Sunday School, May 5, 2019 3 Easter C

Sunday School,  May 5, 2019    3 Easter C

Last Sunday, in the Doubting Thomas story, we learned that forgiveness was one of signs of the presence of Christ in the Church.

This Sunday, we have the story of the forgiveness and how Jesus gave Peter a special job to do in the church.

What is the best thing to do when we do something wrong?  Do we hide or cover up what we did wrong?  Do we lie about what we did wrong?  No, we recover from what we did wrong by doing something good.  If we said something wrong.  Then we say something good.

Jesus allowed Peter the opportunity to recover from what he said and what he did.  He allowed him to replace three bad things he said with three good things that he said.

Peter was afraid when Jesus was captured by the guards.  Peter had told Jesus that he would never leave Jesus or deny that he knew.  But when Jesus was captured and some people asked Peter if he knew Jesus, Peter said, “I don’t know Jesus.”  And he did this three times.  Why, because he was afraid that the guards might capture him too.

Peter was very sad about saying that he did not know his best friend Jesus.  He was worried about his friendship with Jesus being finished.

After Jesus died, he re-appeared to Peter.  In fact he helped Peter catch lots of fish and he fixed breakfast for Peter and his friends.  Peter was wondering if Jesus would still be his friend.  What did Jesus do?  He allowed Peter to tell him “I love you”  three times.  So Peter got to replace his three times of denying with saying that he loved Jesus three times.  This teaches us that we can work to overcome the mistakes which we make by doing good things.  Jesus did not just forgive Peter, he gave him a very important job.  He told him to “feed the sheep.”  The sheep were all of the people who needed know about God’s love and forgiveness.  Jesus is called the Good Shepherd.  And Jesus told Peter that his job now was to be a good shepherd too   Peter became a very good shepherd and leader in the church.  In fact he died in a death like Jesus.  The life of Peter shows us about the importance of the forgiveness that Jesus offers us.  Jesus does not give up on us when we make mistakes; he allows us to do good things to overcome the mistakes which we have made.   Jesus doesn’t only forgive us, he gives us very important work to do.  He makes us shepherds who can take care of the people who needs the kind of care which we can give.

Today, remember the forgiveness of Christ.  We forgive each other.  We work to do good things to overcome the bad things.  And we don’t quit trying to be good when we make mistake; we remember that Jesus wants us to keep trying to do good.  Jesus wants us to be good shepherds as we take care of people who need us.

A Children Sermon on Forgiveness

   I want to tell you a story today about the famous disciple of Jesus named Peter.

  Peter was a fisherman.  He was a follower of John the Baptist, but when John told him about Jesus, Peter began to follow Jesus.  He became a student of Jesus.  He travelled with him and listened to all of the stories that Jesus told.

  Peter was a very confident person; he was like you and I are sometimes.  We sometimes are wrong but never in doubt.  Sometimes we can be very confident of ourselves and sometimes that is good and sometimes it doesn’t work for us if we fail to do what we say that we are going to do.

  Peter had a big failure.  When Peter was a friend with Jesus, he bragged that he would always be faithful and loyal to Jesus.

  But you know what happened?  When Jesus was arrested and taken by the guards, Peter followed Jesus to the place of his trial.

  And when some people saw Peter, they said to him, “You are a follower of Jesus.”  Peter was afraid and so do you know what he said?  He said, “I do not know Jesus.”  And he did not just say it once but he said it three times.  And  so Peter said about his best friend, “I don’t know Jesus.”  And he said it three times.

  Well, Jesus died on the cross and he came back into the lives of his disciples.  So Peter got to see Jesus again.  How do you think that Peter felt when he saw Jesus again? 

  He probably felt sorry and ashamed.  He probably thought that Jesus would not like him anymore.

  But what did Jesus do with Peter?  He talked to Peter and he forgave Peter and he ask Peter three times, “Do you love me?”  Peter answered strongly three times, “Lord you know that I love you.”  So, Peter denied Jesus three times but Jesus gave Peter an opportunity to tell him that he loved him, three times.  And Jesus accepted Peter as his friends.  But he also gave Peter a job, “He told Peter to “feed his sheep.”  And what did he mean by this?  He meant that Peter was to be like good shepherd and take care of those who could not take care of themselves.

  And Peter became a good shepherd too.  He also died on a cross like Jesus but he died upside down.  He became a hero in the church.

