Do you still have a hold of that candy? Mmm humm. Frame 1: We are about to enter a world of life-giving beauty. So, when you catch a glimpse of the REIGN of LOVE, celebrate and as you celebrate remember to invite others into the party. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: Death has been swallowed up in victory. One clear shot and Putin would be gone. I only know that they appeared to follow in my footsteps in the snow as they ventured out to the place where the Cosmos had made itself known to me. Today, in the midst of colossal violence, it is long past time for us to see beyond our conditioning about what to believe about resurrection so that we can focus our attention on practicing resurrection. Surely, today, when troops are again amassing in Europe and the world cant seem to sake itself loose from the myth of redemptive violence, surely today, it is time for us to move beyond thinking of DIVINITY as the ultimate purveyor of violence and Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. I confess, that I cant quite see CHRIST in that face yet. I suspect that even offering all you have to a wastrel and a scoundrel is worth a shot if it means finding peace. As individuals, we often find peace, comfort, and a close connection to God in a garden. and for the mission of justice you have made our own. Furthermore, I suspect that you do to. But when we begin to see the DIVINE MYSTERY, the CREATOR of the Cosmos, and try to imagine the ONE WHICH IS the GREAT I AM, WHO I AM, I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE, YAHWEHas so much more than a person, well the idea of a shepherd, or a woman, or even the father who loses his son, these mere personifications begin to lose their ability to symbolize the MYSTERY. We can be transfigured by the face of CHRIST which is revealed to us through the tears of all who suffer the ravages of injustice. Yes, I have my doubts about the possibility of SHALOM, especially now as we peer into the abyss which are the horrors of Ukraine, Syria, Myanmar, and countless other places where injustice has bred violence the likes of which seems unstoppable. But like the indignant disciples of old, do we actually see the role we are playing in this race to escape the limitations of our one and only planet? For there is no division within the divine. *This liturgy is an adaptation of the traditional Great Thanksgiving liturgy. Our very own lifestyles, demand what they are selling. These parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost sons, point us in a direction of a way of being in the world characterized by foolish and passionate abandon. All glory and honor are yours, eternal God, now and forever. Sunday between December 4 and December 10. petitions prayers for strength a selection of modern petitions asking for God's strength to come, with a prayer for those grieving and a prayer for hope. How deep? We must be punished. But way back then; the bay was only accessible by the most treacherous of logging roads. now we cry to our King immortal, who, triumphant, burst the bars of the tomb'sdark portal; "Alleluia!" Continue reading . Text and image William Livingstone Wallacebut available for free use. if ( thisact == "contact" ) { You can catch glimpses of this LOVE resisting the violence of domination systems, in every champion of the environment, every compassionate advocate for the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized. I was unbeatable. Gods love pours out from the grave of despair. Resurrection is about the wisdom and the courage to proclaim with our lives that Jesus vision of the Reign of LOVE continues to rise in us. Our focus upon preserving the church gets in the way of our rebirth! Contemplating the miracle that these parables survived, were told over and over again, written down and preserved by people persecuted by empire, I have to believe that they are more than nice little stories all about how we should live.They have to be more than mere speculation about the character of YAHWEH, casting the CREATOR of ALL that is, was, and ever more shall be as a fool. The basileia ton THEON, the Empire of GOD, the GOD which Jesus knew as ABBA, a LOVING PARENT, the basileia ton THEON, the Reign of the GOD that IS LOVE, where justice and not violence creates the kind of peace in which everyone has enough to live the abundant life Jesus insisted he came to give to the world. Starters for Sunday. On this her Feast Day, let us commemorate Julian of Norwich, who is perhaps one of the greatest English Mystics. Well, for now, we weep. They must have seen me gazing at them, or at least I like to imagine they did. Now there are those that insist that it was the power of Jesus having been physically resuscitated from the dead that motivated his followers to change their lives and the lives of millions who have come after them. LORD'S PRAYER C: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Frame 3: Stop and smell the roses everyday. Traditionally, the season of Lent is a time of repentance. So, let me just cling to what I have accumulated and pay lip-service to the need for sacrifice. None of us believe that we live in a three-tiered universe. For he is risen, and nothing separates us from Gods love! Anyone among you, those who aspires to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. Amen. Continue reading . Yesterday, I travelled out onto the frozen surface of Lake Simcoe. Easter people, come now to the table with Christ! My childlike faith died that day. Psalm 25:1-10. We jumped into the rubber dingy, and we paddled as fast as we could, determined to chase whales. Justice will exact our tears. Amen. And after the fire came a still small voice., A still small voice. Our English translations do not do the HEBREW justice. In the same way the cup, after supper (here the minister shall pour the wine and lift up the cup) saying, "This cup is a new covenant of my blood. Can you drink the dup I will drink or be baptized in the same baptism as I? We can, James and John replied. "Our Father". The Third Sunday of Easter - April 18, 2021 Acts 3:12-19 Psalm 4 I John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48 You can't manage or control a