Dear Beloved of Trinity Church,

As we prepare to begin our Holy Week Journey, I share with you excerpts from a reflection by Fred Buechner, originally published in A Room Called Remember.

When Jesus of Nazareth rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and his followers cried out, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord," the Pharisees went to Jesus and told him to put an end to their blasphemies, and Jesus said to them, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."  

King Jesus, we offer all churches to you as you offer them to us. Make thyself known in them. Make thy will done in them. Make our stone hearts cry out thy kingship. Make us holy and human at last that we may do the work of thy love. 

We live in trying times. We live in a season when the church and the prophetic Word of God are desperately needed. We live in a time when church attendance is declining, and its relevance is questioned. We live in a time when many say, "put an end to [the] blasphemies." But the message of the Gospel cannot be silenced, and even if we lose heart and find our voices muted, the very stones will cry out with praises and shouts of joy! They would proclaim a word of liberation and Easter life.

As we walk these holy days, may we offer ourselves fully to the redemptive story of God's love shown to us in Jesus. May God be known through us! May God's will be done in us! May our stone hearts cry out the power of God! And finally, may we be made holy and human to do the work of LOVE!

Peace and blessings to all,

Paul