inspiration for generations of writers, thinkers, and activists. 

As you can see, there is a star-studded cast for this exploration of Thoreau's life including George Clooney as the narrator while Jeff Goldblum voices Thoreau. Those who will reflect on Thoreau's legacy include Pico Iyer, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Drew Lanham all of whom I've blogged about along the way. 

I'm curious about how the series addresses Thoreau's spirituality and sense of God in the world, including nature. He has been characterized as anti-religion and in some respects this is true. He and his sister left their congregation because the denomination refused to condemn slavery and he felt other aspects of church life were repressive and regressive. 

I wasn't really all that interested in what felt like the cult of Thoreau until I read the biography Henry David Thoreau: A Life by Laura Dassow Walls a few years ago. I hauled it out and saw that I'd put in the neighbourhood of 50 tabs in the pages to mark her insights into his life. 

I now have a couple of other books on Thoreau including the insightful Thoreau's God by Richard Higgins. 

So, I will stay awake, I will stay awake...

Oh yes, I have already learned that he pronounced his name to rhyme with "thorough" rather than Thor-oh. So my corny blog title allusion doesn't work in that way either!

No Kings & the Improbable Reign of Christ

 

 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”  Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”  Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 

Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

                                          John 18:33-38 NRSVue

Okay, how was that for timing? Yesterday millions of Americans took part in more than 3,000 No Kings rallies and marches across the country with an estimated eight to nine million people involved.  They were protesting the autocratic rule a president who styles himself as an emperor. This wasn't the first No Kings Day and probably won't be the last because of the growing dissatisfaction with Trump.

Today, on Palm/Passion Sunday we are reminded that peasant Jesus road into Jerusalem mounted on the colt of a donkey, lauded by a Jewish crowd assembled in the city for Passover/Pesach. Some scholars say that Pilate, the regional ruler of the Roman Empire arrived the same day in a procession designed to demonstrate the might of the Pax Romana to quell any possibility of insurrection. 

A few days later Pilate asked Jesus --twice --, "are you a king?" and heard "My kingdom does not belong to this world."  The scene was an intimate yet cosmic reminder of the justaposition of seemingly insurmountable power and the upside down reign of God embodied in Jesus, the Christ. 

4 Ride on! Ride on in majesty!

In lowly pomp ride on to die; 

bow thy meek head to mortal pain,

then take, O God, thy power, and reign.

                                             Voices United 127