Showing posts with label Easter B. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter B. Show all posts

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Words about Word That Can Evoke Presence and Belief

2 Easter B April 11, 2021
Acts 4:32-35 Psalm 133
1 John 1:1-2:2 John 20:19-31



How many of you can remember the good ol' days of handwritten letters?  When I lived overseas for six years, I used to write and receive Aerogrammes.  They were cheaper to send but I remember how special it used to be to get a handwritten letter from home.

And if you had a special love relationship with the sender or were in the near pathological state of courtship love, those written letters could make your loved one seem so near, almost seeming like a palpable presence.  Fast-forward to when you married your loved one and live with them and sometimes presence is so taken for granted it seems like an absence, or like the proverbial two ships passing in the night.  And so to use the poetry of contradiction: Absence can be presence and Presence can be absence.

I would submit to you that the Doubting Thomas story, is actually about the presence of Christ in his absence.  And the way in which the presence of Christ can be known when Jesus is gone, is through reading the Gospel words about him and coming to belief in the presence of Christ within one's life.

The Doubting Thomas story is in fact, only a set up for the writer of John's Gospel to promote the witness of his written words.  How so?

The punchline of the Doubting Thomas story is this: "these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name."

Can we appreciate the contrast presented in the Doubting Thomas Story?

Thomas is the example of everyone who says, "seeing is believing."  Only those people who got to walk and talk with Jesus in his lifetime, really have valid proof and valid reasons for believing in him.

Poor me, I live after Jesus is long gone.  My belief would be strong if I had been fortunate enough to be a contemporary of Jesus.

We know this isn't true, because lots of people lived and saw Jesus but never believed in him.

So, this Gospel story is dealing with the "inferiority" complex of the members of the early churches, who did not have the privilege of being contemporary with Jesus of Nazareth.  "Don't blame me for not believing John; I did not have the privilege like you to see either Jesus of Nazareth or his special post-resurrections appearances."

And what is John's Gospel saying: Dear members of the church.  Your spiritual experience of the Risen Christ is not inferior.  In fact, it is more faithful than Thomas's experience.  You are blessed because you believe without seeing.

So how can we know that we have a valid experience of the presence of Christ?

And the criteria are hidden within the Doubting Thomas story. 1-The experience of the Peace of Christ in your midst.  This is why we pass the peace at the Mass.  To evoke the evidence of Christ by living reconciled, peaceful lives in community.  2-The Holy Spirit has been breathed into our lives, as evidence that the life of God which was interior to Jesus is also interior to us.  3-The practice of the forgiveness of sins; Christ is not present when people retain the sins of each other.  Forgiveness, which is sometimes a very difficult practice, is proof of the presence of Christ.

The Doubting Thomas story today, reiterates some important truths.  Many of the best experiences in our lives have come because of what we have read.  Insights through the written word have changed our lives.  John's Gospel writer wrote that Word was in the beginning with God and Word was God.  And John writes that his words are written that we might come to belief.  His written words can evoke belief.

Let us not feel inferior in our experience of the Risen Christ.  We have the insights of the written word which have moved us to belief.  We have the interior presence of the Holy Spirit.  We have the practice of the peace of Christ.  And we have experience mutual forgiveness of each other in community.

All of these are proofs of the real presence of the Risen Christ.  Amen

Saturday, April 3, 2021

God, Can We Have a Mulligan?

Easter Sunday April 4, 2021
Acts 10:34-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Mark 16:1-8







If God were a really generous golfing friend, most of us would now ask our Divine Duffer, "Gracious God, could we have a Mulligan, for this entire last year?  Could we just do it over?"

Don't we wish we could do over this past year or so with the knowledge that we have learned about Covid-19?  We would behave much better.  We would have traced Covid-19 and shut it down with better leadership to interdict.

But Time means that we don't get Mulligans.  The best Mulligans we can get are learning from our failures and improving our "swing" at living well.

And if we can learn from our mistakes and perform better in the future, then we can chalk up the "mistakes" as necessary stages toward better performance.

In a golfer's appraisal of the resurrection, did Jesus get a "Mulligan" from his Father when he rose from the dead?  Well yes and no.

In the resurrection, Jesus did get to live again, but in living again, it did not negate the fact that he died a terrible death on the cross.

And when Jesus rose again, he did not live again in the same way in which he did as Jesus of Nazareth.  He received a "super-duper" spiritual body that allowed him to go "poof" on the road to Emmaus and he could be in Jerusalem and Galilee at the speed of light.

The Risen Christ is not a "do over" of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.  The life of the Risen Christ was completely different than the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

The life of the Risen Christ, according to the Gospels only included but a few "earthly sightings, appearances, apparitions" in the forty days after he died.

But the Risen Christ made the most of those appearances; he gave his friends the sure confidence that he was with them in a different way but one that was even more profound.  He was not going to have space-time limitations anymore.  The body of the Risen Christ was a completely different body.

In his resurrection and ascension, the historical Jesus, became the Risen Christ who by the Holy Spirit could be anywhere and everywhere at the same time.  And he can be in anyone of any age, race, or nation.  The Risen Christ truly became the universal person.

And so what has the church often done?  We have liked to make the Risen Christ, "white like me," or "Black like me," or "Asian like me," "gay like me," or "straight like me" or even "American like me."  The Risen Christ is such a protean and chameleon like adaptable universal person, that we are endeared to the fact that Christ can reach us because the Risen Christ can be accessible to us in our intimate and familiar ways of being ourselves in our particular settings.  The mistake that followers who have known the Risen Christ have made is to think that "Christ is only like me," or "only like we are."

The Risen Christ, is a complete do-over of Jesus of Nazareth, because the Risen Christ is the universal representation of God in human experience.

And what should we learn in the metamorphosis of Jesus of Nazareth going to his death and becoming the Risen Christ?  We learn that God is both known in a very particular way tailored to your experience and mine; but God is also known as the universal Risen Christ to everyone else too.  And we should avoid the pitfall of making our own experience of the Risen Christ as definitive for everyone else.  Why?  Because God as love is always leading us to appreciate the universal presence of the Risen Christ in all people, or as we are asked in the baptismal vows:  Will you seek Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself.

On this Easter, we have to accept that there are no Mulligans, no do-overs, because the past is fixed and done.  But what Easter offers to us is the revision of the meanings of our past lives.  The resurrection of Christ revised the meaning of the death of Jesus on the cross.

Easter hope through the resurrection is the promise that we can always be at work in coming to revised meanings for what has happened to us and the world.  And we can do this without changing either the agony or the ecstasy of what actually happened.

Let us be thankful that the resurrection of Christ allows us what I would now call a "Faith Mulligan, a Faith Do-over".   And what is a Faith Mulligan?  It is the ability with subsequent events in our lives to come to new meanings, liveable meanings with all that has happened to us, without denying the truth of what happened.

How many of us want to have an Easter Faith Mulligan?  I sure do, and so with joyful hope I shout, Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  The Lord is Risen indeed.  Alleluia.

Resurrection as the Revisionary History of Meaning

Easter Sunday April 4, 2021
Acts 10:34-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Mark 16:1-8

After more than a year of living under the restrictions of the pandemic protocols, I think that we are ready for the afterlife, that is, the life after the pandemic living conditions.  For more than a half million Americans, who died because of the corona virus, they entered their afterlives and their families have had to adjust to them being gone from normal accessibility,  not for just three days, but forever.

I think that most of us are ready to begin a hopeful season as we get to universal vaccinations, and learn how to respond to the new strains, and get back to what used to be "normal" life.  Imagine "normal" life being the very definition of hope for us.  And the contrast of what we lost should help to appreciate the hopefulness of the normal.

How are we going to characterize what we have gone through in the future?  The pain of the pandemic has been uneven in how people have suffered.  What is our afterlife going to be like after the Covid-19 era?

Many may have to work on losing the so-called Quarantine-19, the nineteen pounds which were put on because we needed comfort food more often and had less activity because we were so homebound.  We are still in the throes Covid-19 to be able to fully appreciate the changes which this has caused in our lives.  And will be ever be able to write a "revisionary" history of what happened to us ending in some good outcomes?  Are perpetual Zoom meetings the good outcome of Covid-19?

The term "revisionary history" is in historical scholarship, a negative appraisal of how someone has recounted a previous event.  It means "unreliable to what actually happened."  To be called a brilliant "revisionary" historian is not a scholarly compliment.

Why?  Past events are absolute; they happened.  One cannot change the fact that something happened.

There is a problem though.  We cannot get to events without the human recollection of what actually happened.  And this means that we cannot avoid human versions of what happened.  We see that even when we have video evidence of an event that people have different explanations and interpretations of what is seen to have happened.