  Let us remember this lesson from Peter.  If we think that we disappoint God, our friends, our parents or Jesus, let us remember that Jesus is always willing to forgive us and let us be friends again.  We are not perfect and so we always need forgiveness so that we can live together.  Let us remember that Jesus forgave Peter.  Let us remember that Jesus forgives and gives us more chances to prove that we are his friends.  And let us remember to forgive each other too.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

May 5, 2019: The Third Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah!; Peace Before Us; I Come With Joy; 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 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 Revelation to John

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 30

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me; * O LORD, be my helper."

You have turned my weeping into dancing; * you have put off my sad appearance and clothed me with joy.

Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing; * O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

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 John

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberius; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.  When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.  When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

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: Peace Before Us (Wonder, Love and Praise,  # 791)

Peace before us.  Peace behind us.  Peace under our feet.  Peace within us.  Peace over us.  Let all around us be Peace.

Love,  3. Light, 4. Christ

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 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.

The Prayer continues with these words

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:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion  hymn: I Come With Joy   (Renew! # 195)

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

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

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.

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 boys go marching in…

O 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!

Aphorism of the Day, April 2019

Aphorism of the Day, April 30, 2019

Peter denied Jesus three times during the trial of Jesus.   Jesus rehabilitated Peter by asking Peter if he loved him.  He asked three times, to cover each denial.  Balance and equity might mean that we need to rehabilitate the negative with at least equal positive, not to get God's forgiveness, but simply to re-train the human functions.

Aphorism of the Day, April 29, 2019

The period of the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus is presented as a liminal phase for the disciples; it is betwixt and between the physical presence of Jesus and the soon to be unseen Jesus who will become manifest by other psycho-spiritual events.  The liminal phase is a transition presented as a period of forty days to clarify all of their previous misunderstanding about what the meaning of Jesus as a crucified Messiah.  The liminal phase is presented as the time when the disciples were being weaned from seeing Jesus outside of them and accepting the reality of the Risen Christ seeing through them.

Aphorism of the Day, April 28, 2018

The New Testament became the collections of writings representing the institutionalization of the success of the Jesus Movement.  Jesus died; he did not go away but continued to effect lives of many in myriads of ways tailored to each individual's circumstances.  His words were spirit and life, the life of those who continued to follow him.  Word is how people mix with each inside of us.  When Christly words start to inwardly constitute one's being toward amendment and change of one's life, one has been "baptized" by the Holy Spirit words of Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, April 27, 2019

The writers of the New Testament projected upon God a meaning of divine stewardship.  The Divine initiative, so localized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, had to be decentralized and made diffuse if the message of Jesus were to go worldwide.  Death, resurrection appearances and the presence of the Holy Spirit is how the message was delegated and passed from the omni-compentent but very local Jesus of Nazareth to the peoples of the entire known world who could know the Risen Christ as all and in all.

Aphorism of the Day, April 26, 2019

The Gospel of John presents the insightful but poignantly ironic word conditions.  Using word in a circular argument, word is used to establish word as the "arche" or first principle of everything. "In the beginning (arche) was the Word."  Since these words are written, words are being used to establish Word as the first principle (arche) of life as we can know.  Another punchline in John's Gospel is the affirmation of his own written word as a valid way to come to belief (being persuaded about) Jesus as the Son of God.  John's Gospel is honest about us being on the Merry-go-Round of the Word and words as the main feature of human identity.

Aphorism of the Day, April 25, 2019

"Jesus did many other signs which are not written."  (in the Gospel of John).  All that we can do with past event is have them re-presented in abbreviated traces.  Since we are living in the continuous present (is happening), we can only bring a few time-lapsed abbreviated trace shots of the past into our continuous presence, since we can on be in one time and place.  The Gospel of John was written with enough of those abbreviated traces of the life of Jesus to be evocative of the "signs" that we need to be persuaded (believe) about the continuity of the Risen Christ as Word of God in our lives.  Christ was identified with Word so as to affirm our language-based identity as human beings and to let certain values that are transmitted through words become the persuasive values of love and justice.

Aphorism of the Day, April 24, 2019

The "Doubting Thomas" story is a teaching which shows that different people need different kinds of proof to believe what they believe, even the community values of one's friends.

Aphorism of the Day, April 23, 2019

The Doubting Thomas story was shared primarily to affirm the validity of the experiences of the Risen Christ which did not have empirical verification like those of the "eye-witnesses."

Aphorism of the Day, April 22, 2019

Presence can be experienced as absence if it is not "apparent."  The "Doubting Thomas" stories explores how absences can be known as presence through the reading of words about Christ in the Johannine writings.

Aphorism of the Day, April 21, 2019

Imagine your afterlife as the ability to keep starting over and doing something new with the knowledge of what you did wrong in the same circumstance the last time you did it.  Something like the theme of the movie, "Ground Hog Day."  It would be repentance with purpose of preparing oneself by ridding oneself of proud egotistical acts that hindered one to be able to be fully in love with the one who is ordained.  Imagine an afterlife of being able to come to love having had one's freedom totally educated by experience.

Aphorism of the Day, April 20, 2019

Why do we say the life cycle of an egg, or a larva, or a chrysalis?  Because the butterfly is the climax of the life cycle and so the butterfly gets naming priority.   So we say, the Butterfly Life Cycle.  In the mystical cycle of the church year we could call it the Easter Life Cycle since Easter stands as what defines our lives of Christian hope.

Aphorism of the Day, April 19, 2019

The synchronicity of life means means that all of the events in the cycles of life are always already happening.  In our limited focus on what is happening, we go into "linear" mode of thinking even while we are actually in a spiral mode of the cycles of life.  The cross of Jesus cannot be separated from his birth or resurrection; with our liturgical observation we try to freeze frame an event in the cycle and pretend that the other events in the cycle did not happen, but we cannot do the impossible.

Aphorism of the Day, April 18, 2019

On Maundy Thursday, it is important to note that Eucharist and service are two values of the Christ Movement.  They should not be limited to stylized events of bread and wine and a stylized washing of feet.  The Eucharist is related to public eating whereby it is shown that all who are present have enough to eat.  The foot-washing is related to the dying with Christ mysticism needed for the checking of the ego to be at the service of others in what is required in the situation for the common.  To divorce the Maundy Thursday liturgy from these two values is to walk in hypocrisy.

Aphorism of the Day, April 17, 2019

We use external observances in Holy Week to remind ourselves of the continual inward transformation that is involved in our identity with Christ, the Risen Christ who is experienced within in us as Word with a perfect purpose.

Aphorism of the Day, April 16, 2019

Aphorism on the great fire at Notre-Dame de Paris:  In architecture, it happens that Word can be made the "flesh" of stones and wood and materiel and preside as Notre-Dame de Paris and when fire threatens its full materiality, we are still inspired by its ideal, to which we look for its new future.

Aphorism of the Day, April 15, 2019

As much as Holy Week and Easter can be reduced to increasing religious behaviors on behalf of religious organization, the ritual process is about relating the big question faced in human life to a Plenitude which survives, comprehends and integrates any particular event in the life cycle.  A Plenitude which includes death and the afterlife with love and justice is what we celebrate in Holy Week.

Aphorism of the Day, April 14, 2019

If one does not read the Passion Gospel from the perspective of Pauline mysticism of the cross, then one is left with various information reports without the mystical engagement that surely was implied by the early churches' mystagogy.  Take the mystagogy out of the Passion Gospel and a dominant function is lost.

Aphorism of the Day, April 13, 2019

Pre-life, pre-birth life, life, death and afterlife.  Of the cycle, life and death have the most empirically verifiable access.  The human question of meaning is whether to define death as the last occasion of living or as the first occasion of afterlife.  Or is it a threshold connecting both?  The church has regarded the death of Jesus as a great Death, because the church has invited people to the coat tails of this great Death as an identity event and the church mystics have re-baptized the entropy of dying as a positive energy of leaving the state of living according to the "self" that will die and not according to the "spirit-self" which lives lives on.  

Aphorism of the Day, April 12, 2019

To return the Passion Gospel to be the visualization cover for the mystical identity with the death of Christ confessed by Paul, rather than literalize all the Passion characters(which was used to justify anti-Semitic action by Christians in the history of the church), one needs to understand them as the enemies of the soul (in the spiritual and metaphorical sense)  which would hinder the mystical goal of the "good death" to self which is known because the death of Jesus is a positive energy to end the egotistical tendencies of the soul.

