By The Rev. Stephanie M Johnson
As we welcome Spring into our community this April, we are mindful of the sacredness and holiness of this time for people of faith. Around the world, it’s a month filled with rituals, prayers and traditions, providing a sense of God’s presence, a grounding in community, and continuity with previous generations.
For Christians, Holy Week began on April 2nd with the celebration of Palm Sunday to remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. On Maundy Thursday, we celebrate the Last Supper as Jesus gives his disciples the commandment to serve one another. On Good Friday, we mourn the death of Jesus on the cross. We then turn our eyes and our hearts toward the promised resurrection when we rejoice in the new Creation on Easter morning.
This year Passover, which commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, began on April 5th. The weeklong holiday, told in the Book of Exodus and celebrated with the Seder, reminds the Jewish people that God was with them to guide them in their journey to the promised land.
This April is also a holy season for Muslims, who continue to observe Ramadan, a 30-day period of fasting and prayer that began in March and ends on April 21. During Ramadan, Muslims mark the revelation of the first verses of the Qur’an as revealed to the prophet Mohammed. On April 21, Muslims will celebrate the end of Ramadan with Eid al-Fitr, the festival of breaking the fast.
Christians, Muslims and Jewish people share a faith lineage with Abraham, whom God choses when he sends Abraham forth with these words: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed. “(Genesis 26:4, The Revised Standard Bible) Theologian Karl-Josef Kuschel notes that followers of the Abrahamic tradition are invited to focus on the essence of Abraham in their respective traditions as “a man who trusted in God and who did God’s will.” (https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/the-abrahamic-religions) Our belief, trust and hope in God is central to the faith journey which we share.
In God’s promise to Abraham and all future generations, I am reassured that across these three faith traditions we all seek the same thing- to be together with family, friends and those in our worshipping communities during these Holy Days, connecting our lives with God and our faith. Through the enacting of ancient rituals, we commemorate our shared desire to remember that God has been present to countless generations and continues to be presence with us today and in the future.
In a world which is so deeply divided, and across faith histories where religion has been weaponized to brutalize and oppress the “other,” perhaps in this special month of April we can see an invitation to celebrate our similarities, not our differences. Perhaps we are called to remember that all are created in the image of God, beloved and perfect. Perhaps we are called to see in the eyes of those we meet that Divine spark which infuses us all. Perhaps we can recognize our shared calling to seek justice and love for all our neighbors even, and maybe especially, those who are different from us. It is there in those moments when God offers us hope and possibility for today and the future.
May your April be filled with God’s love and God’s abundance for you, your family and all whom you love.
The Reverend Stephanie M. Johnson is the Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. She is the President of the Greenwich Clergy Fellowship.
