Today the Christian chaplaincies are co-sponsoring a Good Friday Worship Service at 3 p.m. via zoom. To attend, please be in touch with Chaplain Holly by 2:50 p.m. at ulmer@umd.edu

This poem was shared by the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ. Best wishes for a blessed Good Friday.

Sorrow-filled Road

Holy Week summons
People of faith
On a different road
A Sorrow-filled Road
Through a lonesome valley

Mired in the mud
Caught in the quarantine’s quicksand
The path from parade to empty tomb
Seems littered with obstacles
Too heavy to move

“Hosanna” we cry out
“Hosanna” “Save Us”
Save us from power valued more than people
Save us from greed determining life or death
Save us from imaginary outcomes obscuring science
Save us from self-indulgence over common good
“Hosanna” we cry out
“Hosanna” “Save Us”

Set Your table before us in the presence of those who fail us
Fill us with Your mercy and Your compassion
Break open the Bread of Life for all your children
Pour the Cup of Blessing upon us
Fill us O Lord, fill us

Bring us into Your Holy Presence O God
Praying not just for what we want
But for what others need.
Bring us into the presence of
The lonely
The fearful
The anxious
The exhausted
Those worried about bills
Those who have no home
Those who are fearful to be isolated at home
Those who are overcome
Bring us into Your Holy Presence O God to see those we pass by daily

Standing before the cross this year we see suffering unimaginable
No longer a ritual for Good Friday afternoon
Every day, every hour we see pandemic’s pain
The cost of our unpreparedness
Convicted of the sin of omission
We pray, “Father, forgive us”

You take on this suffering of the world
Even as You did so long ago
You take on our pain
In the cross is our salvation, our healing
In the midst of death, life

Signs of life litter our roadside
Redbud and forsythia
Green buds and leafing trees
Our sorrowful road bursts with touches of color
Cases recovered
Curves dipping
Community happening, even in containment
Easter moments every day

Holy Week summons
People of faith
On a sorrow-filled road
Walking together
To a new life.

Clara Young
April 6, 2020