Holy ThurFriday

A Vigil

Immediately after the 12 Gospels service, begins at 9pm on Thursday night an hourly Vigil until 9am the next morning. Again, the timeline of the week is overlapping with Jesus being on the cross, but it also seemed to be connected to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Various volunteers signed up for each hour, to read various Psalms, Gospel readings, and other portions of Scripture. The question of Jesus came into sharper focus within me, “could you not keep watch with me one hour?”

Over the course of a few hours, my mind would wander between listening to the readings, picturing Jesus alone praying while we slept, and admiring people who also were there. My friend Jon was there the whole time, relighting the incense every 15 minutes, burning behind the cross. I stayed until about 1am and came back around 6am. There were a couple who had stayed through the night.