There are many times in our lives when we feel complete and whole, when we want to celebrate life’s goodness, when we want to share the good news we have heard and seen and touched for ourselves. An event causes us to fully understand that we are a small part of an enormous whole. Deep in our innermost core we believe that we bring a unique and necessary hope to the world. We look for a loved one, friend or colleague with whom we might share the story of our Easter newness. We throw ourselves into play or work, fully willing to follow the gentle leader who stands waiting before us, saying . . .
Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
In our newly-found Easter selves, we step forward to participate in God’s plan.
The disciples work and play and pray with Christ; they see his story unfold before them and still they are startled to see that they have an integral part in God’s plan of salvation. Let us reflect on the Christ’s call, and let us determine to be true Easter people who go where we are sent.
A re-post from Easter Wednesday 2014.
For another reflection, enter the words I send you on this blog and explore.
There are many times in our lives when we do not recognize the Christ who works, kneels or plays beside us. We believe ourselves alone or abandoned. We find that we are overwhelmed with work or emotion. We look for a loved one, friend or colleague who will fill the emptiness. We throw ourselves into play or work, and all the while we overlook the gentle leader who stands waiting before us, calling our name.
Mary Magdalene works and lives with Jesus for several years and yet she mistakes him for the gardener. Let us consider if or how, when or why we look past Jesus when he stands ready to help us. And let us determine to step into the newness and freedom Christ gives us today.
Enter the words Why are you Weeping into the blog search bar and explore.
Easter is an eight day celebration beginning on Easter Sunday, running through the Easter Octave and ending on the Second Sunday of Easter. This tradition reflects the joy the early apostles felt as they experienced the new presence of the Risen Christ. Jesus offers us this same experience today. The Eastertide, or Easter Season, is the forty days from Easter Sunday until the feast of the Ascension. Today we rest in the message of the tomb that appears to be empty.
We give thanks for the miracle of the Easter resurrection. We remember that we rise with Christ in newness. We feel the presence of the Spirit within us. We have made our Lenten journey as we traveled up to Jerusalem, and we have experienced the joy of Easter resurrection. Now we move into our lives in a different way . . .
God gives each of us a talent that brings hope to the world. We are to use it.
God gifts each of us with attributes and a pathway. We are to follow them.
God calls each of us to union in the Spirit. We are to respond immediately and with passion.
God calls each of us from our emptiness to fill us with mercy and joy.
A re-post from Easter Monday 2014.
Today we visit the empty tomb Where the Body Had Been. Enter these words into the blog search bar and explore.
When Jesus enters Jerusalem, his presence creates division, particularly in regards to the origins of the Messiah. In these days of Lent and Eastertide we have reflected on how our encounter with Christ engenders questions and sparks discussion. Scripture has shown us how Jesus, followed by large crowds, is proclaimed the new king of a new kingdom. We have participated in the ancient liturgies of the Triduum and, along with countless generations of the faithful, we declare Christ the Messiah. Despite of, or perhaps because of, Jesus’ message of liberation and rescue, arguments separate us as we react to the call of the Gospel. Today we are reminded that: Never before has anyone spoken like this one.
On this day, as we proclaim Christ risen from a world of death and darkness, we ask, what do we believe?
On this day when we say Jesus has entered our lives in a particular way, how do we enact the Gospel call to love those who hate us?
On this day when we celebrate the presence of God in our lives, how do we proclaim to the world that the one who stands before us has never been seen before?
Wishing Easter peace and blessings to all in the Noontime Circle.
Asking Easter joy and grace for all the faithful.
Trusting in Easter transformation for all of God’s creation.
Yesterday we reflected on God’ invitation to us that we enter into an intimate relationship with the Word. Today as we rest in the promise that Christ returns in a way we cannot understand, we discover how or if, when or why we thirst to know more about God. If you did not listen to the long version of the Avivah Zornberg interview with Krista Tippett yesterday, take the time this week. Record questions. Initiate discussions. And in this holy Eastertide, share the story of your personal exodus, transformation and redemption.
In today’s Noontimewe hear words from Jesus that cause his listeners, both then and now, to ask questions. Rather than stifling curiosity that will lead to a fuller understanding of his identity and purpose, Jesus initiates a sense of inquiry that continues today. Jesus frequently answers questions with further questions. Jesus regularly creates open conversations instead of shutting down curiosity. Jesus refuses to take these questions as a challenge to his divinity and instead, uses these questions to call each of us to our own divinity.
