Welcome to the Season of Lent

It feels as if we are constantly playing catch-up with the season of Lent. The calendar did not help this year. In only seven weeks we went from the celebrations of Christmas to reminder of our mortality on Ash Wednesday. Some years we have as many as 10 weeks to make the transition. As I have entered into conversations with members of the church, I am struck by the fact that I am not the only one who feels rushed this year into the season of Lent.

On the first Sunday in Lent, I invited people at worship to write down the name of someone in their life who is in need of prayer…for whatever reason. My accepted “extra” in Lent has been to pray over these names each week. It is a daunting pile on my desk. Prayer cards stacked some two and three inches high with the first names of people who are loved, considered, remembered by many of you in your own daily prayers. It is humbling to be entrusted with those names. There are names that give me pause because I know the story behind the name. On some cards, people feel the need to offer explanation, which can be helpful but not necessary. And there are always a few cards with not just one name but three and four names. Just so you know – I stop and pray for each name – not just the first one at the top. What grounds me in the season of Lent, as we wander in the wilderness for a time, is the opportunity to settle into my prayers. Each prayer card offers me a little extra moment of time to speak the name and ask God to tend this loved one in some way. There is a meme running around the internet that says:

It is a solid reminder for my own prayer life. Of course, right after I saw that reminder meme, I saw this one:

And that brought me right back to why sometimes my life is messier than it should be. It is no surprise. My faith life ebbs and flows like everything else that clamors for time in my life. Depending on which guilt lever gets pulled can often determine the next task to tackle. Reading with my youngest child – yes, important. Checking in on my dad, my sister – yes, important. Date night with my wife – yes, SO IMPORTANT (if she is reading this)! Reconnecting with an old friend – yes, important. Visiting someone who is sick or feeling lonely – yes, important. Getting this newsletter article done – yes, important. All the things that beg for attention are almost always important enough to be listed. It amuses me that right after I typed the list above I realized that I left off “tending my relationship with God.” How did I miss that in the season of Lent? It happens.

The gift of this season of Lent is that we have the opportunity for just a little extra opportunity to tend our relationship with our God. Sunday worship, The Chosen Video series, midweek soup supper and worship, and Holy Week events to name a few “extra” opportunities. The Soup Suppers are always a gift to be in relationship with other members of the body of Christ in simple ways around a simple meal and a new recipe. You still have three more opportunities to join us on Wednesday nights. Before we know it, Holy Week will be upon us.

See you in church,

Pastor Chris

March Madness and Lent

Most of you are probably aware that I’m a huge fan of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament better known as March Madness – and I’m thrilled that it’s almost here!  In just a few weeks millions of people, superfans as well as fair-weather ones, will be filling out and checking their brackets daily, if not hourly. Workplace production is certain to take a dive. And for three straight weeks sports fans will be glued to their screens watching all the drama unfold.

For some, their enthusiasm can appear almost religious. All over the country, fans will deck themselves out in their favorite team gear or team colors all while exhibiting a heightened sense of nervousness; desperate for their team to win and advance to the next round. They’ll be watching games while yelling “No, no…yes, yes!” while kids are running around the house dribbling and shooting basketballs as adults are running to the kitchen for more appetizers. It’s chaotic. It’s madness. And I’m not ashamed to say that I can’t get enough of it!

But as I’ve been psyching myself up for this year’s tournament it occurred to me that there was a connection between our faith, the season of Lent, and The Big Dance and I’m wondering, “What if we viewed our faith and the experience of Lent through a different lens”? What if we used the “madness” of the NCAA basketball tournament to better understand our nature as humans created in the image of God?

I think the attraction to March Madness reveals aspects of our life of faith and our journey through Lent that may be helpful in reorienting us and reenergizing us for the road ahead. 