Aphorism of the Day, April 11, 2019

How does one remove the "anti-Semitic" tinge of the Passion Gospels?  The words of Jesus to love one's enemies seem a bit deconstructed if the Pharisees and Sadducees are "his enemies."  The Passion happened because of context specific collision between various religious leaders and the Roman authorities in Jerusalem.  It is inconsistent to claim the Cross was providentially necessary while at the same time decrying the motives of all of the actors and the agents of the events.  Some would like to assign hierarchy of blame for the events, assigning a greater role to religious leaders than to the people who actually had the power to crucify.  The freedom for anything to happen implicates everything that came before the event; the need to fine-tune specific causality might pertain to juridical discourse.  It would seem that the glory in Cross of Jesus by Paul was not to be about assigning blame but assigning universal forgiveness.  That Jews and Gentiles can be all to too human in some bad behaviors does not give license for anti-Semitic or anti-Gentile behaviors.

Aphorism of the Day, April 10, 2019

One has to approach the Passion Gospel accounts in their functional layers of how they have been used by the readers throughout church history.  They have functioned as a part of a liturgical calendar, an arbitrary calendar used as a method of presenting an annual curriculum of Christian teaching based on the life cycle of Christ.  Probably at the core of the Passion is the mystical theology of Paul and others based upon their theology of the cross, a stumbling to Jews (who wanted a true Davidic Messiah), foolishness to the Greeks/Hellenistic Romans (how could a crucified person be a king?), but in the mystical theology of Paul and others, the cross was the power of God to die to what is unworthy in one's life.  Sadly, the church's observance of the Passion has mainly lost the mystical theology of Paul regarding the cross.  The church has resorted to the material meaning of the cross as an external historical event rather than how the cross was reprocessed through the mystical experience with the Risen Christ in the pyscho-spiritual identity method of transformation.

Aphorism of the Day, April 9, 2019

In the Lucan Passion account, the writer goes to some links to present Pilate as someone who really wanted to release Jesus but did not because he was prevailed upon by the Jewish religious accusers of Jesus.  It is quite ironic that Herod and Pilate are very compliant in such a situation particularly when Herod had John the Baptist decapitated as trivial party favor.  

Aphorism of the Day, April 8, 2019

The Passion account has been robbed from its setting in its typical promulgation by making it more about the events in the time of Jesus rather than as the visualization technique in the mysticism of the early church to reinforce and identity with the spirit of Christ in his life, death and Risen Life.

Aphorism of the Day, April 7, 2019

If everything is known in and through Language, including knowing that we know about language because of having language, what kind of continuous linguistic reflexivity are we living within language?  We cannot escape language because when we use "escape language" we are using and being used by language.

Aphorism of the Day, April 6, 2019

A written text like the Gospel seems to fix the events of the past as though they are events which could only be read and interpreted in one way, one self-evidential way (because the text seems to concretize them).  But interpretation in the now is always alive and new, and when one cannot dialogue and ask questions of people who are presented in Gospel events, those people and events become "fixed" types for teaching what the church had become and why it had become what it had become for the writers of the Gospel within their communities.  The past is dead and gone, even as the current interpretation of the traces of the past are alive and active even as we are alive and active and questioning.  While we think that we are assessing Mary of Bethany and Judas Iscariot, we really are assessing an archaeological history of the meaning of the types represented by Gospel figures in the church in the past and present.  When have I been devoted as Mary?  When have I been a cynical betrayer like Judas?

 Aphorism of the Day, April 5, 2019

In trying to translate the events of one generation to the next, one looks for contemporary correspondences to over come the "distance" of time, and the distance is even more pronounced in the eras when there were less intimate and exact technologies of memory.  The Gospels represent ironic interplay of correspondences in appearing to be "eyewitness" accounts, even though they were written 1-2 generations after the purported events and they were written in situations which included extra-Palestine locations of the reading "audiences" and persons who were "extra"-Jewish Christian Gentiles with no background in the various Hebraic traditions.  So figures like Mary and Bethany and Judas Iscariot would be presented as types of persons in the early church who either were completely devoted and aromatic in their reverence of Christ, and those who got into the Movement for the wrong reasons and didn't really have the life converting event and so like Judas, they could coldly betray and demean the passionate devotions of those who had had their socks knocked off in an encounter with the Risen Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, April 4, 2019

Mary of Bethany in the privacy of a meal at home for Jesus and a few intimates perfumes the room and the feet of Jesus to the scorn of Judas.  Such was an instance of
casting one's pearls before swine, in that Judas had no ability to empathize with the love devotion of Mary for Jesus.  Judas found that he was in the "Movement" for all the wrong reasons.  This story in John instantiates the experience of those in the church who were once enamored by the Movement but left it, even in betraying those who remained.

