A sermon for the Resurrection of Our Lord, by Father Dan Suelzle.
Death is defeated. The grave has lost its sting. What authority and power can it really claim to have over us, who have been baptized into the Resurrection and the Life? Listen to Fr. Suelzle’s Easter homily below.
A sermon for Palm Sunday, by Father Jerome Leckband.
In his homily for Palm Sunday, Father Leckband explores the striking contrast between the world’s definition of power and the “strange kingship” of Jesus Christ. As we enter Holy Week, we are invited to look past the waving palm branches to see the true nature of the King who comes to save us.
The sermon highlights the intentional humility of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. While worldly kings ride on warhorses to demonstrate military might and dominance, Jesus arrives on a humble beast of burden. This is not a king who comes to be served, but one who comes to serve. His authority is not found in earthly political power, but in his perfect obedience to the Father.
Drawing from St. Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 2, Father Leckband reminds us that the “mind of Christ” is defined by self-emptying love.
The Palm Sunday liturgy, with its shift from “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him,” serves as a mirror for the human heart. We are reminded that the same crowd that welcomed him with joy soon turned against him. However, the message of the Gospel is that Christ remains steadfast. He enters Jerusalem knowing full well the cost, enduring the shame and the suffering for our sake.
As we follow Jesus into this Holy Week, we are called to lay down our own pride and “palm branches” of self-righteousness. Our hope is not found in our own loyalty, which so often wavers, but in the unwavering faithfulness of the King who rode into the city to die so that we might live.
“He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
You can listen to the full homily below.
9:30 a.m.—Blessing and Distribution of Palms, followed by Procession and the Divine Service, in which The Passion according to St. Matthew will be sung.
Holy Week opens as the congregation gathers outside to receive palms and process into the church, re-enacting Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. The Passion according to St. Matthew is sung in full as part of the service — a rare and striking way to encounter the breadth of Our Lord’s suffering before the sermon is preached.
6:30 p.m.—Compline (Prayer at the Close of the Day) and singing of The Passion according to St. Mark.
Compline is the ancient prayer office that brings the day to a close with psalmody, a brief reading, and the canticle “Nunc Dimittis” — Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace. The singing of St. Mark’s spare, urgent Passion account deepens the week’s meditation on the road to the cross.
6:30 p.m.—Compline (Prayer at the Close of the Day).
This quiet mid-week gathering offers a contemplative pause in the rhythm of Holy Week, commending the day and the congregation to God’s keeping as the darkness of Good Friday draws nearer.
6:30 p.m.—Compline (Prayer at the Close of the Day) and singing of The Passion according to St. Luke.
St. Luke’s Passion is distinguished by its tender mercy — the weeping daughters of Jerusalem, the thief on the cross, and Christ’s prayer of forgiveness from the wood. Hearing it sung at the close of Holy Wednesday draws the heart toward both the sorrow and the compassion of the cross.
6:30 p.m.—Divine Service, concluding with the Stripping of the Altar.
On the night in which He was betrayed, the congregation receives the body and blood of Christ in the same Supper He instituted for His disciples in the Upper Room. Afterward, the altar is stripped bare as the choir and congregation sing Psalm 22 — all paraments, candles, and adornments removed — leaving the sanctuary in austere darkness as the watch of Gethsemane begins.
12 noon—Chief Service with the Reproaches, Solemn Collects, Adoration of the Holy Cross, and the Holy Communion.
6:30 p.m.—Tenebrae (Service of Darkness) and singing of The Passion according to St. John.
The ancient noon service marks the hour of the crucifixion with the haunting Reproaches — Christ’s voice from the cross calling His people to remember His redeeming acts — followed by the Solemn Collects, the Adoration of the Holy Cross, and Holy Communion from the pre-sanctified elements reserved from Maundy Thursday.
Tenebrae — Latin for “darkness” — is a service of candles extinguished one by one as the congregation moves through Christ’s suffering and death, until a single light remains and then is taken away, and the church sits in total darkness. St. John’s Passion, with its royal and theological depth, crowns the day: “It is finished.”
7:30 p.m.—Blessing of the Fire and Paschal Candle, followed by the Great Vigil of Easter, including the Sacrament of Baptism and the Rite of Confirmation.
The Great Vigil is the oldest of all Christian services, beginning after nightfall as the Church watches and waits at the threshold of the Resurrection. A new fire is kindled in the darkness, the Paschal Candle is lit and carried into the church, the Exsultet is sung, and the night culminates in Holy Baptism and Confirmation as new members are received into the Body of Christ just as the Easter feast begins.
9:30 a.m.—Holy Mass for the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
All of Holy Week’s fasting, vigil, and sorrow gives way to the gladness of the Resurrection as the congregation gathers for the sung Mass on the highest feast of the Church Year. He is risen — and with Him, all who are baptized into His death and life.
All Saints Lutheran Church and School 