We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. March Madness allows us to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We may not be on the court, but filling out our brackets and cheering alongside countless others gives us some skin in the game. So too does our faith. Especially in the season of Lent as we stand alongside countless other Christians taking time to reflect on our lives, intensify our faith practices and turn back to God. Much like the discipline and focus necessary for teams in the tournament to be successful, we too must engage in this same discipline as we make our journey toward Easter.

Disappointment and heartache are lurking around every corner. Teams dream, plan, and prepare for a long and successful run deep into the tournament, however, anyone who’s ever witnessed an upset knows that even the best laid plans are sometimes met with unexpected disappointment. Our lives are like that aren’t they? We plan, save, try to eat healthy, live responsibly, pray and come to worship and yet we still encounter heartache, disappointment, sadness, pain, and grief. Although God never promises us a life absent of difficulties and pain, the more connected we are to God and one another, and the deeper we engage our faith and faith practices the more we open ourselves, allowing God to comfort us and heal us in times of brokenness.

We crave hope. Every year in the tournament there are amazing comebacks and last second buzzer beaters. Underdog teams who can’t seem to miss a shot or a team that finds itself down as the final seconds tick away relying on a step back three pointer or an unbelievable half court prayer thrown up in desperation – Cinderella stories reminding us that David can beat Goliath. Personally, I just hope not to be in the bottom half of my family’s bracket pool this year. For people around the world, hope is wanting something to happen or be true and to think that it could happen or be true. For Christians, our hope rests not in our own abilities or a last second desperation attempt but rather in a sure thing. We trust that God’s promises will be fulfilled because God promised them. Our hope rests in the truth that Jesus’s death and resurrection secured victory over sin and death and sealed our relationship with God forever.

Victory is found in the most unexpected places. An unexpected player or team that surprises everyone by playing far beyond what anyone thought possible and ends up victorious. A superfan nun whose health isn’t the greatest but still manages to get herself to the sidelines to cheer on her team. The coach or player who overcomes a life-threatening illness or injury only to find themselves on one of the biggest stages of their lives. The unexpected surprises us but it also has the potential to enliven us, if we allow it to. But these stories merely echo the greatest story in all of history. Separated from God because of our sin, humans had no shot of making it back into God’s favor. But then came Jesus, in the form of a servant – living, teaching, and preaching about a different kind of kingdom. Jesus lived a perfect life while challenging the rules, assumptions, power structures, culture, and people’s beliefs and conquered sin and death by dying a sacrificial death and rising from the grave victorious for all. We love underdog and comeback stories, and this is the greatest one for all eternity.

As we step into Lent on our journey toward Easter, I’d like to invite you to join me on this sacred journey and allow God to draw us in and transform us so that we might more fully live into the abundant life that God has promised us. The Final Four may signify a nearing of the end of the tournament as we approach the championship game and prepare to crown a tournament champion. Similarly, our journey through Holy Week gets us one step closer to the culmination of an empty tomb on Easter morning as we celebrate the victorious journey of Jesus and the fulfillment of all God’s promises.

So, for the next few weeks I hope you’ll enjoy some great basketball games and have fun rooting for your favorite teams. But while you do I also invite you throughout the upcoming Lenten season to pay attention for the unexpected because you just might be surprised at what God has waiting for you.

Pastor Tony

Easter Reflections

We are sitting in Starbucks. Come on! We know that is not a surprise! (Have you met Pastor Chris?)

Picking up the palms for Palm Sunday

We are still reflecting on the beauty of worship that carried us through Holy Week and brought us into the joy of Easter Day. If you get a chance, please take the time to thank the church staff. They are incredibly gifted individuals.

  • Our musicians – Vicki, Ben, and Sarah. They are gifts of God to shape the highs and lows in our worship life.
  • Our administrators – Amy and Tamie. They are the ones who attend to all the details of the order of worship, double-checking and triple checking what we have planned.
  • Our gifted ensembles – handbells, praise team, choir, and numerous instrumentalists and soloists. They provide the backdrop to so many moments of emotion in the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Ascension continues to be a community of faith that draws all of us, and others we have yet to meet, to the very foot of God’s throne. It is humbling to watch so many talents collaborate to bring glory to our God. And then when we add the voices of all of you who gather to worship – how wonderful the sounds of praise to our God.

