I will confess to all of you that religion and I are not the best of friends. It’s for no reason in particular. It is that sitting in a church every Sunday has not always been my first choice since the moment I was able to choose.
This year, I experienced something quite beautiful on Good Friday. I thank my co-workers Tonya and Anna for it. Anna is born to Greek and Mexican parents and mentioned the annual Good Friday service and procession at the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at ‘Ground Zero’ in New York City. In the same area of Manhattan that you look up and see One World Trade…
You spin around and see the church.
A little about the church: It was founded in 1916 and was notably the only building (and only church) outside the World Trade Center complex to be completely destroyed on 9/11. A rebuild was agreed upon in 2011. Delays slowed the process but a non-profit kept it going up to the church fully reopening in December 2022 — 11 years in the making and 21 years after its destruction. Taking a peek inside, its capacity is small but then you look around you…and here’s in part what you see.
Quite beautiful indeed.
The Good Friday service was before a mostly overflow crowd outside. Then, the Epitaphios emerged. It’s a ceremonial frame decorated in flowers that represents what Jesus’ body was carried on. A solemn procession follows it as it is carried in a circuit around the Ground Zero complex…
…arriving back at the church.
The reverence is palpable and the significance is not missed.
No matter what church you grew up in: Greek Orthodox, Baptist, Catholic, African Methodist Episcopal (like me), non-denominational or otherwise, all these houses of worship tell the same story this time of year, You may remember reciting the Apostles Creed at the end of services. The verbiage differs slightly among denominations..but I still remember standing and reciting it next to my parents in church:
“I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ — His only son our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried. The third day he arose from the dead, He ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the quick and the dead,”
I hope your Easter this year was as enlightening as mine.
POSTSCRIPT: We learned Easter Monday that Pope Francis passed away. He lived his last full day of life on — of all days — Easter Sunday. He was a different kind of leader for the Catholic Church. He had compassion and love not just for those of his faith…but of ALL faiths. Rest well, Francis.
WELCOME TO MY WORLD!! 