How can I participate fully in the Holy Week experience? Well, there are several ways.

First, plan to come to the Holy Week services.  We are a people that must participate in things if we are to really engage them.

Second, do some serious self-examination.  Take time to reflect and meditate on God’s Word.  Ponder your sin and God’s goodness and mercy.  At the end of this posting, you will find some materials that will help you do this.

Third, consider a private, aural confession.  The Book of Common Prayer provides for public confession and absolution in the words of the General Confession, or Confession of Sin, which occurs in both Morning and Evening Prayer and at the Eucharist.  Private confession takes place in the prayer book rite called Reconciliation of a Penitent.  In general, the General Confession relates to the corporate sinfulness of the church, while private confession concerns the individual.

Reconciliation of a Penitent is a rite by which a minister of the church absolves and offers forgiveness of sin to a penitent in the name of Christ and the church.  The service appears in two forms, an essential form and a longer form that adds scripture, examination of conscience, and the laying on of hands.  It is particularly apt during the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent.  Time can be scheduled during Holy Week for such confessions, just email Charlie+ at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  It is the Anglican belief in aural confession that all may, some should, and none must.  It can be a powerful and life-changing experience.  We encourage everyone to consider it.

Please remember, while Lent and Holy Week are somber times, the glory of Easter is just around the corner!

Praying for a meaningful season for you all,

Charlie+

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Do we truly love God above all, or do we sometimes give greater importance to things of this world: money, image, looks, clothes, popularity or selfish desires?

Do we claim to have good values, but often bend or abandon them in order to fit in and be "part of the group?"

Do we turn to God in thankful prayer, or do we pray mostly when we want something?

Do we really want to be transformed by the will of God, or do we just use our religion in order to "look" like good Christian people?

Do we show disrespect for God's name by misusing it out of frustration or anger or to look "tough" to others?

Do we hesitate to mention God's name in appropriate situations, in conversations with friends and family members?

Do we continue to learn about God by paying attention in our church service, Sunday school, and/or other gathering times?

Do we ascribe the Lord’s will to our own wills in order to justify “our way”?

Do we come to Church to celebrate the Eucharist on Sundays and Holy Days?

Do we attend service only when it does not conflict with what we’d like to accomplish on the weekend, when it is convenient, or when it will make us "feel good?"

Do we participate in the service by praying and singing, or do we simply sit as spectators and wait to be entertained?

Do we pay close attention to the Word of God and open ourselves to God's call to allow His word to take effect in our lives?

Do we acknowledge the presence of Christ at the Eucharist and receive it with respect and reverence?

Do we help bring peace and happiness to our families, or are we disrespectful of others and a source of hurt and division for those who are closest to us?

As parents, are we generous and patient with our children? Do we spend time with them and give them the attention they need?

Do we set responsible limits for them and make sure they follow rules that will help them grow into responsible adults?

Are we willing to say "no" to our children, or are we more likely to ignore problem behavior and hope it will "go away"?

Do we listen to our children carefully and treat them with respect?

As children, are we loving, respectful and obedient to our parents? Do we appreciate the many sacrifices they make/made for us? Do we say "Thank you" and "I love you" often enough?

Do we do our chores without being asked, or do we wait for our parents to become upset before we move away from what we are doing?

Do we listen to our parents' reasoning when they say "no" to us?

Have we injured another person through carelessness or fighting?

Have we placed ourselves or others in danger because of reckless use of alcohol or other drugs? Have we caused difficulties for ourselves or others because of their use?

Have we risked our lives by driving or riding with someone under the influence alcohol or other drugs?

Do we strive to forgive those who have hurt us, or do we hold on to resentment and desire for revenge?

Do we use our powers of influence well; in order to fight oppression and injustice, or do we allow those evils to continue by our apathy and our silence?

Have we been violent or abusive either in action or in speech? Have we been verbally abusive to our children or other family members?

Do we share what we have with those in need?

Do we support the life and mission of the Church by responsible stewardship - sharing our time, talent and treasure?  Do we tithe?

Do we bring our Christianity to everyday situations, or do we stand on the sidelines and complain about every flaw we can detect in others?

The Sixth Commandment: You shall not commit adultery.

Do we respect the dignity of the human body and the holiness of Christian marriage?

Do we show that respect in our speech, or are crude language and jokes often part of our conversations?

Do we understand and appreciate the gift of our sexuality as a means of expressing our love [and God's love] in the covenant of Marriage?

Have we been faithful to our marriage, priestly or religious vows?

Do we keep our commitments simply because we said we would, or do we seek to nourish ourselves and others through our lifetime commitments?

Have we dishonored our bodies by fornication, impurity or unworthy conversation or thought leading to impure actions?

Have we encouraged others to sin by our failure to maintain good moral standards?

Is any form of pornography a part of our lives?

Do we respect the property of other people? Have we stolen, damaged or vandalized the property of others?

Have we cheated at work or in school? Have we encouraged others to sin by pressuring them into helping us cheat?

Are we honest and hardworking in school and at work?

Are we faithful to our promises? Can we be trusted?

Have we lied to stay out of trouble or to avoid a difficult situation?

Do we gossip about others? Have we damaged the reputation of another person by exaggeration or making up stories about them?

Can we be trusted with a secret?