We are also humbled for the 14 month journey that completed the remodel of the kitchen – the last piece of phase 2 of our remodel. It is glorious. We are moved in thanks to some very dedicated women who rearranged drawers and shelves more than once to figure out what will work best in the kitchen. We are indebted to Michael Jahner, Cynthia Carlson, Dennis Nowak, Dick Boward, Ron Marien, and Arlene Davis for bringing all the pieces together and navigating the city permitting process. In the days ahead, we will focus on replacing the sanctuary roof and the sliding glass door in the hearth room. However, both are in okay shape and for the next few months we will concentrate more on ministry than remodeling – though, we are convinced they go hand-in-hand in the house of God.

We are not surprised at all that we would celebrate Easter at the same time we are celebrating the resurrection of our kitchen. The mission and ministry of the community of Ascension centers on the death and resurrection of Jesus and so often the kitchen is the hub of activity in the ministry that reflects the moments of sorrow and joy in our lives. We are preparing to celebrate the gift of our new kitchen with the Mission Fundraising Auction and Dinner on Saturday, May 20th beginning at 5:00pm. Come and share in fellowship, beer and wine, good food, and hear about the upcoming delegation visit from El Salvador and the upcoming delegation from Ascension who are preparing to travel to Usa River, Tanzania to reconnect with our sisters and brothers at our sister parishes of Samaria, Neema, and Galilaya along with our two elementary schools, new special needs school, and our new secondary school. So much for which we can give thanks to God.

It is a glorious thing – to share in the ministry of Ascension. We are counting down the days until Edwin graduates from seminary. The story of God’s love continues to unfold among us, in us, and through us. Thank you for joining us on the journey at Ascension. We are humbled to share the road with you.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

See you in church.

Pastor Chris & Pastor Tony

Now What?

Our Lenten journey will soon be coming to an end. On Palm Sunday, we will rejoice in Jesus’ triumphant and bittersweet entry into Jerusalem. We will gather in the upper room on Maundy Thursday to celebrate the last supper with Jesus and his disciples. We will travel to the foot of the cross on Good Friday to hear Jesus utter a lonely cry of abandonment. And on Easter Sunday, we will walk alongside a group of women to the place where they laid the lifeless body of Jesus only find the tomb empty just as he promised.

That’s all well and good, but a provocative question still remains for many – so what? I still have to go back to work and school on Monday. Bills are still due. The surgery is still scheduled. I still need my therapy appointment. Life doesn’t seem to have magically gotten any easier as a result of my participation in the events of Holy Week. So, then why does the resurrection matter and what does it mean for me now?

The resurrection of Jesus matters because it shows us what we might have trouble seeing in the chaotic and divisive world around us – that God loves us beyond measure. That through the gracious gift of Jesus, God defeated sin and death, opening the gate to eternal life, for us.

Some of you will be spending a lot of time in church over the next week – Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. You will hear the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus and what it means for you today, tomorrow, and forever. And now that the culminating event of the Resurrection is complete – What are you supposed to do now?

It’s a question that comes upon each of us throughout our lives because there’s no shortage of things that come at us on a daily basis – What do we do now that we got the test results? What do we do now that I’ve lost my job? What do I do now that I’ve graduated? What do I do now that the relationship is over? What do I do now that the divorce is final? What do I do now that my loved one has died? What do you do next in the midst of the ups and downs of life that are sure to come?

My friends, Jesus has been set loose in the world to bring light out of darkness, forgiveness out of sin, and life out of death. He is the One who can bring joy out of sorrow, faith out of doubt, hope out of despair, and love out of fear. And he invites us to join him and proclaim God’s power to all who are lost and without hope.