Aphorism of the Day, April 3, 2019

By the time that the Gospel of John was written, the characters presented in the Gospel had become more highly stylized examples of discipleship events and behaviors/misbehaviors.  Mary of Bethany presented fragrance to Jesus signifying the fragrance that was also written about the winsome inner essence of a person who had been changed by an encounter with the Risen Christ.  St. Paul wrote about those who had experienced the blessing of the mystery of Christ and then were tempted away by fear and money or other diversion.  Judas, who rebuked Mary of Bethany instantiated the one who had been received into the inner crowd but rejected the value of the mystery.  The early church like all Movements had to deal with those who "betrayed" the Movement.

Aphorism of the Day, April 2, 2019

When feet of Jesus were anointed with "costly" perfume, Judas who eventually took a bribe to betray Jesus, complained about such a diversion of resources from giving to the poor.  Jesus replied, " You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."  Sound a bit harsh?  Perhaps Jesus was addressing the condition of the heart of Judas who was embarrassed by such a display of devotion.  Due to the conditions of freedom in the world, rich and the great number of poor people prevail.  Rich people have the freedom to equal out the conditions but they don't; the reality of rich and poor cannot detract from devotion to God who might change hearts to really deal with the conditions of disparity in wealth.

Aphorism of the Day, April 1, 2019

Ponder the aroma therapy found in the Bible.  One therapeutic use of aroma is to overcome the stench of what is putrid and dying.  Time means the co-existing of coming to life and coming to death.  Aroma is the cosmetic celebration of that which is coming to life even while it is dying.  Women anointed Jesus with perfume and he said it was the anointing for his death.  We need aroma therapy as a way of diversion from the stench of all that is passing away, since even at the grave we still have to acknowledge that which continues to come to life and that which is going to go on living.

Quiz of the Day, April 2019

Quiz of the Day, April 30, 2019

What was Arioch's job description?

a. wine taster
b. vizer
c. chief executioner
d. royal judge

Quiz of the Day, April 29, 2019


What name did the court of Nebuchadnezzar give to Daniel?

a. Hananiah
b. Azariah
c. Belteshazzar
d. Mishael

 Quiz of the Day, April 28, 2019

Which of the following refers to the "priesthood" of all believers?

a. Revelations
b. 1 Peter
c. Titus
d. Jude
e. a and b
f. c and d

Quiz of the Day, April 27, 2109

How does the Acts of the Apostles describe Peter and John?

a. fishermen from Galilee
b. uneducated and ordinary men
c. trained in Pharisee synagogues
d. sons of Zebedee

Quiz of the Day, April 26, 2019

Who in the Book of Daniel is called the "Great Protector of your people?"

a. Nebuchadnezzar
b. Darius
c. Michael, the Archangel
d. Judas Maccabees

Quiz of the Day, April 25, 2019

The vision of the Valley of the Dry Bones is found where in the Bible?

a. Isaiah
b. Hosea
c. Jeremiah
d. Ezekiel

Quiz of the Day, April 24, 2019

Why was Thomas called Didymas?

a. it was his family name
b. it was name of his father
c. it was a "nickname" because he was a twin
d. it means the "one who doubts"

Quiz of the Day, April 23, 2019

Where did the Risen Christ appear on the day of the resurrection?

a. the tomb
b. Jerusalem
c. Galilee, a days journey away
d. a and b
e. a,b, and c

Quiz of the Day, April 22, 2019

Where did the Risen Christ walk incognito with disciples and then suddenly become known in the breaking of the bread?

a. Jerusalem, upper room of a house
b. on the Sea of Galilee
c. on the road to Emmaus
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, April 21, 2019 

The word Paschal can refer to what?

a. Easter
b. Passover
c. a special candle
d. a lamb
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, April 20, 2019

Which of the following is not included in the Paschal Triduum?

a. Maundy Thursday
b. Holy Saturday
c. Tenebrae
d. Easter Vigil
e. Easter evening prayer

Quiz of the Day, April 19, 2019

In which Passion Gospel does it report that the inscription on the cross of Jesus was written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew?

