This was my first Holy Week as a priest, but my sixth since I’ve been in the ordination process and working in churches. I noticed in the days and weeks leading up to it that I was approaching Holy Week with a different frame of mind than in the past. On the liturgical side of things there was an intense bustle of activity as we tried to make sure in advance that all of the services went off without a hitch. On the personal side, I sensed a new burden. One part of being a priest is that we are partly responsible for shaping the spiritual lives of our parishioners.

I suspect that the reason I felt that burden so strongly this year was because of the role Holy Week played in my becoming an Episcopalian. I remember the awe that I experienced the first time I participated in the Triduum: the spectacle of Maundy Thursday with the stripping of the altar, the solemnity of Good Friday, and the wondrous drama of the Easter Vigil. That first experience proved to me the power of liturgical worship and exposed depths of my soul I hardly knew existed.

To participate in creating such experiences for others is humbling and challenging. At the end of Easter Sunday, I felt little more than exhaustion and relief that it was all over. Thankfully, Monday was a holiday at Furman so I could have an extra day to recover.