Quiz of the Day, April 2017

Quiz of the Day, April 30, 2017

Belteshazzar was the Babylonian name for whom?

a. Shadrach
b. Meshach
c. Abednego
d. Daniel

Quiz of the Day, April 29, 2017

Where does one find the following: " let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action..?"

a. 1 John
b. John
c. Proverbs
d. Timothy



Quiz of the Day, April 28,2017


Which of the following do not pertain to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?

a. Song of the Three Young Men
b. Fiery Furnace
c. Lion's Den
d. Book of Daniel
e. Nebuchadnezzar's golden statue

Quiz of the Day, April 27, 2017

"Feet of Clay" as a metaphor for a hidden flaw or weakness derived from which of the following biblical contexts?

a. Ezekiel's vision of the wheels
b. Hosea's metaphor of the harlot
c. Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream
d. Jeremiah hiding his "underwear"

 Quiz of the Day, April 26, 2017

Who led the first service from the Book of Common Prayer in North America?

a. Robert Hunt, Jamestown colony
b. Francis Fletcher with Sir Francis Drake in the San Francisco Bay
c. Robert Wolfall, Chaplain of Martin Frobisher's expedition in what is now Canada
d. John Rolfe, Jamestown


Quiz of the Day, April 25, 2017

In the rather "fuzzy" record of the identity of St. Mark, what does the fuzzy record indicate?

a. he was named John Mark
b. he was a cousin of Barnabas
c. he ran naked from the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested
d. he is one of three Marks, John Mark, Mark, evangelist, and Mark cousin of Barnabas
e. he wrote the Gospel of Mark as a recorder for Peter
f. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, April 24, 2017

Which of the following is not true about the book of Daniel?

a. modern scholars believe it to be pseudonymous
b. it purports to take place in ancient Babylon
c. probably more likely during the Maccabean era
d. designated as Apocalyptic literature
e. has a reference to a "son of man"
f.  has the story of Daniel consigning the King to a den of lions


Quiz of the Day, April 23, 2017

Thomas, Didymus means what?

a. doubter
b. skeptic
c. twin
d. son of thunder

Quiz of the Day, April 22, 2017

Which is not true about the Latin phrase, "filoque?"

a. it was an addition to the Nicene Creed by the Western Church
b. it means "and the son"
c. the Orthodox churches accepted this addition
d. the Orthodox churches soundly rejected this addition

Quiz of the Day, April 21, 2017

In the books of the Bible below, which does not make mention of Michael the Archangel?

a. Jude
b  Ezekiel
c. Daniel
d. Revelations

Quiz of the Day, April 20, 2017

The "Valley of the Dry Bones" came in a vision to what prophet?

a. Jeremiah
b. Daniel
c. Ezekiel
d. Joel
e. Hosea

Quiz of the Day, April 19, 2017

In which Gospel does Jesus tell Peter to, "feed my sheep?"

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, April 18,  2017

In which Gospel is Jesus quoted as saying to his disciples, "In my Father's house, there are many dwelling places(KJV mansions)?"

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. Thomas
e. John

Quiz of the Day, April 17, 2017

According to the Gospels, Jesus appeared on Easter in all but one of the following places.  Where did he not (re)appear on Easter?

a. Jerusalem
b. Galilee
c. Mount of Olives
d. Road to Emmaus

Quiz of the Day, April 16, 2017

How is the date of Easter determined?

a. the pope sets the official Sunday
b. the second Sunday in April in the Julian calendar
c. the full moon after the second Sunday of March on the Gregorian calendar
d. the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox

Quiz of the Day, April 15, 2017

Who provided the burial tomb for the body of Jesus?

a. Nicodemus
b. Mary and Martha of Bethany
c. Lazarus of Bethany
d. Joseph of Arimathaea

Quiz of the Day, April 14, 2017

Which of the following are not last words from the Cross in John's Gospel Passion account?

a. It is finished
b. Woman here is your son.
c. Son here is your mother.
d. My God, why have you forsaken me.
e. I am thirsty

