Description
Monday of Holy Week - Complete Act of Worship
(SLIGHTLY AMENDED VERSION OF THE TEXT ALREADY ON TWELVEBASKETS)
John 12: 1-11, Mark 14: 1-9
Drama: The Woman and the Perfume
The woman and the perfume
(A complete order of service including hymns, meditation and some prayers written for the occasion. Worship took place ‘in the round’ and a large wooden cross was at the centre. The actors moved around the cross and the confident ones interacted with the audience. The song ‘Judas and Mary’ was sung by a solo voice and as that happened perfumed oil was poured onto the wooden cross by a slowly moving dancer. The scent drifted round the church for days afterwards.)
Hymn – My song is love unknown (Samuel Crossman)
Prayers
Reading – John 12.1-8
Song – Said Judas to Mary – (Sidney Carter)
(including pouring the perfume)
Reading - Mark 14.1-9
Leader, or narrator - Two accounts
We have now heard two accounts of what is probably the same story. The named characters are different and so is the setting, but the total effect of the incident is the same.
The characters are taken from Mark’s version.
Dramatic readings -
Simon the leper
“What she has done will never be forgotten!”
He’s right there!
I won’t forget it for a start.
This was my feast in honour of Jesus and I was determined that everything should go right for him.
The week had started well, when Jesus rode in that triumphal procession right into the heart of Jerusalem – the crowds were certainly behind him then. But during the week things started to look rather ugly and you could tell that the authorities were getting more and more angry with what Jesus was doing. He didn’t help himself very much with that incident in the Temple either. I mean, what possessed him to stride around with a whip in his hand, turning over tables and scattering the tables and the money and the animals? He did manage to get away before the Temple police turned up, but it was a near thing, and there was no way that the incident could be kept quiet. We just had to trust that he would manage to keep one step ahead of the authorities and then get out of Jerusalem quickly after the Passover feast.
Continues...
©Marjorie Dobson