Enjoy a lazy, late summer Saturday morning on the Charles River. Join fellow parishioners for a canoe party from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 9. Cost is $20/person. We will meet up at Charles River Canoe, 455 Nahantan Street (closeby on the Needham/Newton line). Please click here to sign up for the event.
Archives for April 2017
Easter Message from Bishop Michael Curry
Published: April 24, 2017
It’s taken me some years to realize it, but Jesus didn’t just happen to be in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. He wasn’t on vacation. He wasn’t just hanging out in town. Jesus was in Jerusalem on purpose. He arrived in Jerusalem about the time of the Passover when pilgrims were in the city. When people’s hopes and expectations for the dawn of freedom that Moses had promised in the first Passover might suddenly be realized for them in their time.
Jesus arranged his entrance into Jerusalem to send a message. He entered the city, having come in on one side of the city, the scholars tell us, at just about the same time that Pontius Pilate made his entrance on the exact opposite side of the city. Pilate, coming forth on a warhorse. Pilate, with soldiers around him. Pilate, with the insignias of Rome’s Empire. Pilate, representing the Caesars who claimed to be son of god. Pilate, who had conquered through Rome the people of Jerusalem. Pilate, representing the Empire that had taken away their freedom. Pilate, who represented the Empire that would maintain the colonial status of the Jewish people by brute force and violence.
Jesus entered the city on the other side, not on a warhorse, but on a donkey, recalling the words of Zechariah:
Behold your King comes to you
Triumphant and victorious is He
Humble and riding on a donkey
Jesus entered the city at the same time as Pilate to show them, and to show us, that God has another way. That violence is not the way. That hatred is not the way. That brute force and brutality are not the way.
Jesus came to show us there is another way. The way of unselfish, sacrificial love. That’s why he entered Jerusalem. That’s why he went to the cross. It was the power of that love poured out from the throne of God, that even after the horror of the crucifixion would raise him from death to life.
God came among us in the person of Jesus to start a movement. A movement to change the face of the earth. A movement to change us who dwell upon the earth. A movement to change the creation from the nightmare that is often made of it into the dream that God intends for it.
He didn’t just happen to be in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday. He went to Jerusalem for a reason. To send a message. That not even the titanic powers of death can stop the love of God. On that Easter morning, he rose from the dead, and proclaimed love wins.
So you have a blessed Easter. Go forth to be people of the Resurrection. Follow in the way of Jesus. Don’t be ashamed to love. Don’t be ashamed to follow Jesus.
Have a blessed Easter. And bless the world. Amen.
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
Unhoused Artists to Offer Their Work April 30
Published: April 23, 2017
common art, a program of of Ecclesia Ministries’ common cathedral, takes place each Wednesday at Emmanuel Church, Boston. Homeless and low-income people come together and, with the support of an artist-in-residence and pastoral staff, create. You can read more about the program here.
Artists are encouraged to participate in local art shows – and some will be coming to Christ Church to attend the 10am service on April 30, visit with the congregation, and discuss their work which will be on display in Upper Parish Hall and available for purchase. Please bring cash or a credit card for purchases. The guest preacher will be the Rev. Mary Eaton, pastor to the common cathedral community. Some of the guests may also be members of the MANNA community with which Shelter Cooking serves each month.
The artists who gather and create every week would greatly appreciate donations of new brushes, acrylic paints, canvases and yarn to continue their work. Please bring any donations to church on April 30. Thank you!
Youth on the Road Again, to South Carolina
Published: April 20, 2017
The Christ Church Youth Group were on the road again, with a spring vacation mission trip to help the town of Nichols, South Carolina, recover from the devastation of Hurricane Matthew. The kids departed the Monday of the public school vacation week and returned home Saturday evening. They talked about their experiences and impressions during the sermon time at the 8:15 a.m. and 10 a.m. services on Sunday, April 23.
Each year, the Youth Group takes a trip to a place in need around the eastern United States. Previous recent locations have included New Orleans and rural West Virginia. This is part of our parish mission to love God and neighbor as Jesus teaches.