Quiz of the Day, April 13, 2017

Which of the following is not liturgically proper for Maundy Thursday?

a. stripping of the altar
b. foot-washing
c. chanting "ubi caritas"
d. combining the Eucharist with a Seder
e. hosting an "Agape" or fellowship meal to emphasize that Eucharist derive from a "real" meal

Quiz of the Day, April 12, 2107

What is the significance of "Tenebrae" in the liturgy of the church?

a. it means "darkness" and includes a ritual of extinguishing candles
b. it is a Holy Week liturgical practice for Lauds and Matins for the Roman Catholic Church
c. it has been adapted to a Holy Wednesday liturgy in Episcopal Church
d. it is included in the Book of Occasional Services
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, April 11, 2017

Who is responsible for introduction the notion of "stations" of the cross in Europe?

a. St. Francis
b. St. Francis Xavier
c. St. Bernard
d. William Wey in the 15th century

Quiz of the Day, April 10, 2017

Egeria or Etheria is known for what?

a. pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the fourth century
b. writings about a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
c. sharing the accounts of Holy Week ritual in Jerusalem in the West
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, April 9, 2017

Which Gospel version of Palm Sunday, involves two donkeys and not just one?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, April 8, 2017

"May our daughters be like sculptured corners of a palace."  Where is this prayer found in the Bible?

a. Proverbs
b. Psalms
c. Ecclesiastes
d. 1 Chronicles

Quiz of the Day, April 7, 2017

Why was the Russian Patriarch Tikhon controversial in the Episcopal Church?

a. he was invited to co-consecrate the bishop of Fond du Lac
b. he was sympathetic to the Bolsheviks
c. he tried to convert Episcopal missions in Alaska to Orthodoxy
d. he founded the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius

Quiz of the Day, April 6, 2017


The Passion of Christ refers to what?

a. Christ's passionate love for humanity
b. suffering and endurance found in the events of Jesus leading up to his death on the cross
c. came after a Mel Gibson film about Jesus
d. refers to the Passover Lamb

Quiz of the Day, April 5, 2017

Which Passion Gospel is read on Good Friday?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John
e. rotates with the lectionary cycle

Quiz of the Day, April 4, 2017

April 4th and January 15th are alternate feast days to commemorate which of the saints on the Episcopal calendar of saints?

a. Martin Luther
b. Martin Luther King, Jr.
c. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
d. Caesar Chavez

Quiz of the Day, April 3, 2017

The Prayer revisited in the Rock Opera Godspell, is ascribed to what saint?

Day by day, dear Lord of you
Three things I pray:
To see you more clearly,
To love you more dearly,
To follow you more nearly,
Day by day.

a. Francis of Assisi

b. Teresa of Avila

c. Richard of Chichester

d. Swithin of Winchester

  

Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/prayers/catholic/guidance/day-by-day.aspx#DsKky4MweelAppsk.99

Quiz of the Day, April 2, 2017
Which of the following are true about Mary, Martha and Lazarus of Bethany?

a. They are found in the Gospel of Mark
b. They are found in the Gospel of Matthew
c. They are found in the Gospel of Luke, but not as sisters with a sibling brother
d. They are found as family members in the Gospel of John
e.  all of the above
f.  c and d only

Quiz of the Day, April 1, 2017

Whom of the following said this:  “We have been dosing our people with religion when what they want is not this but the living God?”

a. William Temple
b. F.D. Maurice
c. C.S. Lewis
d. G.K. Chesterton

Sunday School, April 30, 2017 3 Easter A

Sunday School, April 30, 2017    3 Easter A

Theme:

Heirlooms and Memorial Things

Sometimes when we go away from mom and dad for the first time, we might miss them so much that it is very hard for us to be away.  One way that we might help ourselves remember mom, dad and our home when we go away is to take something from our home with us, like our blanket or a toy or a bracelet that mom gave us.  Whenever we get sad when we can see and touch mom and dad, we can look at the blanket, bracelet or the toy, and remember how the love of mom and dad is still with us and surrounds us even when we don’t see them.

Jesus left the world and when his friends could no longer see him, he left us things to remember that his love and how Christ was still with them.

