Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Today, we proclaim that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! We can say it with our mouths, and we may know an accompanying joy in our hearts, a longing within us that feels affirmed. But what does the Resurrection of Jesus mean and what does it mean for us? What is the Resurrection? The hope of a life to come, of a rebirth after death,…
Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. [John 20:19-31] We continue to celebrate with Easter joy the bodily Resurrection of our Lord from the dead. Death and resurrection is a constant theme in religious expressions around the world – from Shamanism, with their rituals of death and rebirth, to Mesopotamian religions, who remake…
Set your minds on things that are above! The strife is o’er, the battle done; the victory of life is won; the song of triumph has begun. Alleluia! Every Sunday, but especially today, we proclaim and celebrate that Jesus has risen from the dead! Our Gospel today [St John 20:1-10] speaks only about the empty tomb, the first moments of the realization of the Resurrection. It dawned on the disciples Peter and John first by…
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Today there is a spring in our step, a lightness to our eyes, our Lenten preparations are complete and we are ready to sing out with joy! We hear church bells throughout the city. If we held back our voices the very rocks would cry out! But we are so used to the message of Resurrection, can we imagine its impact to the first…
This morning we continue to bathe in the light, and to know in our hearts something of the joy, of Christ’s Resurrection. In the first Gospel readings for Easter from St Matthew and St John we are not even shown our Lord – but only the empty tomb – death cannot contain Jesus, and it cannot contain us – the worst that the world, the flesh and the devil can do, cannot touch our Lord…
Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Last night we began in darkness and kindled the new fire – the Christ Candle is a figure of our Lord – the custom is very early in the Church’s history. Even earlier than the Exsultet, a song that was sung in that darkness. The words of the Exsultet are from the 5th century. Imagine Christians continuing this custom – we celebrating, with an innumerable host of…
Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you. ” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. On the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion, the disciples were greatly distressed in soul, and they had many reasons not to be at peace. The Gospel says that they were locked in a room, afraid of the Jewish authorities – if Jesus had been arrested…
Rejoice now, all ye heavenly legions of Angels: all high things that pass understanding: for the King that cometh with victory, let the trumpet proclaim salvation. Sing with joy, O earth, illumined with this celestial radiancy: and enlightened by the eternal God thy glory, believe and know thou hast put away the darkness of mankind. So likewise let our Mother, his holy Church, welcome the bright beams of light shed upon her: and let his…