When can "revisionary history" be meaningfully true?  An event which happened in the past can take on new meanings as it is coupled with subsequent events.  We can say that the future can alter the meaning of a previous event without changing the fact of what happened.

On this Easter Sunday, I would like to confess on behalf of the Gospel writers that they had been totally affected by the "revisionary" meaning for the events of what we have been commemorating in Holy Week and today on Easter Sunday.

In the lives of people of faith, the meaning of future redemption and future reconciliation is important.  Why?  Because some bad things happen to people.  And in faith, we try not to let a few bad things come to characterize life itself.  And because we are not exempt from bad things happening in life, we need to frame and contextualize bad things with some surpassing good things and so be able to confess the general goodness of life.

The "post resurrection appearances" of Jesus, which we celebrate today, brought revisionary meanings to many events.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ resulted in the revision of the meaning of his death.  One of the meanings meant that the death and resurrection of Jesus would be paired together forever.  They will always go together as completely mutually related and dependent on the other event.

They are so paired together forever, that we cannot even pretend their separation.  By being paired together, the early Christians believed that God's answer to death was resurrection life.  And why is this answer important?  It is important because it indicates that God's time is on our side.  Why do we need God's time on our side?  Because the life in one's body does not allow us to fulfill everything which hope has shown to us.  We want and aspire for much more than we can ever attain.  Like peace on earth, like friendships being more complete, like coming to forgiveness and reconciliation with everyone.  We, have hoped for the impossible and know that we don't have enough time.  And we want to know that God's time is on our side.

What do we need to know about revisionary meanings regarding the past?  First, they don't not alter the facts of what happened or how people experienced them in real time.  Revisionary meanings happened because people have survived to be able to reassess what has happened, and filter them through the hindsight of what has happened since the original events.

Today, I hope that you and I are being inspired to come to new and revisionary meanings of what has happened in our lives.  We need not revise meanings in our lives to deny the harshness of the past, or over value something; we revise meanings in our understanding of the past so that we can live better lives now.

One of the chief meanings we can take from the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is that we can always have new revisionary meanings about our lives.  These meanings need not alter what happened in our lives, but with resurrection hope, we look to use such words as redemption, reconciliation, thanksgiving, appreciation, penance, empathic ministry, and forgiveness as words that might characterize our relationship with the past.

No matter how many revisionary insights and meanings which we come to in our lives before we die, there will be new meanings which outlive our lives.  God and those who outlive us will also come to new meanings for our lives.

The promise of eternal life through the witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the hope for us that further revisionary meanings and insight will never cease.  It is the promise of being able to come into better relationships with God and everyone else.  And it also means we will come into better relationship with ourselves regarding the meaning and purpose of our lives.  The resurrected life gives us the hope that we will significantly surpass ourselves in a future state.

I submit to you today that our lives should be continuously revisionary in the meanings of our lives; and this can be done without changing the truth of what actually happened.

The resurrection of Jesus, revised the meaning of his death.  And so we build our faith upon continual revisionary meanings toward fuller meanings of hope for us and for the people of world.

And so today, we ride on the coattails of the resurrection of Jesus Christ into the eternal life of hope.  And may this hope provide for you and me and our world today, the ability to revise the meaning of our lives, consistent with living in God's time, everlasting life.  

Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  The Lord is Risen indeed.  Alleluia.  The Risen Christ, revised the meaning of his death on the cross.  The Risen Christ can help you and me revise the meaning of our lives toward hope. Amen.

Thursday, April 1, 2021

Sunday School, April 4, 2021 Easter Sunday, Cycle B

 Sunday School, April 4, 2021  Easter Sunday, Cycle B


Theme:

Imagine a picture album of your entire life from when you are a new born baby until you are a very old person.  From picture to picture you look very different.   And when you compare your baby picture with the picture of you when you are very old, how would anyone know that the person in the two picture is the same person.

We depend upon a community to remember who we are.  When we are babies we depend upon on parents to know who we are and what we looked like when we were babies.  When we have died, we depend upon our children and grandchildren to remember who we were.

But who will remember who we are when everyone who has known us has died?  

The resurrection of Jesus is really about how much God loves us.  How does God love us?  God loves us to remember us forever.  God is bigger than all of our earthly family who might remember who we are.  God's memory is the greatest and God can remember us when we live and when we die.

We might even say that God's memory is magically strong and creative.  How so?  God's memory can keep us together as a remembered person even after we have died.  This is how much God loves us.  And this is message that we get when Jesus was raised from the dead.

