Ritual and Remembrance

Reflecting on the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Three Days after Sunday (Year A)

Scripture (semicontinuous)

Psalter: Psalm 121

Old Testament: Exodus 13:1-10

Gospel: Matthew 21:18-22

Scripture (complementary)

Psalter: Psalm 119:65-72

Old Testament: Leviticus 16:1-5, 20-28

Gospel: Matthew 21:18-22

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Prayer

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)

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Reflection

The Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is mine.”

Moses said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because the Lord brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten. Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out. When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this observance in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory. You shall tell your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of the Lord may be on your lips, for with a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. You shall keep this ordinance at its proper time from year to year (Exodus 13:1-10).

In the amber glow of candlelight’s embrace,

Gathered we stand, a tapestry of faces diverse,

Bound by a legacy, a story interwoven through time,

Passover’s ritual unfolds, a sacred universe.

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Matzah, unleavened and bare, a symbol of haste,

Crunches between fingers, a taste of history’s grain,

Bitter herbs invoke the bitterness of bondage’s chain,

We dip them in hope, in a springtime’s refrain.

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Cup of crimson wine, a toast to freedoms flight,

A sip of remembrance, generations entwined,

Through desert’s expanse, under stars’ ancient might,

We wander, seeking deliverance, the soul’s bind.

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Hushed whispers echo tales of Exodus’ flight,

Of plagues and miracles, of a sea’s parting grace,

The youngest voice queries, tradition’s demand,

And elders unfold the saga, faces alight.

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A lamb’s sacrifice, a doorpost’s mark,

Shielding from shadows of death’s sweeping night,

Passover moon casts its radiant arc,

Upon doorways, a vow of survival’s rite.

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With each retelling, the story finds anew,

In hearts and minds, its rhythm takes root,

We bridge the chasm ‘twixt old and the young,

As Passover’s flames kindle history’s pursuit.

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So, we gather, a continuum unbroken,

A mosaic of voices, laughter, and tears,

Passover's ritual, a beacon awoken,

A tribute to endurance spanning the years.

PRAYER: O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)

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