So, what do we do now? We respond to God’s grace, love and mercy by going forth from Easter Sunday and the celebration of the empty tomb as witnesses, freed to live and love and serve as God’s forgiven children in Christ Jesus. And as we go forth empowered by God’s Spirit, living and active within us, may we live in the joy of the resurrection so that everyone, everywhere will see just how great God is! Happy Easter! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Tony

What About Easter

Easter has arrived and with it the end of the Lenten season. For this month, I would like to write about what Holy Week meant to me since my childhood, and how it has been changing through my life’s journey.

Holy Week for me in my childhood had only two important days. As you are reading this, I’m sure you are guessing that Easter Sunday is one of those two days, but let me tell you — no. The two days that were very important to me as a young Catholic boy in El Salvador were Palm Sunday and Good Friday. On Palm Sunday, attendance exceeded the capacity of the building. The capacity of the church was twice that of Ascension, but the worshippers that were last to arrive had to sit among the stones that were in the garden outside the church. On Good Friday, the streets filled with hundreds of parishioners accompanying the holy burial. For my family and most people that we knew, those were the only days we attended church throughout the year. Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking and you are wondering what about Easter?  I can’t tell you what an Easter service was like in those days because no one I knew attended church on Easter.

When I started going to the Lutheran church in my country, the celebration of Holy Week was a little different. The celebration of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday had the same level of energy as any Sunday of the year. There was nothing special about these days. I have not experienced Holy Week in El Salvador since 2017 and on that trip, our delegation returned home the day before Easter, so I don’t know if things have changed since moving to the U.S. ten years ago.

In my new life in the United States, the celebration of Holy Week is one of the things that impresses me in the Lutheran Church. Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday are all treated as high Holy Days, but the big difference occurs on Easter Sunday. On my first Easter Sunday, my wife told me, “This Sunday you should dress a little nicer than normal.” I was confused and asked her why. Her response was “Edwin, it is Easter.” My response, “So??” Finally, I listened to her and dressed a little nicer than most Sundays. To be honest, I thought that she was exaggerating. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the church, everyone was dressed in formal clothes for the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank goodness my in-laws had saved seats for us, because the congregation was nearly to the Hearth Room. I never expected a crowd on Easter Sunday. I was equally surprised after church ended, the conversations taking place in the narthex were about whose house people were going to be visiting for the day for their Easter dinner. I was so confused. I couldn’t understand why people were making such a big deal about this day. I didn’t understand why we were going to a dinner at my in-law’s house, but I enjoyed the party, even if I didn’t understand what ham was either.

Over the years, I began to see Holy Week in a new way. If we only gather for Good Friday to remember the suffering, but not on Easter to remember the resurrection, our Holy Week and our faith journey are incomplete.

This is true throughout the year, all of us will experience moments of anguish and pain, but in the end we have to remember that there is always new life. Our Lord, through his sufferings, death and resurrection has released you, me and all humanity. Joy is always coming. Easter Sunday is the most important holiday for Christians and should be celebrated in church, and with family and friends. Happy Easter!

Edwin Aparicio, Pastoral Intern

Holy Week 2023

To mark the days of the journey of Jesus in life, in death, and in resurrection joy.

April 2, Palm Sunday, Domingo de Ramos

8:30a & 10:45a (English), 10:45a (en español)

“Hosanna in the highest!” will be our cry as we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into the gates of the holy city. We will celebrate the beginning of this holy week with the reminder that our expectations and God’s expectations are not always exactly the same. Where the people want a powerful king, Jesus comes as a suffering servant riding a donkey. Through the events of day, we will be reminded of the coming of the promised Messiah – the chosen one of God. Worship is at 8:30am and 10:45am. Between services, BLAST students and families will share in the creation of the alfombras (sand carpets) for Holy Week.

April 6, Maundy Thursday, Jueves Santo

6:30p (English), 6:30p (en español)

Maundy Thursday Dinner 5:30p: Experience and learn about the foods of the Passover. A sampling of Passover food will be provided. Plan on bringing a dish to pass. Reservation only. Reserve your space online or by call to the church office, 262-547-8518.