God will remember you and keep you together forever even when you go out of the sight of everyone else.  That is how much God loves you.


Children’s Sermons
Easter Sermons for Children



The Smith family had three children, Harry, Jeremy and Chloe.   And they had some wonderful grandparents.  The three kids loved to do things with their grandparents.  Papa and Nana would do wonderful things for them and with them at special times of the year, like for their birthdays, for Christmas, Easter, summer vacations and for Valentine Day.
One year the three children decided to ask their Nana and Papa for something special.  They just loved Christmas; it was so fun to wake up on Christmas morning and see lots of gifts under the Christmas tree.  They loved to sing Christmas songs and so they decided to ask their Nana and Papa for something special.
Chloe, Harry and Jeremy were with their Nana and Papa one day and Chloe said, "Nana and Papa, we have something special to ask you."  Papa said,"Well, what do you want to ask?"  Jeremy jumped in and said, "I will asked.  We have been talking about this for a long time and so now it is time to ask you."  Nana said, "Okay, Jeremy, what is it that you want?"  But then, Harry interrupted and said, "Nana, I should ask you since I am the oldest.  I'm 9, and Jeremy is 7 and Chloe is 5, so I should ask."  Papa said, "Okay, what is it that you want?"  Harry said, "What we want is this.  We want you to make Easter for us just like Christmas."   Papa thought he knew what they meant.  Perhaps they were thinking about all of the presents under the Christmas tree and they were comparing this with just getting about a dozen chocolate Easter eggs in the Easter egg hunt.  Nana looked at Papa and winked and said, "Papa, we'll have to think really hard and see if we can make Easter a special time for the kids."
The children were very excited now and they could barely wait for Easter.  Every day they would ask their mom and dad, "When is Easter coming?  Will it be coming soon?"  Harry asked, "Can I use your cell phone to call Nana and Papa to make sure that they don't forget Easter and their Easter promise."
Mom and Dad made a count down calendar for them on the refrigerator and each day they would mark big red X on a day.  They were so excited.  And mom and dad were worried that it might be a big let down for the children and they did not know what Nana and Papa had planned.
Well, finally Easter came and the children got up really early.  They went down stairs to see if there was anything in the living room. Nope.  Nothing there.  They went into the backyard to see if there were any surprises there.  They couldn't find anything.  Chloe wondered," I wonder if Nana and Papa forgot."  So the children went to the kitchen and mom and dad had breakfast ready.  And then they had to get ready for church.  So they went to church and had a very good Easter celebration and they had an Easter Egg hunt, but no Nana and Papa.  Jeremy asked their mom and dad, "Where is Nana and Papa?  Why weren't they at church?"   Dad said, "Well, they went to their own church today.  But we are going to drive to their house today and see them."
Chloe said, "Great, so we will get our Easter surprise."
After they got home from church, they changed clothes and ate a quick lunch.  Harry said, "Let's go.  We have to go to Nana's and Papa's to see if they can make Easter better than Christmas."
So they got into the car and in about twenty minutes they came to Nana and Papa's house.  Jeremy was excited and he said, "I can hardly wait for our surprise."
They got out of the car and Nana and Papa greeted them and hugged them and wished them a happy Easter and they all went into the house.  And the children were surprised by what they saw in the family room.  You know what they found?
They found a large cross there.  And around the cross they found lots of gifts wrapped.  Chloe said, "Nana, is this a Easter Christmas Tree?" 
Nana said, "No, this is a cross."  Harry said, "I see that you have our names on the gifts.  Can we start opening them?"  Papa said,"Okay, do you want to start?  So each child got one of the gifts with their name on it."  Jeremy said, "Let's open them together.  On, your mark get set, go!"  The three children ripped off the wrapping as fast as they could.  They got down to the box.  And together they ripped open the boxes.  And Harry said, "There's nothing in my box.  Where's my gift?"  And Jeremy said, "There's nothing in my box either."  And Chloe said, "There's nothing in mine either.  My box is empty."  Chloe started to laugh in nervous way, "Ha, ha, Papa, that's a very good joke.  Can we open the rest of the gifts now?"  Papa and Nana said, "Sure go ahead.  Open all of the gifts."
So the children began to open all of the gifts.  They opened their second presents and again, all of the boxes were empty.  Jeremy said, "Let keep going and open more presents; this is a scavenger gift hunt."  So they open three gifts and then four gifts and five gifts and all of the boxes were empty."  And they came to their last gift.  Harry said, "I hope you saved the best for last."  And they all opened their sixth gift and their sixth gift was also an empty box.  The family room was a mess; it was full of the all of the wrapping and boxes of 18 different wrapped boxes and all of the boxes were empty.
Chloe was sad and she started to cry.  She said, "Why didn't we get any gifts?  I thought you were going to make Easter as good as Christmas."  Harry was older and he said, "Papa, you got us!  That was a good Easter joke."  Though he still was sad about the empty boxes.  Jeremy said, "Nana and Papa, why did you do this?  We got so excited and now we're so sad and disappointed.  Why did you do this?"
Papa said, "Well, your parents told us that we should not make Easter like Christmas.  They said we should do something to teach you about Easter.  Christmas is about giving the gift of our lives to the baby Jesus, just like the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus.  That is why we share gifts at Christmas.  But Easter is different from Christmas.  How did you feel when you opened your presents?"
Chloe said, "We felt sad and disappointed because we were expecting to find some gifts."  Harry said, "I thought it was a joke that you playing on us."
Nana asked, "What did the women discover on Easter morning when they went to the tomb of Jesus?"  Jeremy said, "They saw that the tomb was empty.  They were very sad.  They thought someone had stolen the body of Jesus."
Papa said, "But was it good that they found the tomb empty?"  Chloe said, "Yes, because it meant that Jesus was alive and risen.  The angel told them that Jesus had risen.  And then they were really happy when they saw Jesus alive and well."
Nana said, "So what did you learn from the empty presents?"   Harry said, "I learned that sometimes empty can mean the very best gift of all because the empty tomb of Jesus meant that he was alive.
Jeremy said, "So we learned something very important today.  Easter is not supposed to be like Christmas because the empty tomb of Jesus is the very best gift of all."
Papa said, "I so happy that you have learned about how special Easter is.  But I do have something fore you.  Here's an envelope."
Harry opened the envelope and he found airplane tickets for all of them to go to Hawaii for a vacation together.  The children all hugged their Nana and Papa and thanked them for teaching them about Easter.

