Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

One of the stark moments in the Good Friday liturgy happens at the very beginning. The ministers enter and immediately lie down, prostrate, on the floor. 

It is striking and immediately sets the tone for the liturgy—this will be one that is like no other in the year. It will be one that is marked by the absence of Christ and in the face of such a loss we can only lie down in deepest prayer. 

When I first lie down there’s all the shuffling and noise of people finding their kneelers and setting bulletins aside. Maybe I hear a knee creak or two! Probably mine. 

Then there’s a bit of nervous energy as people expect to get back up quickly. 

Then a stillness starts to set in as people realize we will be in prayer for some time. 

An odd thing then happens. You feel the cold of the floor begin to soak through the vestments. It starts where the most pressure is put against the earth—at your chest—and begins to spread out. 

That’s when you know it’s just about time to stand up—when you can feel the pulse, the beat, of the world as it too feels the weight of the absence we marked. 

Easter is Christ’s standing up after a short time that felt an eternity pressed against the cold of the deep earth. He stands up to offer a blessing—to offer a reminder that he will be with us always even when we can’t imagine how. 

That third day God must have just known it was time. In rhythm with the pulse of the world he knew that the stillness was the path. Listening to the best of the life of the world he felt the call to rise again and be about the work of Resurrection. 

May we too be ready to rise with him, patient enough with the stillness that we might yet feel the pulse of the world, and ready to go about the work of Resurrection.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert