Mtr Kelli Joyce

“Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.”

Dear Friends in Christ,

I don’t know about y’all, but my sense of time isn’t what it used to be. February feels like a lifetime ago. I lose track of what time of day it is, and what day of the week. The familiar routines and patterns that mark the rhythms of life have been upended.

And now, here we are, in July, reading about Christ’s betrayal in the garden. I know in my head that this story isn’t reserved for Holy Week, but it takes me there emotionally all the same. Maundy Thursday, when we read this story each year, is perhaps the day of the Triduum that I find most moving each year. From the high points of the institution of the Eucharist and the command to love and serve each other, to the crushing loneliness of betrayal and abandonment.

Amid this strange time where time itself seems out of order, I’m glad for this little taste of Maundy Thursday in the height of summer. I am grateful for the reminder that Christ has known suffering and loneliness like we do. That we are not alone, and that God knows firsthand the joys and sorrows of human life. And that God is working all things together for our good, and even now is carrying out the plan of salvation for our sake.

In peace,
Mtr Kelli