Sermon Two:  The empty Easter Egg


  Let me tell you today about an Easter Egg hunt that took place on Easter Sunday in a church.  And the Sunday School teacher wanted to teach a lesson to the children on Easter Sunday.  So Mr. Jones during Sunday School on Easter Sunday, said to his class, “Today is Easter Sunday and so we want to do something special.  We are going to have an Easter Egg hunt.  I’ve have already hidden the eggs.  So let’s go outside and look.  And I want each of you to find only one egg.  And when everyone has found one egg, then we will come back to the classroom and each of us will open our egg in front of the entire class.  So the entire class of twelve children ran outside to look for the eggs in a place on the lawn where Mr. Jones had hidden the eggs.  One by one each child found an egg.  One child said, “I’ve found my egg.”  Another child said, “Please help me find my egg.”  And finally after about 10 minutes each child found an egg.  Mr. Jones rang a bell and said, “Come into the classroom.”  And so the children came back into the classroom each holding an egg.  Now these eggs were not real eggs, they were plastic hollow eggs so that there could be a hidden treat inside of the egg.
   When they were seated in the classroom, Mr. Jones said, “Now one by one we are going to open each egg to see what’s in the egg.  And let me tell you, there is a surprise in one of the eggs and whoever has the surprise will get something special.”
  One by one the eggs were opened.  Johnny said, “I have a dollar bill in mine…I bet I won the prize.”  Mary opened hers and she found some very nice chocolates so she said, “No, these are really the best chocolates, so I bet I won the prize.”  Jimmy opened his egg and he had a little Lego man so he said, “I think I got the best prize.”  Grace opened her egg and she had a cute little furry bunny rabbit and she said, “I won!”  Gloria opened her egg and found a silver dollar and she said, “Wow!  I hit the jackpot!”  Jeremy opened his egg and he found a lovely ring that fit his finger and it had a red jewel on it, so he said, “Surely this must be the best prize.”  Betsy then opened her egg and she found a cute little baby chick, and she was thrilled because she knew she had won.  Todd opened his egg and found a shiny whistle and he blew the whistle because he thought he had won.  Everyone who heard the loud noise, said, “Stop blowing the whistle, it hurts our ears.”  Joey opened his egg and he found a little race car…just what he wanted, and so he believed he was the winner.  Margaret opened her egg and she found a cute little teddy bear and she was happy.  Harry opened his Easter Egg and he found a porcelain little Dalmatian.  And he just loved those spotted dogs.  And then there was only one person and one egg left to open and it was Lucy’s egg.  Everyone said, “Hurry and open it let us see.”  But Lucy got very shy and so she hid her egg under desk so that no one could see her open it.  She looked down as she opened it and when she got it opened, her face turned red and said.  Everyone shouted, “What did you get Lucy?  Did you win?  What did you get?”  And Lucy looked up and said, “I lost…I did not get anything…my egg is empty.”  And the children laughed at her and said, “Mr. Jones really played a joke on you.”
  Then the children asked Mr. Jones, “Tell who won the best prize?”
 And Mr. Jones said, “Children, Lucy won the best prize and so she get this special prize, a new Bible.”  The children said, “Why did Lucy win?  Her egg was empty?”
  Mr. Jones said, “Today is Easter.  And when the women went to the tomb of Jesus what did they find?”  They found that the tomb was empty and because it was empty they were winners, because that meant that Jesus was still alive.
  And so Lucy’s egg was empty.  And she wins the prize on Easter to remind us that the empty tomb of Jesus means that Christ is alive and that he is still with us today. 
   So as winners today let us be happy about the empty tomb of Jesus.  Let us say, Alleluia, Christ is Risen.  The Lord is risen indeed.  Alleluia! 


Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist
April 4, 2021


Gathering Songs:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks; I am the Bread of Life; Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today
The Return of Alleluia out of Lenten Hibernation

Bringing Back Alleluia from Lenten Hibernation

Song: Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks, Hymn # 178, in the Blue Hymnal
Refrain: Alleluia, Alleluia, give thanks to the Risen Lord, Alleluia, Alleluia, give praise to his Name.
1-Jesus is Lord of all the earth. He is the King of creation. Refrain
2-Spread the good news o’er all the earth: Jesus has died and has risen. Refrain
3-We have been crucified with Christ. Now we shall live forever. Refrain
4-Come, let us praise the living God, joyfully sing to our Savior. Refrain

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.
People: The Lord is Risen Indeed. Alleluia.

Holy Noise!

Liturgist: Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.
And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.
Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Liturgist: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Liturgist: Let us pray
Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)
O God, you are Great! Alleluia
O God, you have made us! Alleluia
O God, you have made yourself known to us! Alleluia
O God, you have provided us with us a Savior! Alleluia
O God, you have given us a Christian family! Alleluia
O God, you have forgiven our sins! Alleluia
O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead! Alleluia

A reading from the  First Letter to the Corinthian Church
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 118
The right hand of the Lord has triumphed!* the right hand of the Lord is exalted! the right hand of the Lord has triumphed!"
I shall not die, but live,* and declare the works of the Lord.
On this day the Lord has acted;* we will rejoice and be glad in it.


Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)
Litanist:
For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!
For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!
For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!
For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!
For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!
For work and for play. Thanks be to God!
For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!
For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!
For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.
Thanks be to God!


Liturgist: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Liturgist: The Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon: Father Phil

Children’s Creed
We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.
Since God is so great and we are so small,
We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.
We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.
We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is
welcome.
We believe that Christ is kind and fair.
We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.
And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever. Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.
For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.
For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.
For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.
For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.
For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.
For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.
Youth Liturgist: The Peace of the Lord be with you always.
People: And also with you.

Anthem:  


Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.


Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Prologue to the Eucharist.
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”
All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his family to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is good and right so to do.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.
Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we
Forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might. Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.
(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac & Rebekah & Jacob and Rachael
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
the bread and drink the wine, we can know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as
this food and drink that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbors.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."
After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."
Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death, resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ. May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.
By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory
is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father (Sung): (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who art in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.
Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.
And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.
As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.
Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.
But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.
Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.
Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.


Breaking of the Bread
Celebrant: Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People: Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia!
Words of Administration.

Post-Communion Prayer
Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Closing Song: Jesus Christ is Risen Today! (Blue Hymnal # 207)
1-Jesus Christ is Ris’n today, Alleluia! Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia! Who did once upon the cross, Al-leluia! Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!
2-Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia! Unto Christ our heavenly King, Alleluia! Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia! Sinners to redeem and save, Alleluia!
4-Sing we to our God above, alleluia! Praise eternal as his love, alleluia! Praise him, all ye heavenly hosts, Alleluia! Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Alleluia.
Dismissal:
Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. Alleluia! Alleluia!
People: Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Alleluia!

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