Do we stand up for those unjustly accused, or are we merely a channel through which rumors pass, whether or not they are true?

Have we weakened or damaged our marriage commitment through our obsession with another person?

Do we respect the commitments of others and help them remain faithful to their promises?

Do we treat our marriages casually in our conversations and attitudes? Have we said or done anything which made a mockery of our sacred promises?

Are we satisfied with what God has given us, or are we jealous of those who seem to have more?

Do we try to prove we are better than others by bragging or buying more things?

Do we appreciate our own good qualities, or do we constantly compare ourselves with others and become resentful or bitter?

Do we cope well with the problems that confront us and maintain our Christian hope in spite of hard times and difficulties?

Do we truly "seek first the Kingdom of God" in our lives and place our trust in Him?

Do we reflect the peace, hope and joy of a people redeemed and made holy by the Blood of Christ?

Composed by George Ridding, first bishop of Southwell, England (Church of England)

From moral weakness, from hesitation, from fear of men and dread of responsibility; strengthen us with courage to speak the truth in love and self-control; and alike from the weakness of hasty violence and from the weakness of moral cowardice: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From weakness of judgment, from the indecision that can make no choice and from the irresolution that carries no choice into action; Strengthen our eyes to see and our wills to choose the right; And from losing opportunities to serve you, and from perplexing ourselves and others with uncertainties: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From infirmity of purpose, from want or earnest care and interest, from sluggish indolence and slack indifference, and from all spiritual deadness of heart: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From dullness of conscience, from feeble sense of duty from thoughtless disregard of consequences to others, from a low idea of the obligations of our calling, and from half-heartedness in our service:   Save us and help us, O Lord.

From weariness in continuing struggles, from dependency on ourselves in failure and disappointments, from overburdened sense of unworthiness, from morbid fancies of imaginary backsliding.  Raise us to a lively hope in mercy and in the power of faith; And from all exaggerated fears and vexations: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From self-conceit, vanity, and boasting, from delight in supposed success and superiority;

Raise us to the modesty and humility of true sense and taste and reality; And from all the harms and hindrances of offensive manners and self-assertion: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From affectation and untruth, conscious or unconscious, from pretence and hypocrisy, from impulsive self-adaptation to the moment to please persons or make circumstances easy;

Strengthen us to true simplicity; and from all false appearances: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From love of flattery, from over-ready belief in praise, from dislike of criticism, and from the comfort of self-deception in persuading ourselves that others think better of us than we are: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From all love of display and sacrifice to popularity, from thinking of ourselves and forgetting you in our worship: Hold our minds in spiritual reverence; and from self-glorification in all our words and works: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From pride and self-will, from the desire to have our way in all things, from overweening love of our own ideas, and blindness to the value of others, from resentment against opposition and contempt for the claims of others: Enlarge the generosity of our hearts and enlighten the fairness of our judgments; and from all selfish arbitrariness of tempter: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From jealousy, whether of equals or superiors, from grudging others success, from impatience of submission and eagerness for authority:  Give us the spirit of common fellowship to share loyally with fellow-workers in all true proportion; and from all insubordination to just law and proper authority: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From all hasty utterances of impatience, from the retort of irritation and the taunt of sarcasm, from all infirmity of temper in provoking or being provoked; and from all idle words that may do hurt: Save us and help us, O Lord.

In all times of temptation to follow pleasure, to leave duty for amusement, to indulge in distraction, dissipation, dishonesty, or debt, or to degrade our high calling and forget our solemn vows; And in all times of frailty in our flesh: Save us and help us, O Lord.

In all times of ignorance and perplexity as to what is right and best to do; Direct us with wisdom to judge aright, and order our ways, and overrule our circumstances by your good Providence, and in all our mistakes and misunderstandings: Save us and help us, O Lord.

From strife, partisanship, and division, from magnifying our certainties to condemn all differences, from building systems to exclude all challenges, and from all arrogance in our dealings with others: Save us and help us, O Lord.

Give us knowledge of ourselves: our power and weaknesses, our spirit, our sympathy, and imagination, our knowledge, our truth; Teach us by the standard of your Word, by the judgments of others, by examination of ourselves; Give us an earnest desire to strengthen ourselves continually by study, diligence, prayer, and meditation; And from all fancies, delusions, and prejudices of habit, or temper, or society: Save us and help us, O Lord.

Give us true knowledge of others, in their differences from us and in their likenesses to us, that we may deal with their real selves measuring their feelings by our own and patiently considering their varied lives and thoughts and circumstances; And in all our dealings with them, from false judgments of our own, from misplaced trust and distrust, from misplaced giving and refusing, from misplaced praise and blame: Save us and help us, O Lord.

Chiefly we pray that we may know you and see you in all your works, always feel your presence near, hear you and know your call: Let your Spirit be our will, your Word, our word; and in all our shortcomings and infirmities, may we have sure faith in your mercy: Save us and help us, O Lord.

Finally, we pray, blot out our past transgressions, heal the evils of our past negligence and ignorance, and help us to amend our past mistakes and misunderstandings; Uplift our hearts to new love, new energy, new devotion, that we may be unburdened from the grief and shame of past unfaithfulness; and go forth in your strength to persevere, through success and failure, through good report and evil report, even to the end; And in all time of our tribulation and in all time of our prosperity: Save us and help us, O Lord.