Thursday, April 2 is our Maundy Thursday service.  We invite you to gather with the people of God at MLLC at 7:00 p.m.

We believe it is an important and faith enriching experience to be part of these special days.  Worship will be each night at 7:00 p.m.  These Three Days together are called the Great Triduum.

*Maundy Thursday – April 2 – We connect with the events of the Last Supper of Jesus with his Apostles.  We also remember his betrayal and arrest.

*Good Friday – April 3 – We connect with the suffering, death and entombment of Jesus Christ.

*The Great Vigil of Easter – April 4 – We remember the waiting of the followers of Jesus when he was in the tomb and before he was raised from the dead.  We celebrate the victory of the Resurrection from the dead of Jesus.

Here is the introduction we use for Maundy Thursday:

The Maundy Thursday service is one of endings and beginnings. What was begun on Ash Wednesday is brought to a close here today. What begins today does not end until the Day of Resurrection. It is the ancient Triduum, “The Three Sacred Days,” which lead us to the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
The theme is love, our Savior’s love for us, expressed in the washing of the disciples’ feet, in giving himself in bread and wine, in dying upon the cross. An invitation to confession is given. The focus is on forgiveness. On Ash Wednesday, we began Lent with a major act of confession and ashes, but we did not receive a strong statement of forgiveness in the absolution. That bold announcement of forgiveness comes now, “In the mercy of almighty God,” and “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” at the service celebrating Christ’s love.
The lessons of love are read. A new command derives from it: “Love one another.” The name “Maundy” comes from the first word of the Latin form of John 13:34: “Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos” (“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”). This self-giving love is demonstrated in the washing of feet. The prayers are said. The table is made ready. The time of the Lord’s Supper arrives, and our Lord is revealed in bread and wine as once he “revealed himself to his disciples.” It is a solemn moment, but we cannot linger here. Nor could the Lord, for His betrayal was imminent.
Before we know it, the markings of betrayal are seen before us. The symbol of Christ in our midst, the altar, is stripped bare. Christ is stripped of his power and glory. Good Friday is inescapable. The powers of darkness work upon him.
In silence, we depart without benediction. The Three Sacred Days continue with the Good Friday service on April 3 at 7:00 p.m. We will also gather on Saturday evening, April 4 at 7 p.m. for the Vigil of Easter.