Archives

Emmaus Walk

Apr16

In her book Celebrating the Christian Year Martha Zimmerman suggests that we use part of the afternoon on Resurrection Sunday for an Emmaus Walk.

On Easter Day, two disciples were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all the things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days:” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.” Luke 24:13-35

Take a walk together. Discuss the things the Lord has done. Talk about all that has happened to you this year and about what you’re planning for the rest of the year. Enjoy the company of Jesus as you walk and talk.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20

Easter Morning

Apr16

Easter Morning


Easter Morning
Bell, Karyn E.

What do you do on Easter Sunday morning? We usually have a sunrise, or near-sunrise breakfast outside in the backyard. We read the story of the resurrection from one of the gospels, pray, and then we partake of deviled eggs, cinnamon rolls, coffee, and juice. Then it’s time to go inside and get ready for church.

THis year our church is having a sunrise worship time at a local park, and the young adults in the family are committed to sing at the worship service. So I don’t know what we’ll do about our family tradition.

Silence of Expectation

Apr15

Holy Saturday is ahead, the most quiet day of the year. The silence of that silent night, holy night, the night when God was born was broken by the sounds of a baby, a mother’s words of comfort and angels in concert. Holy Saturday, by contrast, is the sound of perfect silence, Yesterday’s mockery, the good thief’s prayer, the cry of dereliction—all that is past now. Mary has dried her tears, and the whole creation is still, waiting for what will happen next. Death in the Afternoon by Fr. John Neuhaus

I pray that you have found some silence today, to pray, to meditate, to wait.

The Storm Is Over

Apr15

“Reader, did you ever stand by the sea-shore after a storm when the wind happens to have gone down suddenly? The waves cannot cease with their cause; indeed, they sometimes seem at first to the ear to lash the surrounding shore more fiercely than while the wind blew. Still we are conscious that the inevitable calm has begun and is now but rocking them to sleep . . . At times a loud wave would every now and then come roaring, but it was only memory’s echo of the tempest that had swept their lives; the storm itself was over.” The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade.

The storm is already over although it may seem that the aftermath is fierce. We are living in the peace that comes after God through Christ has stilled the storm of His own righteous wrath. The inevitable calm has begun. Many loud waves come roaring, but they can’t touch us. We are safe in the peace of the Cross and the Resurrection

In the Marketplace

Apr15

This is the day when we do without Christ.
There seems, at first, to be little difference.
Only yesterday the ancient veil was rent,
And the earth shuddered and the dark grew vast;
But today, nothing happens, nothing at all.
TV sets flicker idly in empty rooms,
Showing again and again the same cartoons.
People circle aimlessly in the Mall
Where the Easter bunny struts his stuff before
Disinterested kids, ands cellophane grass
And plastic eggs are bought same as last year
Indeed, there is no news to tell but this:
The graves all are opened, and the living dead
Now walk among us—- or, so it is said.
By Sandol Stoddard

“The living dead.” Have you met anyone recently who was dead but is now alive?

Meditation on a Saturday of Darkness

Apr15

“Forgive us, O Lord, we acknowledge ourselves as type of the common man,
Of the men and women who shut the door and sit by the fire;
Who fear the blessings of God, the loneliness of the night of God, the surrender required, the deprivation inflicted,
Who fear the injustice of men less than the justice of God;
Who fear the hand at the window, the fire in the thatch, the fist in the tavern, the push into the canal,
Less than we fear the love of God.” T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31

Easter Eggs

Apr15

Easter egg lying between gras



Do you hide Easter eggs for your family? We usually play that game the day before Easter Sunday on Saturday. We make the youngest urchins stay inside while the older children or the adults go outside and hide the eggs. Then, we all get the fun of watching the urchins find their candy-filled eggs. We have often had 12 aggs among the others that tell the story of the resurrection with little symbols hidden inside: a nail, a coin, a pice of towel, an empty egg to symbolize the empty tomb. These “resurrection eggs” give us the opportunity to share with the family again the story of what God has done for us in Christ.

Easter’s Coming by Aileen Fisher

Apr15

Through the sunshine,
through the shadow,
down the hillside,
down the meadow,
little streams
run bright and merry,
bursting with the news
they carry,
singing, shouting,
laughing, humming,
“Easter’s coming,
Easter’s coming!”
By Aileen Fisher

It is coming. Hang on.

Jan Karon and Mitford and Easter

Apr14

On other Easter Sundays for dessert we’ve had Esther’s famous Orange Marmalade cake. But Eldest Daughter always makes it. I don’t know if I can make such a demanding cake or not. I tend to be more comfortable with cake mixes and little plastic containers of frosting.

However, it is Easter, and one ought to make something special.

Have any of you read this Easter story by Jan Karon? it looks and sounds precious.

Beneath Thy Cross by Christina Rossetti

Apr14

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon–
I, only I.

Yet give not o’er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:45-46

I’m forgiven
because You were forsaken
I’m accepted
You were condemned
I’m alive and well
Your Spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be
That You, my King, would die for me?
Amazing love, I know it’s true
It’s my joy to honor You
In all I do, I honor You

You are my King
You are my King
Jesus, You are my King
You are my King

Amazing Love by Billy James Foote – 1999