April 1
Beloved families of Good Shepherd,
Peace be with you! This morning I enjoyed spending time with our older day school students during weekly chapel time. I started our chapel time with a big question: “I wonder, what do you think the most powerful force in the universe is?” I heard a wide variety of responses to my question, such as: lightning, God, candy, Jesus, tornadoes, kindness, love, hate, and family.
After we wondered about this question, I shared “The Faces of Easter VII” Godly Play story about Jesus’ death on the cross and his Resurrection on Easter morning. This story says, “Jesus had died on the cross, but somehow he was still with them as he is with us, especially in the bread and the wine.”
Christians throughout the ages have experienced the Resurrection power of Christ and have boldly testified that the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord is the strongest force in the universe. In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Mary Magdalene is the first one to see Jesus’ empty tomb on Easter morning and the first one to encounter Jesus in the power of his Resurrection. She joyfully announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she tells them everything Jesus had said to her after his Resurrection.
St. Paul encountered the power of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and this experience changed him forever. St. Paul stopped hurting Christians and started proclaiming the Gospel of Christ across the entire Roman empire! In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes about the unconquerable power and beauty of Love:
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
Despite experiencing cruel opposition to his dream of equality and freedom for all people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. never lost hope in the power of love to change the world. In his book, Strength to Love, King writes, “Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security.”
This Sunday we will celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and joyfully proclaim Jesus’ permanent victory over death. The Resurrection power of Christ is with us to heal everything that binds our world, our nation, our families, and our lives. We can trust, in the words of St. Julian, that “all shall be well” because Jesus is risen and Love is always at the helm of our universe!
We hope your family will join us for one of our Easter Sunday services this Sunday! Here are the details for our Holy Week and Easter Sunday services:
Our Maundy Thursday service is at 7 pm tomorrow, April 2.
Our Good Friday service is at 7 pm on Friday, April 3.
Holy Saturday Prayers will be at 8:30 am on Saturday, April 3, and the Flowering of the Church will take place at 9 am.
Our Easter Vigil gathering will have an Easter fire and the singing of the Exsultet at 8 pm followed by Scripture readings Saturday evening through Sunday morning.
Nursery care is available for our Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday services.
Easter Sunday services on April 5 will be at 7:30 am, 9 am, 11 am, and 5 pm.
Children’s chapel will be offered at the 9 am and 11 am Easter Sunday services.
Our Easter Egg Hunt will be at 10:15 am on Easter Sunday. We’ll gather near the front steps of Good Shepherd Day School at 10 am and then start our Egg Hunt at 10:15 am. Please have your kids bring their own Easter baskets!
We hope to see your family this coming Easter Sunday!
Many Blessings,
Patty