resurrection. Julian is the author of the first English book ever to have been written by a woman: Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love. Crystals mother called for re-enforcements. The question of a physical body makes no sense to the ancients. (LogOut/ Advent C. First Sunday of Advent. Only a foolWould search and look and scour and puzzle, bend and peer, lift and move everything, to find a single coin. What can Jesus teach us about God? Easter Sunrise: Outdoor Worship. Neither Anna nor I knew we were engaged in a long pointless argument which had been going on since round about the fourth century. Listen for yourself to the skilled rhetorician Paul, who employs the tactic well in the reading assigned for this Sunday, by the powers behind the Churchs Revised Common Lectionary. You are invited to this table of life as we join with each other and seek communion with God. I do know that the followers of Jesus held dear their vison of Jesus, in whom they saw the CHRIST. For Christ is risen! The trouble is, we all live in the 21st century and we know that the definition of what it means to be human that these stories rely upon no longer rings true. Just as Jesus empowered the people he encountered to believe in themselves, we want you to walk away with an awareness not of how ordinary you are not of how unworthy you are but an awareness of your greatness and lovability. and proclaim the Resurrected Christ who offers life to all. When our heartbeats returned to normal, we decided that wed made a clean escape and we chose not to share the adventure with our sleeping parents. In my bleakest moments, I could imagine the worst. But we live in the 21st century and we have access to all sorts of information that the generations who have gone before us did not. Crystal cried out, Mommy Im stuck. He is risen indeed! But there are times. DONATE NOW! Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord, Mass During the Day: O God, who on this day, through your Only Begotten . O God, who gifts us moments of amazement, help us to accept the rhythm of the ordinary and the extraordinary that we may retain a steady awareness of your presence both in grey days and in bright. This time also allows a moment for the congregation to "get settled" and ready to hear God's written word. God does this to all who believe in Christ, because there is no difference at all:everyone has sinned and is far away from Gods saving presence. Christs peace is ours forever! No sooner than I felt the freedom of union with the DIVINE, than it was time to seek the confines of my car to warm up. If you have not donated yet, please do so today. give you joy as you share the Easter faith. jQuery('#submit-action').attr('href','/paupress/?rel=pauContent&pau_type='+thisact); For years I reigned as the champion of our little world! Re-create us too, we pray, by your holy Word. *People sing: ("Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain," stanza 3)"Alleluia!" These liturgies immerse us into the immen-sity of our calling: Christ's passion and passage have been completed. It is right to give our thanks and praise. Grant that being joined together in him we may attain to the unity of the faith and grow up in all things unto him who is the head, Christ our risen Lord. As different as night and day these 21st century events are brought into focus by the first century story which just happens to be the assigned Gospel reading for this Sunday. There are flowers in the sanctuary during Lent! 3:5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. We will never know what actually happened two thousand years ago, we will always. Now, O God, with grateful hearts we remember Jesus. //jQuery('#submit-action').attr('href','/paupress/?rel=pauContent&pau_type='+thisact); When the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, he unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of our God is upon me: because the Most High has anointed me to bring Good News to those who are poor. I can see on that endless loop little families in Jerusalem, fleeing to the safety of the countryside, passing endless crucifixion sites. The sequence of death and resurrection is the pattern of all creating and of all loving. Social Justice Lectionary, Bruce Sweet, 2014. He greets us with peace the world does not know. It didnt take very long before the many layers of clothing, with which I had hoped to insulate myself from the dangers of the cold, failed to keep me moving very far into the expanse of white snow drifts which glistened as the Suns glorious rays danced incapable of warming much of anything but my heart. Lets try to focus on what is actually happening in the story. The following liturgy was submitted by Rev. Dying you destroyed our death, We are an Easter people! They all knew the dangers of traveling to Jerusalem. I stomped my feet upon the ice in a vain gesture of defiance until my stomping evolved into a dance of freedom, as I gleefully celebrated our liberation from the captivity of a three-tiered universe. This piece of Scripture was followed by a passage from Pauls letter to the Romans, all of which was underlined in red: God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. As we recall the trusting of impotent rocket ships escaping for mere moments the confines of the empires we thrive in, do we have the courage to see our own hypocrisy? Easter Day: All Things Are Made New: a service of light with Holy Communion. We must put all our many blessings to use, to seek justice where-ever we can whenever we can.We cant do it all and we cant do it alone. He is risen indeed! Time for quiet reflection: I am eternally linked with the source of all life, Please respond Amen after each of the following affirmations of our Eucharistic Prayer. We thank you, God, for all the love You've given us and for the gift of Jesus. Strip away our biased convictions so that through our selfless giving we can gaze clearly on your vision for our lives. As we enter this season of Easter, we ask that the warm winds of the Spirit encircle this table and accompany us on our journey. of air water, food, shelter, or the chance to live. 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