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

Quiz of the Day, April 18, 2019

The earliest biblical writing of the Eucharist is found where?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John
e. 1 Corinthian

Quiz of the Day, April 17, 2019

What is "tenebrae?"

a. means "darkness"
b. liturgy which includes extinguishing of candles
c. liturgy done in Holy Week
d. grew from Matins and Lauds in Monastic office
e. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, April 16, 2019

Construction of Notre-Dame de Paris began in which century?

a. 12th
b. 13th
c. 11th
d. 10th

Quiz of the Day, April 15, 2019

Which Gospel does not follow the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem with the cleansing of the Temple?

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

Quiz of the Day, April 14, 2019

Which of the following Gospels does not have a Passion account?

a. Matthew
b. Thomas
c. Mark
d. Luke
e. John
f.  all of the above have Passion accounts

Quiz of the Day, April 13, 2019

When is it recorded that Jesus wept?

a. on the cross
b. at the grave of Lazarus
c. at the report of the demon possessed girl
d. over the city of Jerusalem
e. in the Garden of Gethsemane
f. b, c, d
g. b,d, e


Quiz of the Day, April 12, 2019

The reviving to life of Lazarus is found where in the New Testament?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John
e. the synoptic Gospels but not John

Quiz of the Day, April 11, 2019

Who wrote, "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life?"

a. Jeremy Taylor
b. Charles Gore
c. Nicholas Ferrar
d. William Law
e. George Fox

Quiz of Day, April 10, 2019

What Roman Catholic scholar was "censored" by the church for his studies, writings and acceptance on evolution?

a. Thomas Aquinas
b. Thomas Merton
c. Teilhard de Chardin
d. Hans Kung
e. Hugo Rahner

Quiz of the Day, April 9, 2019

Whom of the following pastors was martyred by the Third Reich?

a. Martin Niemöller
b. Heinrich Grüber
c. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
d. all of the above
e. b and c


Quiz of the Day, April 8, 2019

Good figs and bad figs were metaphors for what in the writing of the prophet Jeremiah?

a. good figs were people of the Northern Kingdom
b. bad figs were people of Judah
c. good figs were those carried into exile
d. bad figs were those who were not carried into exile
e. a and b
f.  c and d

Quiz of the Day, April 7, 2019

Who said, "I have become all things to all people...?"

a. Peter
b. Paul
c. Timothy
d. Titus

Quiz of the Day, April 6, 2019

The "Bread of Heaven" discourse of Jesus is found in which Gospel?

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

Quiz of the Day, April 5, 2019

Which disciple betrayed Jesus with a kiss?

a. Simon Peter
b. Levi
c. Judas Iscariot
d. Thomas

Quiz of the Day, April 4, 2019

Why does Martin Luther King, Jr. have two feast days in the Episcopal Church?

a. date of his birth in January
b. date of his martyrdom in April
c. one is a principle date and the other an alternate
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, April 3, 2019

"Day by Day, three things I Prayer," in the Rock Musical, "Godspell," was inspired from the words of whom?

a. Richard Hilton
b. John van Ruysbroek
c. Thomas Traherne
d. Richard of Chichester


Quiz of the Day, April 2, 2019

Which Episcopal Seminary had James Lloyd Breck as one of its founders?

a. Seabury-Western
b. Sewanee
c. General Theological Seminary
d. Episcopal Divinity School
e. Nashotah House

Quiz of the Day, April 1, 2019

Which Anglican Theologian founded the Christian Socialist Movement?

a. Charles Gore
b. William Temple
c. C.S. Lewis
d. F.D. Maurice

From Jesus of Nazareth to the Risen Christ

2 Easter Sunday  Cycle C      April 28,2019 

Acts 5:27-32 Psalm 150
Revelation 1:4-8  John 20:19-31

Lectionary Link During the season of Easter, we study the process of how the followers of Jesus became weaned from the physical presence of Jesus of Nazareth and how they began to accept the validity of the presence of the Risen Christ which came to them in many forms.

One of the major experience of new parents is the experience of sleep deprivation.  Why?  Because the newborn baby wants the perpetual presence of mom or dad, but mainly mom for obvious reasons.

New parents might celebrate with Champagne, the very first time that they get an entire night of sleep.  A baby before she or he is weaned from Mom's milk has to be weaned from the actual physical presence of mom or dad.

Imagine the journey of a baby; she goes from being inside of mother, one in closeness with mom, and then she is evicted from the maternal body at birth.  What can replace being totally one with mom and inside of mom?  Initially physical touch and closeness to the maternal body or other body is an indication of Mom's presence in the life of her child.  But mom has a life, in addition to mothering; she had other roles and occupations.  She cannot be perpetually close and connected to her baby.