Any creed that provides firm and pat answers to all question about our relationship with God does not reflect the life Jesus lives with his followers. What we experience today is God’s invitation to open and free dialog with God’s Word. We experience the patient and compassionate Spirit that abides with us despite our reluctance to believe.
As we move further into Eastertide, let us find an hour of time to listen to an On Being podcast of an interview conducted by Krista Tippett with Avivah Zornberg, a midrash expert. (The interview was conducted on April 7, 2005 and was first aired on April 10, 2014.) We investigate the Exodus story about a people who were once honored guests who have become slaves in ancient Egypt.
“With a master of midrash as our guide, we walk through the Exodus story at the heart of Passover. It’s not the simple narrative you’ve watched at the movies or learned in Sunday school. Neither Moses or Pharaoh, nor the oppressed Israelites or even God, are as they seem. As Avivah Zornberg reveals, Exodus is a cargo of hidden stories — telling the messy, strange, redemptive truth of us as we are, and life as it is”. (On Being: http://www.onbeing.org/ April 10, 2014)
Zornberg points out that this story of flight does not happen in order that we merely re-tell or re-read it; rather, it takes place so that we will each tell a greater story of our own exodus from slavery to salvation. Listen today and think about how each of us might recount our own redemption story. Listen today and ask questions. Remember our experience of the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday Triduum in which Christ makes his own exodus, and be prepared to listen to God speak to us in a new and redemptive way.
Listen to the unedited version of this interview to hear how Zornberg explains God’s passion for the faithful, and the importance of women in this saga when she connects The Song of Songs and Exodus.
Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him”.
The Messiah stands before us and cries out. How might we show him that we recognize him?
O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. (Isaiah 25:1)
The Spirit lives within us, constant and abiding. How might we acknowledge the presence of God within?
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you. (2 Kings 20:5)
Our God calls to each of us. How do we respond?
As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort. (Isaiah 66:13)
We ask for healing and salvation. How do we show our love and awe of the LORD?
I will never forget you, says the LORD. (Isaiah 49:15)
We are the well-loved Children of the Living God. How do we give thanks?
Whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)
We have the opportunity to witness to the presence of God. How do we show our gratitude and love?
Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?
We have journeyed with the Prophet Amos to listen to God’s words and to reflect on the world’s woes. We have experienced Amos’ visions and seen the foreshadowing of the coming of the Messiah. We have examined life’s many pathways and determined how we might best live through the bounty or obstacles we encounter. We have opened our eyes and our ears to see and hear the Messiah.
On this day as we move through Eastertide, we wonder if is possible that the gift of resurrection might remain in us.
On this noon as we continue our Easter journey, we declare ourselves living in hope of Messianic transformation.
On this eve as we prepare for another Sunday celebration, we anticipate the joy of the Messianic feast.
We might picture ourselves in this story on the side of Jesus in this debate; and yet each time we judge by appearances we chose the side of those who are narrow-minded.
We might picture ourselves in this story as a member of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus; and yet each time we judge by appearances we chose the side of those who are short-sighted.
We might picture ourselves in this story among Jesus’ disciples who follow him up to Jerusalem; and yet each time we judge by appearances we chose the side of those who focused on themselves.
You circumcise a man on the Sabbath . . . are you angry with me because I made a whole person well on the Sabbath?
We seek the “in crowd” while we forget to look for the principles of those whose company we keep.
We long for comfort while we neglect the simple basics of life for the refugee, the homeless, the widow and the orphan.
We take pride in our country, our parish, our family, and ourselves while we feel no shame that our neighbors go without medical care, a diet that sustains or access to clean water.
Stop judging by appearances, but judge justly.
We listen to and even pass on gossip. We remain silent when our co-workers ostracize a colleague. We believe that our pettiness can be hidden and that our transformation can wait for a more convenient day.
Stop judging by appearances but judge justly.
We gently yet firmly put an end to gossip in our lives. We speak carefully yet firmly about local and global injustice. We engage in acts of kindness that rescue and transform others and ourselves.
In this Eastertide that persists in announcing the Easter miracle, and in each day of our lives, our actions speak loudly about our relationships. Our actions say volumes about our image of self and God. Our actions declare how much we heed Christ’s words when Christ calls us to judge as we ought. With justice, rather than by appearances.
The Noontimes 