Hundreds of Episcopalians join presiding bishop, church leaders in virtual Palm Sunday vigil

Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe gives a reflection on Matthew 22:34-40 during The Episcopal Church’s virtual March 29 Palm Sunday evening vigil. Photo: Screenshot

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe hosted an evening Palm Sunday vigil on March 29 via Zoom for Episcopalians to pray together for God’s “blessing on our witness” during Holy Week.

“We will, by our witness, show our communities that The Episcopal Church follows the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves,” Rowe said in his reflection during the vigil. “We will bear witness to the truth that what causes hardship and pain for the most vulnerable among us causes all of us to suffer.”

A group of bishops, led by Louisiana Bishop Shannon Duckworth, Missouri Bishop Deon Johnson and Michigan Bishop Bonnie Perry, planned the service, which included English- and Spanish-speaking clergy and lay leaders representing each province reading parts of the Great Litany from the Book of Common Prayer. The Rev. Halim Shukair, priest-in-charge at Mother of the Savior Episcopal Church in Dearborn, Michigan, read from the litany in Arabic.

The vigil also included a reading of Matthew 22:34-40, which recounts what happened on Palm Sunday. The passage describes Jesus explaining to the Pharisees that the two greatest commandments are “love God with all your heart, soul and mind,” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”

“When [the Pharisees] put Jesus to the test, they can’t outwit him when he tells them that the greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves,” Rowe said. “This dangerous figure, Jesus, who’s preaching about love, mercy and forgiveness, has electrified the countryside.” 

In the New Testament, Jesus, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, triumphantly, yet humbly, entered Jerusalem on a donkey, an animal that signifies peace and servanthood.

“Jesus teaches us that in him, we are all made one, part of one body. There’s no difference between us and our neighbor,” Rowe said. “Love your neighbor as yourself. And because we’re one body, when we hate and revile each other, we are only destroying ourselves.”

Jesus’ arrival occurred on what is known today as Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week, the final seven days of Lent leading up to Easter. The Galileans greeted Jesus by waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna,” a word with Hebrew origins meaning “save us.” Over time, the plea for salvation has also been interpreted as a proclamation of adoration and praise, and the palm branches today symbolize victory and triumph.

In most Western Christian rites, including The Episcopal Church, congregations celebrate Palm Sunday by distributing blessed palm branches, which are sometimes woven into crosses. The churches traditionally recollect those branches to burn them into ashes that will be imposed the following year on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.

After Rowe finished his reflection, Indianapolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows read the prayer of St. Chrysostom, asking God to fulfill the gathered worshippers’ prayers.

The Rev. Ivar Hillesand, canon for congregational development in the Diocese of Olympia, played ukulele and sang from the Book of Common Prayer during The Episcopal Church’s March 29 virtual Palm Sunday vigil. Photo: Screenshot

The Rev. Ivar Hillesand, canon for congregational development in the Diocese of Olympia, played the ukulele and sang, “Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen,” words taken from the Book of Common Prayer.

During the vigil, the 450 participants were invited to offer prayers and reflections through Zoom’s chat function. At least one person prayed for Spokane Bishop Gretchen Rehberg, who is recovering after receiving a double lung transplant earlier this month. At least one other person prayed for people who are enrolled in government assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid. Others prayed for immigrants who are being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for the safety of U.S. military personnel as armed conflict in the Middle East continues.

The following prayers were also written in the chat:

“[I pray for] peace for the entire world, that we may love one another as Jesus Christ has loved us all by dying on the cross.”

“[I pray for] those struggling with addictions, that they may find freedom and peace.”

“[I pray] for all the humanitarian groups who provide aid to those in need.”

“[I pray] for children everywhere, especially for those in unsafe situations.”

“[I pray] for wars to cease. For the hungry to be fed. For the unhoused to find shelter.”

On March 30, the Monday in Holy Week, churches throughout several dioceses will hold public worship services in person and via livestream to “lament the violence and hatred that has come to define our common life and to witness to our conviction that Christians must come together across our unholy divisions.” These special services are taking place in response to Rowe’s call in his Ash Wednesday letter to the church for public worship that day.

“It is an urgent moral claim that those who are most persecuted make on each and every one of us,” Rowe said during the vigil. “We will witness to our convictions that Christians must come together across our unholy divisions, divisions that politics and the world have foisted on us, but are not of God, and instead focus all of our hearts and minds on loving God and loving our neighbor.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.