Maundy Thursday Worship:  We will gather in the upper room with Jesus and the disciples to celebrate the Last Supper. This year, we will hear words of confession and forgiveness and be reminded of the powerful image of the Savior washing the feet of the disciples. As is tradition, we will honor the memory of Jesus’ humiliation at the hands of those in power before he is led to the cross to be crucified by the stripping of the altar. Worship is at 6:30pm.

April 7, Good Friday, Viernes Santo

12p & 6:30p (English), 6:30p (en español)

The ancient title for this day is “the Triumph of the Cross.” A reminder for us that the church gathers not to mourn this day but to celebrate Christ’s life-giving passion and to find strength and hope in the cross as a symbol of new life. We will share in the unfolding drama as Jesus is led to the cross. We will hear the stories of the day and give witness to the closing of the tomb.

April 9, Easter Sunday, Domingo de Resurrección

8:30a & 10:45a (English), 10:45a (en español)

First we hear only hoped-for whispers on the wind. Resurrection? Are you sure? We gather to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus, the Christ. We will hear the story of that first Easter sunrise and be surrounded by the joyful sounds of songs that have been sung for generations and songs that new generations are singing.  Worship is at 8:30am and 10:45am with a continental pot-luck breakfast reception in-between services. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In Search of Sanctuary

As an immigrant learning English, the word sanctuary confused me at first. I saw it at church. I saw it when hiking. I saw it in news about immigration. What in the world was the meaning of this word that it was being used in such different settings? Now of course I know that it means a place of safety and protection from the dangers of the outside. And after everything we have been through in the past couple of years, we all need a sanctuary more than ever.

We were so excited to be back in our sanctuary for Holy Week for normal worship this year. Holy Week services in 2020 were all online and the alfombra was on my home driveway on a cold and rainy Good Friday. Last year we were at least back in person, but there was no singing and communion was at the door as everyone exited the building. We were making big plans. And then we received the exciting and disappointing news that the renovations of the Spanish Sanctuary were going to be taking place over Lent and Holy Week. We would be worshipping in the Hearth Room for the rest of Lent and possibly all of Holy Week. So our plans changed. We slashed the number of alfombras we were planning. We uninvited the guest musicians for Easter Sunday since it was unknown where Easter worship would be. If we were still in the Hearth Room, there would barely be room for the piano. There definitely wouldn’t be room for extra musicians.

When we first started down this road, we were so excited about the project that the disappointments weren’t that big of a deal. But by the time Palm Sunday arrived, it was our third week in the Hearth Room. The energy level of worship was lagging regardless of my energy level. We decided to avoid publicizing our Holy Week worship schedule because we were afraid if visitors came, they would never come back again.

But at the same time, as we were having our own little moment of feeling sorry for ourselves, there were stories of worship in bombed buildings and in subway stations in Ukraine. We were seeing stories of drought and locusts in Tanzania. Yet worship continued. Violence and the government reaction was taking over life in El Salvador, yet worship continued. The story of Jesus’s death and resurrection always overcomes the troubles of this world. If worship was continuing in these terrible circumstances, surely we can do Holy Week in the Hearth Room.

And then we had our own little miracle, and we were able to get into the sanctuary in time for Maundy Thursday. We had a place for the alfombra procession for Good Friday. It was still under construction, but we were energized. And in spite of our efforts to try and hide our worship schedule from visitors, we had over 20 visitors for Easter morning. We had to bring in extra chairs and run additional bulletins. It was a full worship service filled with singing and shouts of resurrection joy. ¡Él ha resucitado!

Edwin Aparicio, Pastoral Intern, Spanish-Language Minister

Welcome to Resurrection

Well, my friends, we do not always get to choose the timing for the work God calls us to do. We are neck deep in the season of Lent. At the same time, we are neck deep in the second phase of our remodel as walls and kitchen are demolished; asbestos is abated; and flooring is being prepared to be installed. So much chaos. Welcome to the wilderness, and if I am being honest, welcome to the story of the resurrection.

