Recently, we were all aware of the moon with the partial solar eclipse. A few of us watched it from the top of St Michael’s Saxon Tower.

The moon also influences the date of Easter.

I know some people are puzzled as to why that date moves around, but it goes by the lunar calendar, also used by Jewish people for their Passover.

So in the Church this is Holy Week.

The Christian community wishes this season got as much public attention as Christmas, because it really is at the heart of our faith.

Through the week, in prayer and imagination, we follow Jesus in his final days of earthly life.

We start with Palm Sunday. You may have seen processions, like the one which came out of St Michael’s on to Cornmarket Street, with people holding palm leaves.

We remember Jesus making his entrance into Jerusalem riding a donkey and the crowds laying palm branches in the path. St Michael’s has wonderful choral music. On Palm Sunday afternoon, our choir sang JS Bach’s St John Passion.

This was not a concert but a very moving time of devotion.

There is a saying: “He who sings prays twice.” Music is powerful in leading us into profound reflection.

On Maundy Thursday, we hold a Communion service at 7.30pm to remember Jesus’s Last Supper with his disciples.

He acted like a servant when he washed his disciples’ feet and we offer to wash each other’s feet too.

We will end with a silent vigil, remembering that Jesus’s followers tried to stay awake as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his death.

On Good Friday, we offer a three-hour service to watch by the cross of Jesus. Some stay right through and there is a break each half-hour for those who want to come or go. George Westhaver, the principal of Pusey House, will lead our reflections.

George, a Canadian priest, used to be associate priest at St Michael’s so we look forward to welcoming him again.

These are some of the formal ways we “walk with Jesus”, and we hope they help people make their personal pilgrimage through the week.

On Easter Sunday morning we will light candles, ring bells and sing heartily, greeting each other with the words as old as the Church: “Christ is Risen.”

This is the climax of Holy Week. Here is the heart of our faith.