The story about the disciples walking to the Village of Emmaus is a story about how the love and presence has remained and continued to be known by us in the church for 2000 years.

Two of the ways that we know about Christ’s love and presence with us is through reading the Bible and by gathering each week for the family meal when we obey Christ and we bless bread and wine and repeat the words of Jesus, “This is my body.  This is my blood.”  These words show us how Jesus taught his disciples to remember his love and presence.  Just like we might use a blanket or a picture to remember our parents when we are away from them; Jesus gave us the bread and the wine as a way for us to remember his life so strongly, that we can feel him still being in us and with us.

Sermon:

  How many of you have ever played the game of “Peek-a-boo?”  It is one of the first game that we probably learned to play as a baby.

  We cover our face with our hands and then we suddenly take them away.  And say “Peek-a-boo”  I see you.

  Or we cover baby’s head with a blanket, and baby pulls the blanket off and we say, “Peek-a-boo.”

  What is the meaning of this game?  I pretend to be gone away and absent.  I pretend that you cannot see me.  And then I suddenly return by saying “Peek-a-boo.”

  When you are a young baby or a child, can you see and touch your mommy and daddy all of the time?

  No, they sleep in another room; they go to work.  They go into the kitchen.  You go to preschool or school.  So sometimes we cannot see or touch or hear our mommy and daddy.  But even though we do not see, or touch or hear them we know that they still live.  We know that at anytime they can surprise us when they come to be with us.

  And that is what our Gospel story is about.  When Jesus died, they put his body in the tomb.  And suddenly his body was gone from the tomb.

  And his disciples suddenly began to have peek-a-boo games with Jesus.  Suddenly Jesus would appear to them to let them know that they were okay and he was still alive.

  And now God still plays peek-a-boo with us.   Although we don’t actual see God or Jesus.  We still know his presence.

  In the love of our parents and friends, Christ is jumping out and saying “Peek-a-boo, I love you and I care for you.”  In the fun that we have, in learning, in seeing the beautiful world that God has made for us, God also has hidden his presence.  And God is saying to us, “Peek-a-boo, I see you….I love you and I care for you.”

  And you and I, are to be God messengers for the game of Peek-a-boo.  When we are loving and kind, when we care for one another and when we help each other, Christ is saying “Peek-a-boo” to this world through us.

  So even though we don’t see or touch Christ, let us remember that Christ is still present in many, many ways and he is ready to surprise us at anytime with love and care, and he is saying, “Peek-a-boo, I see you and I love you and I care for you.”  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

April 30, 2017: The Third Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah!;  I Come with Joy, Amazing Grace; O When the Saints

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

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.

Song: Hallelu, Hallelujah (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 84)

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord! 

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord! 

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah!  

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

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 Letter of Peter

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 116

I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving * and call upon the Name of the LORD.

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD * in the presence of all his people,

In the courts of the LORD'S house, * in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

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 Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

That very day, the first day of the week, two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed 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 they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

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 always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: I Come With Joy   (Renew! # 195)

1.         I come with joy a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free, the life of Jesus to recall, in love laid down for me.

2.         I come with Christians, far and near to find, as all are fed, the new community of love in Christ’s communion bread.

3.         As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share, each proud division ends.  The love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.

                                 

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 friends 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 right to give God thanks and praise.

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 and 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 neighbor.

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 and 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: (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 be 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

Communion Song: Amazing Grace, (Blue Hymnal, # 671)

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures; he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.

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: When the Saints (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 248).

O when the saints, go marching in.  O when the saints go marching in.  Lord, I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.

O when the girls go marching in.   O when the girls go marching in.  Lord, I want to be in that number, when the girls go marching in.

O when the boys go marching in,  O when the boys go marching in.  Lord, I want to be in that number, when the boys go marching in.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Is It Live or Gospelmemorex?

2 Easter Sunday        April 23, 2017 
Acts 2:14a,22-32          Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9          John 20:19-31  

Lectionary Link All writing has an occasion of when it happened.  Each occasion of writing has a purpose and function in the mind of the writer in light of who the reading audience is.

