Entering the Story of Salvation

I recently watched a video that talked about the large numbers of people leaving the “mega churches.” They defined a mega church as a Protestant Church with more than 2,000 people attending Sunday services. The video mentioned that between 2010 and 2024, 40 million people left what was once thought to be the future of Christian Churches. The video offered five reasons why this was happening. One reason, and this was felt by those born since 1980, was that they felt like they were “attending” rather than “participating” in the service. The video mentioned many were looking for liturgy, while an earlier generation, which valued the mega church model, was looking for something practical and professional in appearance. 

This weekend, with Palm Sunday, we begin a period in the church where we experience the greatest liturgies of the Church year. They are liturgies that include many great symbols relating to our faith, palms, water, oil, fire, candles, a large cross, and white robes. There is music that we hear only once a year. We read incredible passages from both the New and Old Testaments. There are processions, a variety of colors to symbolize the different days and liturgies, flowers, silence, blasts from trumpets, and the contrast between darkness and light. There is the opportunity to have your feet washed and see others immersed totally in the waters of baptism. We remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, passion, the Last Supper, Jesus’ death, and of course his Resurrection. 

This is not a week of observing or listening to the retelling of a story that happened long ago. Rather it is an opportunity to participate in the story of salvation and the paschal mystery – the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Our liturgies allow us to touch, smell, hear, and see what happened nearly two thousand years ago. To hear the sounds of the crowd as Jesus entered as a king to the royal city of Jerusalem. To see the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus. To touch the hard cold wood of the cross. To smell our prayers rising to God. 

The death and resurrection of Jesus is the only historical event we are able to enter into. We can retell other events from history. We can reenact other events from history. There are events from history we can remember. But this is the only event from the past we can live through today, this week. Liturgy is all about participation. It is not a spectator event. Like Simon of Cyrene, who was called out of the crowd to help Jesus carry the cross, we are called to step out from being comfortable, from simply being a spectator in our seats, and to participate. With our hearts, minds, voices, and actions, we enter into the liturgies of Holy Week. May this truly be a Blessed time for us and a chance to enter more fully into the life of our God.