He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Did you hear the laughter of people and the giggles of children in the Sanctuary? Joy and love abound! The sounds of choir, congregation, and brass lifted the good news out of the sanctuary and into the world to join with so many other congregations celebrating the news of Jesus arising. We gathered in love and friendship – hugs all around.
There’s been a recurring question popping up a fair mount lately, “are you better off today than you were four years ago?” The questioners of course are trying to make comparisons between the leadership of our country and between two very different administrations. In trying to answer the question, we’re quick to remember that four years ago, the world was firmly in the grasp of a pandemic primarily defined by unknowns and uncertainties. For our devotion today, I offer the concluding passage of the sermon that I preached for Easter morning, four years ago:
“When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land…” A dramatic detail worthy of the start of any good story, script, or screenplay. And it could serve as the beginning of a news account that will chronicle the events of the coming solar eclipse, set to happen in a little over a week.
We’ve finally arrived at Holy Week. This past Sunday we got a look at what’s to come and sang “Jesus Remember Me” during communion. It’s a hymn that reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses in Luke. In the Gospel of Mark the two crucified with Jesus both taunted Jesus: “Those who were crucified with him also taunted him” (Mk 15:32b); but in Luke 23: 39-43 it reads, “One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’
On Sunday, March 17, we gathered to bless the third tiny home of our Sacred Settlement. This marked another important milestone as we continue building our community of support for those experiencing chronic homelessness. And, this is a great opportunity to reflect on the profound meaning of “home.”
“Even when they call us mad, when they call us subversives and Communists, and all the epithets they put on us, we know that we only teach the subversive witness of the Beatitudes, which have turned everything upside down to proclaim, ‘Blessed are the poor, blessed are those who thirst for justice, blessed are those who suffer.’” In these stirring words of Bishop Oscar Romero shared with us on Wednesday night, we were reminded of the profound connection between discipleship and sacrifice.