Welcome to your online Sunday worship from St. George’s, Georgetown for Palm Sunday.

Holy Week and Easter worship without in-person worship does leave us missing the wonderful and powerful liturgical symbols and actions we normally participate in. I am grateful to the Bishop and our Cathedral’s new Dean for offering online Holy Week services for us to participate in. These services go live on the diocesan Facebook Page first, and then the services can be viewed on YouTube soon after the service is over. The Maundy Thursday service is live on their Facebook page at 6pm and then the Good Friday liturgy is live at 10am.

Also, I hope you check out Infinitely More’s Palm Sunday Musical Calendar video this week. It is at the bottom of this page.

Family Ministry

We have special Holy Week resources for our parish families! These resources take you through the journey of Holy Week from Palm Sunday through to Good Friday. There is a Family Reading Guide with passages to read and thoughtful questions to discuss. There is a whole set of colouring pages to document Jesus journey and a neat pattern for a fun folded paper craft.

Please sign up for our weekly emails to get those links to these great resources to use together with your family.  

Opening Music

We begin with a traditional Palm Sunday hymn “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty.” 

The Reading

The reading for this Sunday is Mark 15:1-39:

As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”¹

Message and Prayers

And here is the link to the video of this Sunday’s Message and Prayers: 

Closing Music

For a closing hymn, you are invited to sing along with the powerful “Were You There”

For those wishing for something contemporary to sing with, here is the beautiful song “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us.”

I wish you all a blessed and safe Palm Sunday. I remind you again of the online services offered by the diocese for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. I look forward to celebrating Easter with you all next week!

Thank you for your continued support of the ministry and mission of St. George’s.

Be Well and God Bless.

Peace,

The Rev’d Canon Rob Park

P.S. If you are looking for even more church this Sunday be sure to check out our diocesan Facebook page and the diocesan YouTube page.

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1. Scripture quotation is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Happy Palm Sunday! Here is this weeks Lenten Musical Calendar. Today’s special guests, the Rev. Scott & Theo McLeod, are reflecting on John 12:12-16. The song this week is “Through Your People” written by Gerald Flemming and performed by Infinitely More.