Dear Brothers and Sisters,
ALLELUIA! YES! Easter joy is with us! Let those Alleluias ring out! And don’t forget that we keep ALLELUIA-ING for 50 bright days!
BUT, although we are continuing to rejoice, I want to alert you to the fact that some of us – including our society – make an Easter mistake. And, it’s a big one!
Most of us were remembering to celebrate during Bright Week, the week after Easter. After all, Easter is such a big deal in our lives, that its light keeps dazzling our spiritual eyes well into the seven days that follow. But then, life intrudes. Taxes. Shopping. Bill paying. People. Politics. And the stunning revelation of Christ’s resurrection starts fading little by little. I know we often end the doxology in our prayers with “who lives and reigns with God”. But if we’re not really vigilant, that phrase becomes something that is automatic with us, and we might not
particularly pay attention to it as the weeks roll on.
Last week, I was doing some research on liturgy from the Church of England. I ran across some instructions for the use of Collects. I came across a recommendation for using “the extended Trinitarian ending”: ‘through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.’ I was a little startled and I’m sure, if someone had been looking at me, they would have seen my eyes open wide. Although I think about Easter a lot, especially at this time of year and mostly every Sunday, which traditionally is “a little Easter”, I, too, am prey to saying familiar phrases automatically. When I saw the line “Jesus Christ your son our Lord who is alive”, it made me start thinking that the assurance Jesus is ALIVE helps us be more aware of his constant Resurrected presence.
I suppose, because I think a lot about the meaning of words, I felt a difference between “who lives” and “who is alive”. This gave me start pondering what I call The Big Easter Mistake. I don’t think that we should ever be letting the Resurrection seem ordinary or run-of-the-mill to us. Being aware that “Jesus is alive”, helps us to turn to him for help, or conversation, or advice, and for so many other blessings of faith. It reminds us of the closeness of his
Resurrected Life and the promise that at the end of our mortal lives we will be received into that resurrected life.
SO DON’T MAKE THE BIG EASTER MISTAKE and forget it is anything but routine. It is a covenant between us and Jesus. And it should be something that we remember and give thanks for every day of our lives.
ALLELUIA INDEED!
Mo. Laura+
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COMING UP!
- April 20-22 Mo. Laura at Bishops’ Clergy Retreat
- May 3 Wellness Committee Speaker during coffee hour: topic TBD
- Mondays, Lenten Book Study via zoom at 7:00 p.m.
- Wednesdays, noonday prayer via zoom at 12:00
- Wednesday evenings, yoga class at 6:00 (discount for St. M members)
- Saturdays, Iglesia Luz de Esperanza, 9:00-3:00