The key word for all of us in this season of Lent is flexibility. Please take a moment to thank staff who are redesigning worship, meetings, storage areas, and tending ministry on-the-fly. If the pandemic has taught us anything: even when we have made all the preparations, anything can change with a moment’s notice.

There are times when the wilderness is something that happens to others, and we watch from afar. Like the people in Ukraine. The wilderness they find themselves in was not of their choosing. At other times, the wilderness is the place we go to find a new road. When we choose a new relationship, career, vacation, retirement – all are wilderness moments that we can often choose for ourselves.

The wilderness, even when we enter by choice, can be a place of chaos. We can be fearful. We can be optimistic. We can be emboldened. We can be discouraged. In the wilderness, we can meet all those emotions and much more.

The season of Lent invites us to explore the faith we hold on to while also nurturing the relationships we hold so close. Our relationship with God, with stories of faith, with family and friends, and with strangers as well. These long forty days call us to remember who we are while at the same time releasing our grip from what we hold onto. And yes, these days can sometimes feel chaotic but God does not leave us to figure things out on our own. God is with us, even when we have difficulty believing God is present.

The season of Lent moves us to the holiest of weeks when Jesus enters Jerusalem to crowds gathered to welcome him. An upper room on Maundy Thursday gathers friends for a Last Supper and a cross overshadows the “good” of Good Friday. There will be upset in the temple grounds when Jesus turns over tables of the moneychangers. Chaos. There will be darkness and an earthquake to blot out both the light and our hope for a time on Good Friday. Chaos. A stone will be rolled in front of a tomb and the story of God’s one and only Son will come to an end. Chaos for all who believed.

Perhaps the chaos is just one more opportunity for God to reveal God’s self to us.

Come Sunday, there will be rumors of a stone rolled away and an empty tomb where Jesus once laid. Chaos. Roman guards will not be able to tell the story with much clarity. Chaos. Disciples will question the validity of the stories of three women who believe Jesus has risen from the dead. Chaos. Jesus, himself, will appear to Mary in the same garden where he was laid to rest, and Mary will question his identity. Chaos.

And the days of Easter will reveal Jesus to disciples in a locked room; on a beach; on the road to Emmaus; and on a mountain before his ascension into heaven. Chaos. I love that God uses the chaos of Easter resurrection stories to balance the chaos of our days in Lent and our journey through Holy Week. The same chaos that cause us to struggle and to doubt becomes the chaos that offers us the miracle of God’s resurrection power and the stability and grounding of our trust in God’s promise of eternal life through the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus, the Christ. Thanks be to God!

On a personal note…I would invite you to not let the chaos of these last two years of pandemic planning keep you from remembering that on Easter Sunday in 2021 we did not have the opportunity and benefit of praising God with our voices through the journey of Holy Week and into Easter Day. Perhaps, you will not take worshipping our God in such simple ways for granted ever again. Come, join us for the journey of our Savior. Find your way to worship, if you have not been for a time. We will be glad to welcome you home. See you in church!

Pastor Chris

Every Day Is Easter

Our Lenten Journey will soon be over. We will gather in the upper room on Maundy Thursday with Jesus and his disciples and hear Jesus say those powerful words that we are reminded of every Sunday morning, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” We will travel to the foot of the cross on Good Friday and hear Jesus utter a lonely cry of abandonment, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” We will hear the words of finality that Jesus spoke with his last breath as he paid the ultimate price for our sin, “It is finished!” And we will travel again to the empty tomb to hear about the group of women that traveled there early on the first day of the week only to find it empty. We will hear once more the words of the angels at the empty tomb, “He is not here, but has risen.” And once that final, culminating event of the Resurrection is complete. Then what? What are we supposed to do then?

