In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
How interesting is it that just one week after we celebrate the mystery and the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus, the Church has us delve into the very human reaction to mystery and miracle??? We take a look today at skepticism and doubt.
Each and every year we hear the story of Thomas, who needed concrete proof in order to believe something that struck him as preposterous. And some years we reed the gospel account of the disciples who SAW Jesus after the resurrection—and even so, some doubted.
Staff
Rector: The Reverend Marilyn Anderson
Music Minister: Martha Meyer
Director of Children's Ministries: Meredith McClung
Verger: Joey Davey
Parish Administrator: Karen Romanelli
Nanny: Dionne Boisvert
Officers
Warden: Laura Russell
Warden: Mel Crannell
Treasurer: Marianne Crew
Clerk: Frances Kimball
Convention Delegates
Connie Borofsky
Carol Keil
Laura Russell, Alternate
Mel Crannell, Alternate
Vestry
2011 Marshall Metzger
2011 Ellen Perrott
2011 Bob Kloss
2011 Audrey Dance
2012 Ann Crocker
2012 Gretchen von Dwingelo
2012 Jack Ryder
2012 Eric Stones
2013 Deborah Stevens
2013 Eileen Wilkinson
2013 James Fleming
2013 Renee Ruder
“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.” [Mark 16:8]
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
That’s it. That’s how the oldest versions we have of Mark’s gospel end. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
What is that? What the heck kind of ending is that?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Tonight—finally—we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus—his coming back to life after 3 days of death. The ancients saw it as his return in great triumph to the living after his sojourn to Hell, where death reigns.
In Hell, he opened the doors to Heaven, and all the people who had died before are set free. Ancient art shows him yanking Adam and Eve up out of their coffins.
Good Friday has always been the hardest day for me. There is the blackness of the suffering and death of Christ. There is the wrestling with my own grief and guilt over my part in putting him there. And there is the never-ending question—why—why did he have to die? What was the deeper meaning of it all?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
One of the new things about our ministry here that I’m happiest about is our Hospitality Committee. Kristin Mudge heads it up and there are 4 others in the group. They’ve done such a terrific job so far—they helped a bunch with the Casablanca fundraiser and they also put on that incredible reception for us at our Celebration of New Ministry (with your help, of course). They’re at work now planning breakfast for a clergy gathering here in late April when Bishop Jim Curry will visit. Thank God for the help they have been in feeding us here.
Weekends are always sweeter when I get the chance to hear Garrison Keillor on “A Prairie Home Companion.” My favorite part is the Lake Woebegone monologue. Keillor is such a fabulous storyteller. Once he told the story about how his family would get together during Holy Week—they were in the Church of the Sanctified Brethren, remember—and his uncle would retell the story of Jesus and his Passion and death. And there would always come the time when his uncle got to the death of Christ, and he would burst into tears—he always took it “so personally.” And then he paused and drolly he added that “the Church got over that / years ago.”
[Synthesis, April 13, 2006]
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s gospel from John is one of those gospels that can drive you crazy. Jesus is talking to Andrew and Philip again, and he tells them that “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Now, wait a minute. Jesus is on the brink of going into his time of suffering and death—and we hear that it’s time for him to be glorified? It seems like a great big contradiction in terms. What’s that all about?
John’s gospel goes out of its way to present Jesus as practically more divine than human, a person who is so much in control that he can go into his death triumphant—glorified.
This is the first of several paradoxes in the gospel.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I have to admit I really envied a few of our parishioners who went to Mexico last month, in the middle of the winter. Remember that big blizzard in February? Well, when the snow was flying up here, these people were down there—they were lying on some Mexican beach somewhere just soaking up the sun and taking a little siesta. Sounds great, doesn’t it, especially in this chilly weather?
When our lives are very full, isn’t it just great to take a breather now and then? Go to Mexico, or at least, stay here but take a day off and relax. It’s really necessary for our physical and mental health to take a break.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I’d like to share with you some of the stuff I read when I’m just relaxing. Of course there’s the absorbing historical novel, and there’s the books on pastoral care, and they’re all very well and good. But do you know what I like to pick up when I go home and eat my lunch? This is it.
(Hold up the Oprah magazines.)
I love Oprah. I know she comes on a little strong sometimes—but maybe that’s what I like most about her. I like her strength.
