anglican focus

The news site of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland: nourishing and connecting our faith community

Holy Saturday

Reflections Anglican priest holding a palm on Palm Sunday with a microphone in hand Reflections

Seeing life differently through Holy Week

“The liturgies of Holy Week can contribute to our becoming more empathetic by exposing us to situations that we have yet to encounter in our lives. This is because the events of Holy Week are recorded with details that allow us to identify the time of year and the days of the week on which they are located,”  says The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt

"My uncle was chosen by Torres Strait Islander priests to act in the role of Jesus during the reenactment because he was light skinned. However, some of the local lay elders spoke up saying that it didn’t matter what colour skin the person had who played Jesus — that even someone with fuzzy hair, a big beard and dark skin should be able to play him," (Saibai elder, NATSIAC Executive Member and Parish of Laidley Synod Rep Uncle Milton Walit)
Reflections

"The first Easter I remember"

“As a community, after the Easter Day service we celebrated the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with a big kai kai (feast). People from all over the Torres Strait Islands and Papua New Guinea (which was then still administered by Australia) came via sailing canoes rather than by motor boats, bringing seafood, taro, sweet potato, casava, sago and other traditional foods. We then had traditional dancing with men wearing headdresses made of emu feathers and women wearing grass skirts,” says Uncle Milton Walit from NATSIAC and The Parish of Laidley

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Bishop Jeremy Greaves' Holy Saturday 2023 message

“In the great liturgy of the Triduum, Holy Saturday comes as an awkward silence between the cross and the resurrection and the temptation is to fill it with noise and busyness. Many parishes will hold working bees or clean-up days on Holy Saturday in readiness for Easter Day…but if as Claude Debussy says, ‘Music is the silence between the notes’, we should respond to the invitation of Holy Saturday and stop, in silence and listen,” says Bishop Jeremy Greaves

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Bishop Cam Venables’ Holy Saturday 2022 message

“In the Easter story it’s helpful to remember/that resurrection new life/did not arrive quickly/and that disciples, family, and friends/were crushed – shattered – nothing mattered!/The tomb was sealed/and all hope of justice/through future kingdom/had been crushed –shattered…/nothing mattered, anymore!” says Bishop Cam Venables in his Holy Saturday poem