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Easter has just begun!

4/25/2019

As we move into this first week of Easter we continue to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection over sin and death that opened to us the way of eternal life. In fact, we celebrate for fifty days! It is fitting that this cornerstone of the Faith is the longest celebration in the Church Year! Furthermore, it is the focus of every Sunday as we gather together to both remember what Jesus did and respond from it in our own lives each and every day.

I’d encourage you to find ways to celebrate these great fifty days by adding moments of celebration into your daily routine. Perhaps you could keep a thanksgiving chart on your phone or make a family poster to log thanksgivings during these days. Maybe you could read through the post resurrection appearances daily that are found at the end of the gospels and reflect upon what Jesus did in each as He forgave, restored, and commissioned the disciples. Additionally, you may consider building weekday service on Wednesday nights, Growth Groups on Sunday, or some other offering to the Lord at the church into your routine to reflect thanksgiving by spending more time with Him.

Celebrate these great days with joy, because the joy we enter into in this season is a foretaste of the heavenly joy we will enter into for all eternity. For on that day, when Jesus returns He will remember and respond to those who have believed and followed Him by welcoming them into His presence forevermore. And that celebration will continue for eternity! We get glimpses here and now as we prepare for that Day. Find ways to celebrate and more fully embrace the joy of Jesus and the abundant life He offers us this Eastertide.

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Journey with Jesus through Holy Week

4/11/2019

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And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Matthew 26:40

On Sunday we embark upon the weeklong journey to Easter morning. There are several opportunities for worship in the subsequent days that are intended to assist us in reflecting upon Jesus’ sacrifice and death for our sake. Each service is unique, designed to make us active participants in the moments leading up the Resurrection.

   It all begins on Palm Sunday, foreshadowing the week to follow. The service that morning is actually two services combined into one. The first begins, weather permitting, in the driveway of our building with the blessing of the palms and a procession into the sanctuary. In doing so, we seek to recreate the joyful reception of Jesus into Jerusalem, as he was hailed as King by all who gathered along the main road to welcome him with palm branches and coats laid before his feet. Yet, things take a turn as we enter the church and our readings point to the cross as shouts of “Hosanna” quickly change to “Crucify Him!” The service ends on a more solemn note as we leave reflecting upon the week ahead where Jesus would be betrayed, mocked, spit upon, beaten, killed, and buried.

   The scene is then set for Maundy Thursday, where we remember Jesus’s institution of the Eucharist and giving of a new commandment to love one another. Everyone is invited to have his or her feet washed to remember the call to put our love of others into action through serving others. After Communion, we recall Jesus’ betrayal and affliction in the Garden of Gethsemane in the hours before he is drug before the religious leaders and put on trial. We too, remove the Body of Jesus in the Sacrament from the church to our ‘garden’ where it will remain until Good Friday. The service abruptly ends in silence after all is stripped away in the sanctuary, leaving only a bare altar for the days to follow. All are then invited to ‘watch with Jesus’ for an hour in prayer in our ‘garden’ as we recall His agony and obedience in the hours leading up to the events of the day to follow.

   Good Friday places the centrality of the crucifixion in front of us. The reading of the account of Jesus’ death, entrance of the cross for our veneration and contemplation, and reception of Communion, keep the gravity of the day before us. Jesus words, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ are left ringing in our ears when we leave reflecting upon the greatest moment in human history: the moment wherein Jesus bears the weight of sin for all humanity so that we may be reconciled with God.

   On Saturday we gather to embrace the emptiness and silence as the Author of our salvation harrows hell (see Eph. 4:9 ; 1 Peter 3:19). It is a day of preparation as we recall the stillness and anticipation of what will happen next. In perhaps the shortest service of the year, we gather to enter into this moment together as we prepare our hearts for the joy of the morrow.

   When we arrive on Sunday to an ornate church filled with flowers and beautiful hymns we more fully appreciate the day having gone through the rollercoaster of emotions in the days prior. The baptisms of the morning take rich meaning as we reflect upon their meaning in light of what Jesus did for each of us.

   Make this week a priority. Block off the service times as appointments with the Lord on your calendar. We are invited in these days to take the time, typically only an hour or so each day, to give thanks, recall, and worship the Author of our salvation. Jesus’ words then to the disciples are no less convicting to us now, And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Matthew 26:40. May we not be found slumbering amidst the business and busyness of our lives this week to miss the greatest week in salvation history, which opens unto us the gates of heaven.

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Lessons from the lives of the saints: James Lloyd Breck

4/4/2019

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Tuesday we celebrated the life of James Lloyd Breck. He, along with two others, founded Nashotah House, the seminary that I and most priests in our diocese attended. What is truly remarkable about his life is the missionary zeal that arose from a clear understanding of his call to follow Jesus.

As a young man, at the age of sixteen, he was inspired in high school to follow the founder thereof into the mission field. This call eventually led him to the wilds of Wisconsin upon coming of age and completing his schooling (which included being trained and ordained as a priest). Far from the comforts of his home in Philadelphia, he joined two colleagues at the direction of the bishop to establish a community, a seminary, and a center for theological work.

He penned a letter to a friend about his experience:

The students boarding with us are all theological. They are chiefly young men, sons of the farmers, and all communicants of the Church. Our students, like ourselves, are poor, but not the less worthy for all that. They seek the Ministry, but are unable to attain it without aid. We have a house; for this we pay no rent; it belongs to the Church, and so do we. We have land. They work four hours a day for their board and washing, and we give them their education without cost.

Breck recognized that he was the Lord’s servant and all that he had been given was entrusted to his care as steward. He saw no higher calling than to follow God’s lead and to tend to what God called him to do. Thus, he led a humble life of work, study and prayer that he modeled for those who came under his care at the seminary. A tradition that continues to this day as I can attest to from my time there.

As we reflect upon his life, his service and his example, may we do the same. May we evaluate our lives in light of the call of Christ Jesus to follow Him and thus orient each aspect of our lives around work, study and prayer for His sake. May we order our lives intentionally through the lens of being a disciple and steward and embrace the contentment that follows. In doing so, we discover the most rewarding view of life and one that builds up the Church and advances God’s work as we play a part in it. And while we are not all called to be pioneering missionaries, we are all called to a life of holiness, simplicity and self denial for the sake of the Gospel!

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Easter has just begun!

Journey with Jesus through Holy Week

Lessons from the lives of the saints: James Lloyd Breck

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