The month of April reminds us that Easter is more than just one day. Easter is an “every Sunday” celebration during which we come together to receive the blessing of the cross and resurrection of Jesus – the forgiveness of sins and the certainty of eternal life with God. Easter is also an “every day” celebration in which we live each day trusting in God through Christ, knowing that Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” for us.

So, what do we do as we go forth from the empty tomb? Let us follow the example of the first witnesses of the empty tomb. After the two angels reminded the women that Jesus had risen, St. Luke tells us that “then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.” They went forth from the tomb changed by the resurrection of Jesus. They went forth from the tomb to bring an “every day” witness of God’s power over sin, death, and Satan himself.

So where are we to go once we leave the empty tomb? Let us follow the example of Jesus’ first disciples. After Jesus walked through locked doors to appear to the eleven disciples and to show himself to Thomas, seven of the eleven disciples went back to their fishing business. They went back to their vocations or stations in life and took the witness of the resurrection with them. They lived in the joy of the resurrection of Jesus while carrying out the daily, ordinary labor and responsibilities that had been given to them.

Like the women at the empty tomb and the eleven disciples, we too are “every day” witnesses and participants in the resurrection of Jesus. We believe. We have the hope of eternal life. We have the joy of the resurrection living inside of us. Also, like the women at the empty tomb and the disciples, we have vocations or stations in life that God has given to us as gifts. Most of us are not fishermen, but all of us have one or more of these callings: mother, father, partner, wife, husband, daughter, son, sister, brother, grandparent, employee, retiree, caregiver, friend, and neighbor. Each of these callings comes with a set of duties and responsibilities. And as followers of Jesus, redeemed by God’s grace we are called to wrap the daily duties and responsibilities of our vocations in the joy, love, peace, and forgiveness of Christ. And when we do this, more than likely, others will take notice and God will bless our faithful work by giving us more opportunities to “tell all these things to all the rest.”

So, what are we to do then? My dear friends, we respond to God’s grace, love and mercy by going forth from Easter Sunday and the celebration of the empty tomb as “every day” witnesses, freed to live and love and serve as God’s forgiven children in Christ Jesus. And as we go forth empowered by God’s Spirit, living and active within us, may we live in the joy of the resurrection so that everyone, everywhere will see just how great God is! Happy Easter! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Tony

Prepare the Way of the Lord

During fifty-one weeks of the year, when the church is decorated, it is the altars and the walls we adorn to enhance our worship experience. But during Holy Week, sometimes the ground receives most of our attention. At Ascension, like churches of all denominations around the world, on Palm Sunday we recreate the actions of the early disciples of Jesus by covering the ground with palm branches. On the original Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a humble donkey, but the Passover celebrants recognized him as the potential Messiah. They threw their robes and branches on the ground to prepare a path worthy of a king.

Jesus walked a far different path later that week when he was paraded through the streets on the way to his crucifixion. I imagine it was the ugliest of walks, filled with fear, humiliation, and pain. In Central America, we spend Holy Week covering the streets with colorful alfombras that are part of the Good Friday processions that take place in every town. In recent years at Ascension, on Palm Sunday afternoon we begin to create our alfombras. The walk of our worshipers over the alfombras on Good Friday is a reminder of the beauty of God’s love being darkened for those three days.

This year, without a sanctuary for Holy Week worship, the pathway for our alfombras is less obvious. In spite of the fact that we won’t have our usual Spanish Sanctuary for our alfombras, we will look for creative ways we can maintain the theology of the alfombras, and our culture.

Advent may be the season of preparing our hearts for Jesus, but Holy Week is the season of preparing our feet to walk the walk of Jesus. Preparing the way of the Lord is such an important idea, that the verse is mentioned twice in the Bible. “A voice is crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight His Path.” ~Isaiah 40:3 & Matthew 3:3. For those other fifty-one weeks of the year, the weeks when we are not decorating the floors of the narthex and sanctuary, how will you prepare the path for Jesus?

 Edwin Aparicio, Pastoral Intern