Mom has to begin the process of weaning her baby from her presence.  She goes from holding and touching and allowing her baby to taste her, that is her milk, and she speaks or sings to her baby.  She lets her baby see her without actually having to hold or touch her.  And I imagine a baby can smell her mom, too, probably as much as mom and everyone can smell baby by-products too.

How can I convince my baby that I am still present with the full attention of my love even when I don't have immediate sensorial connection with my baby.  How can my baby know that I am still present even when she's in her crib in the next room?

If we understand the weaning of a baby from the maternal presence, perhaps we can understand the insights of the Doubting Thomas story.

This Doubting Thomas story is being written in the community of the Gospel of John, perhaps 5-6 decades after Jesus.

What is the issue for many followers of Christ who lived when most the eyewitnesses of Jesus were dead and gone?

Most people in the Gospel of John community did not walk with Jesus, or see him or talk with him.  Yet there was an impressive community of people who had other experiences of the Risen Christ.  What is the status of those experiences?  Were they inferior to the experiences of the 12 disciples?  They were not inferior; they were different and they were, according to the words of Jesus, blessed experiences.  "Bless are those who have not seen and yet who have believed."

The Doubting Thomas story was written to affirm the validity of the many kinds of experiences of the Risen Christ.  They were not only valid, they were blessed and they were mystical experiences of Christ.

What was the nature of the experiences of the Risen Christ?

The disciples experienced appearances of the Risen Christ.  St. Paul had a mystical experience of the Risen Christ on his way to Damascus to persecute followers of Jesus.  Many, many other people had a mystical experience of the Risen Christ, which they called the baptism of Holy Spirit.

The story of the Doubting Thomas provides us with insights about the reality of the presence of the Risen Christ?

First, you experience the command of peace from the Risen Christ.  Life can be experienced as conflict, loss, pain, suffering, anxiety, fear and uncertainty.  How can we know the Risen Christ in the midst of all of these?  The Risen Christ brings peace to us within and it has the power of a command.  And it also means peace within the community; it means we have the ability to live together in peace.  In our weekly liturgy, we pass the peace in direct continuity with the salute of the Risen Christ to his disciples.  Let us remember when we pass the peace that it comes with the power of the peace of Christ if we sincerely identity with the significance of this liturgical gesture.

Next, we experience the presence of the Risen Christ through the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus breathed the Spirit upon them.  The speaking of Jesus was his breathing of the Spirit.  Remember the words of Jesus in John's Gospel:  "My words are spirit and they are life."  We know that John's Gospel declared that Word was from the Beginning and Word was God and that Word became flesh in Jesus.  How can Word be spirit?  Spirit is like the inner mood created by the word context of our lives which provides the framework for us to know and interpret our lives and the best meanings of our lives.  The very best meaning of our live is the witness of the Risen Christ.

Thirdly, we can know the presence of the Risen Christ through the practice of forgiveness.  In a world of conflict and the clash of egos, it can seem easier to retain the sins of other people.  Jesus said to his disciple you have the choice: you can retain sins or forgive them.  Forgiveness is the evidence of the Risen Christ giving us power to live together because we don't require anyone to be perfect except God.  We forgive each other for not being completely finished Christians.  Forgiveness works best when we ourselves are willing to confess to God and to each other our faults in acknowledging that we have more perfection to attain in our lives, so that we can't hold it against others who are not yet perfect either.

Finally, you and I can know the presence of the Risen Christ in the written word of the Gospel.  Did you notice how the writer of the Gospel of John, plugged his own writing.  "But these things are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that in believing you may have life in his name."  The Word from the Beginning is God; it became flesh in the living deeds and spoken words of Jesus of Nazareth.  The Words of Jesus are spirit and life.  When the oral chain of command died with the death of the last eyewitness of Jesus, the written word became the technology of memory to keep the word of Christ alive and it still has the ability to evoke the presence of Risen Christ to bring people to belief and life changing experience.

The Gospel writer wrote that there were many other signs that Jesus did that were not written about.  You and I could also write our own book of signs of the presence of the Risen Christ in our lives.  Maybe you and I have treated the signs of Risen Christ in our lives as anonymous; maybe we have not credited the Risen Christ with the sublime blessings that we have known in many of the events of our lives.

If you and can learn to be honest to the Risen Christ, we may be able to come to confess, with St. Paul, that Christ is all, and in all.  Amen.