The Gospel writings were written for occasions and readers and listeners with strategic purposes.  The Doubting Thomas story was written for a specific purpose in the community where the Gospel of John was written.

It is easy for people who do not have close encounters of the most intimate kind to doubt the validity of their "secondary" experience.  In a court trial "hearsay" is not admissible as valid testimony.

Some of us of qualifying maturity can remember cassette tapes.  You perhaps remember the Memorex television commercial.  They would have a live performer and then play a Memorex cassette tape of the performance and ask the question, "Is it live or is it Memorex?"  So the people who sold Memorex cassette tapes were trying to say that a Memorex recording was indistinguishable in quality from an actual live performance.

What about the live performances of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ?  If you were privy to a live "performance" of a post-resurrection appearance of Christ, then such a privilege would mean that you had a superior experience of the Risen Christ, right?

The reason that the writer of John's Gospel wrote the Doubting Thomas Story was to affirm the equality of all of the Gospelmemorix experiences of the Risen Christ.

Yes, indeed the close encounter of the most intimate kind of face to face experience with the Risen Christ was important but such an encounter was different but not better than the encounters of knowing Christ through the witness that came from hearing speech or reading written accounts. 

What makes the face to face encounter with the Risen Christ different?   We can't be sure that everyone who saw Christ actually believed in him as the Messiah.  So just "seeing" Jesus with one's eyes did not mean they saw Jesus from their hearts to be convinced about his significance.

The greatest difference of seeing Jesus face to face and believing in him was the important task of sharing this to the next generation of believers.  When Jesus had died and re-appeared and then stopped appearing to his disciples, how was the Risen Christ to be known and experienced?  Those who saw Risen Christ realized that the Risen Christ could be known and believed in through the witness of their words and writing.  What does this mean?  It means that the Risen Christ became an accompanying reality in the physical presence of his disciples and the disciples became the physical witness of the Risen Christ with their body language, with their speaking and with their writing.  Those who walked with Jesus were amazed at the ability of people to believe in Jesus through their preaching and their writing.  This made them profess that the equality of experiences of the Risen Christ was due to the Holy Spirit, as the accompanying reality in the lives of those were so convinced.  

With the Holy Spirit, people of all varying kinds of experiences could have their faith and belief in Jesus confirmed within their lives.  With the presence of the Holy Spirit, people came to know that the Risen Christ was with them and this was not an inferior experience of belief, it was a blessed experience of belief.

People of the scientific empirical skeptical tradition want to limit believing to "seeing" and manipulating seeing with repeated and controlled experiments about how the Risen Christ could be made known.

The Gospel of John said that the Word was God.  The Gospel of John quoted Jesus as saying, "My Words are Spirit and they are life."  The writer of the Gospel of John believed in the equality of Word experiences with the Risen Christ.

The Risen Christ is known physically in the body language of people to are possessed with the Spirit-Word of Christ.  The word products of people who believe in Jesus, their spoken and written words about him and the witness of their body-deeds mean that the Risen Christ can be equally known and believed in every generation.  And that is how we accept our own experience of the Risen Christ today; our experience of the Risen Christ is equal to the experience of the disciples but it is different.  The Spirit of God is able to transmit and tailor the presence of Christ as interwoven within our lives today.

So, don't feel inferior about your experience of the Risen Christ.  Embrace and express how your experience is equal but different.  And share it with others.  Keep this transmission going.

And how can we know our experience of the Risen Christ is valid?  The Doubting Thomas story provides us the signs of the valid presence of Christ.  1-It is evident in the experience of peace, both inner peace without fear and peace among ourselves.  2-It is evident when we practice the forgiveness of sin.  3-It is evident when we arrive at being so convinced we share the message of the love of Christ in all of our word products, in our body language deeds, in our speaking and in our writing.

The Doubting Thomas story should be encouragement to each of us to accept the validity of our experience of the Risen Christ, to receive the peace of Christ and share it with each other, to practice forgiveness and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to propel the witness of Christ into the future.  Amen