« Bp. Michael Wright: Celebration of Life and Legacy | Main | On being a Good Shepherd - I »
April 5, 2009
Palm Sunday at St. Paul's London
Being Palm Sunday, we took a bus to reach the tube, zipping through Victoria Line and Central Line we were hoping to make it to the service at St. Paul’s. By the time we got to “Paternoster Square”, we heard the shouts of, “Hosanna!” and there was the procession, led by a donkey, reminiscent of Jesus’ own triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The bishop leading the procession instructed the people to immerse themselves into the event , holding their palm cross and crying out loud hosannas. The Choir was excellent as it added to the processional hymn, ‘Ride on in Majesty’. Once we entered the magnificent cathedral of St. Paul, the service moved on to the collect and the lessons culminating in the passion narrative. It was an open communion, there were hundreds of people who participated. Kudos to St. Paul’s for the detailed arrangement of the service and all those who had contributed to it. There was grandeur and beauty in the whole conduct of the service.
The service at St. Paul's was very inclusive and there were lots of tourists who attended the service. All those who came up for communion received. However I just could not forget the sight of this little girl holding the communion in her hand as it were a candy, walking away from the communion line. Also missing was the general confession and absolution and prayer of humble access. How wonderful if it had been the service that once used to be. How relevant and a moment of teaching, to instill the concept of sin, need for conversion and the available Divine forgiveness through this very passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Maybe we were the odd ones in the crowd. The Nicene Creed was also missed, not sure if this was to cut short the length of the service. We missed the heart of the traditional worship and liturgy. Glad I participated in the service, sad that it was not the service it used to be and the fact that we missed our traditional worship back home. I walked away taking a lesson from the occasion, resolute in the decision to preserve the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’
Posted by bpleo at April 5, 2009 1:10 PM
Leave a comment