Passion Week [Recap]
We went through our first Passion Week in Boston! What did we do during this meaningful time?
Passion Week, the week leading up to Easter, is a very meaningful time for Christians as we remember Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. So what did we do this past Passion Week?
During my personal time
Our church provides a bunch of resources to help people reflect over what happened almost two thousand years ago and how it applies to people living in the world today. One of my favorite resources is the online Passion Experience, which was created during the pandemic and was based on a set of walkthrough exhibits that our church would set up every year. The online Passion Experience goes through the narratives of five characters who were involved in Jesus’ crucifixion: the chief priests, Judas Iscariot, Peter, the crowd, and Pontius Pilate. It helped me see how I’m like these people who put Jesus on the cross. If you want to go through the online Passion Experience, you can access the 2020 version here and the 2021 version here.
Another resource that our church provides is the Passion Reader, a collection of excerpts from books written by Christian authors. The Passion Reader is pretty long, so you might not be able to read all of it during Passion Week. I like to try to at least read through a few of the excerpts. This past Passion Week, I thought that “Holy Justice,” which comes from the book The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul, was really good. It answers questions like “Is the God of the Old Testament the same as the God of the New Testament?” “Is it too much that the punishment for sin is death?” and “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” If you want to read the Passion Reader, you can access it here.
This year, some of the excerpts were formatted online with graphics, and you can access them here. You can also look for a physical copy of the Passion Reader at the book table around Passion Week.
Look out for the book table every Sunday! Around Passion Week, you’ll find physical copies of the Passion Reader.
Do you have questions like “How do we know that Jesus rose from the dead?” or want to learn more about Christianity? Ask a mentor about Course 101!
On Good Friday
On Good Friday, some of us watched The Passion of the Christ together (there was another viewing the day before). The film begins with Jesus’ prayer and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and ends with his resurrection from the grave. It conveys some of the pain and suffering that Jesus endured on the way to the cross and on the cross, and this is impactful because he endured the pain and suffering in our place.
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”
During our first Good Friday service, Pastor Manny gave a message about sin. He explained that sin comes from the heart and that it’s not just things we do but also things we don’t do. He also explained that Jesus, who was righteous, died in place of us, who are sinful, so that our sinfulness could be replaced with his righteousness.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
After the message, we prayed and reflected over our sins, wrote them down on pieces of paper, and nailed them to small wooden crosses. The Lord’s Supper was offered that night for those who took it to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
On Easter Sunday
Our first Easter service was very special! Attendees were warmly welcomed by the welcome team, a photo booth, and a donut wall. The Easter service started with a special performance by an Easter choir composed of mentors and students from various colleges in the Greater Boston Area.
Tammy and Mia, who are part of the welcome team, welcomed people to our first Easter service in Boston!
Before the Easter service started, people could munch on donuts!
An Easter choir made up of mentors and students from various colleges in the Greater Boston Area prepared a special performance for Easter service.
Pastor Manny gave a message using the passage Luke 24:13-35. In this passage, two of Jesus’ disciples are on the road to the village of Emmaus, and their hopes are dashed because they don’t know that Jesus resurrected. Jesus joins them and gives them a long Bible study, all without them knowing who he was. Near Emmaus, they invite Jesus to be with them. When our hopes are dashed and we hear the word of God, we have an opportunity to invite Jesus back into our lives. After the message, we received white rocks to remember this first Easter service and wrote prayers of commitment.
We wrote prayers of commitment in response to the message.
Easter is a special day where celebration is always welcome. We decided to celebrate with a special Sunday lunch: ribs with mashed potatoes, salad, bread, and fruit! Afterwards, we went to Cassidy Park in Allston-Brighton for a sports time, which began with a balloon toss followed by free play where many sports were available for people to play: football, volleyball, soccer, Spikeball. The sports time ended with a volleyball match between representatives of the Cambridge schools and representatives of the Boston schools.
We had ribs – a special meal for a special day!
At Cassidy Field in Allston-Brighton, we set up and played a variety of sports, including Spikeball.
A balloon toss at Cassidy Field gets interesting with the addition of Spikeball nets.
See you next time!
And that’s what we did this past Passion Week! We hope you’ll join us during next year’s Passion Week!
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