We go to the Resurrection through the Way of the Cross
A Holy Week Message by Archbishop Justin Badi, Chairman of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) from: American Anglican.
To: The Faithful People of God in GSFA Provinces and across the Global Anglican Church
April 3, 2023
“Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Matthew 21:5)
Dear brothers & sisters who hold to the faith once delivered,
It is my privilege to write to you this letter as we enter Holy Week and re-live the events that led to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Week begins with our Lord’s entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus came to Jerusalem in humility, yet with appropriate dignity. Instead of coming on a horse as a conquering general, He came on a colt as the Prince of Peace. Christ’s glory appears in His meekness and humbleness. He was willing to suffer the greatest injuries and indignities for mankind’s cause. The Creator came down and died for those He created – willingly. The humility & resolve of Jesus is captured by his riding on a donkey – a creature used for service not for show, for burdens instead of battles – and his taking slow yet constant and steady steps towards His final mission on the Cross. It is a very powerful image celebrated by that well-loved Anglican hymn , ‘Ride on, ride on in majesty.’
We are to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and obey His will for our lives. This is true for us personally, for our families and local churches, and also for the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches as a whole . We must follow Jesus in taking the way of the Cross , the path of suffering and sacrifice , knowing that it leads to resurrection and new life in God. This is the sure hope that carries us forward.
The Current Crisis in the Anglican Communion
By ‘Anglican Communion’ I mean the world-wide communion of Anglican Churches that spawned out of the Church of England since the 16th Century and that saw itself as part of and reflecting the ‘one, holy, catholic & apostolic Church.’ It is a Communion founded on apostolic doctrine, committed to Gospel proclamation and distinctively marked by its Formularies (the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal, and the Book of Homilies). I am not referring to the ‘Anglican Communion’ in its legal & technical sense of the Church and its Instruments as incorporated in the Statute Laws of England. I am referring to the global Anglican Church that God has built up over the centuries and that has been His instrument of Gospel blessing to so many countries … the Anglican Church that we treasure as God’s gift to us.
Original pdf file here
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