Easter Day A

[RCL] Acts 10:34-43 or Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-10 Easter is one of those occasions on which most folks come to church already knowing the story. Due to their familiarity with the Easter narratives, some in our number might be tempted to let their minds…

[RCL]: Acts 10:34-43 or Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-1 “Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!” A joy-filled proclamation. A mystery we don’t “get,” can’t “get,” weren’t designed to “get,” and yet it rings true to our world-weary, sin-sick souls. “Alleluia, alleluia,…

We, the faithful in Christ, gather this morning, not just with our friends and families, but also with Christians around the world and across time, joyfully proclaiming what is perhaps the most ancient creed in Christendom: Christ is risen! For the next fifty days, this great and powerful Easter proclamation will mark our liturgy, define our purpose,…

Going through the barrier with a colleague to board my train in a busy station in London, suddenly a loud alarm sounded. A voice came over the public address system advising, no instructing, every person in the station to leave the building immediately. The majority of passers-by stopped, stood still and looked at each other….

Alleluia! Christ is risen.He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Grace and peace to you this Easter morning when Christ the morning star is risen indeed. Christ is risen, come back to us, but is not yet here. Already and not yet. How can that be? Already and not yet? We proclaim Christ crucified and risen. We…

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams delivered his annual Easter Day sermon at Canterbury Cathedral on April 24, speaking on the theme of joy, and the capacity to be surprised by it. In his sermon, he stresses that “corporate prosperity divorced from personal and communal fulfillment or stability is an empty thing … we can’t find…

RCL: Acts 10:34-43 or Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-10So. How do you feel? In the words of the Easter Vigil, “now that our Lenten observance is ended,” are you greeting with great joy and enthusiasm the Paschal mystery, or are you rejoicing that Lent is…

The arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus occupy the largest single incident in any one of the four gospels. This incident has been the most widely depicted of everything in Jesus’ life. Every detail of this grisly process seems to have been carefully recorded by the evangelists. The heart-rending details of the final suffering…

Abandonment is one of the greatest losses a human may experience. True, there are other losses that can scar us. Coming home to find we’ve been robbed produces a feeling of violation, particularly if the robbery includes the loss of objects we associate with our past. And we all know children whose lives were dreadfully…

Let us prefer nothing to the love of Christ; And may he bring us all to everlasting life. Brothers and sisters, we come together this Easter Day to celebrate. Christ is risen, and we affirm: “The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!” We know that this is a happy day, a day to put on our…

All of the Resurrection stories have one thing in common. God does something so strange and singular in nature that there is no way to explain what happened. And this strange thing that God does has, as its consequence, either faith, hope, and love, or disbelief. All we can see are “snapshots” or anecdotes of…