Christ is Risen!             We have now been celebrating our Lord’s victory over death for two weeks.  We will continue to do so for a few more weeks, saying “Christ is Risen” many times.  But we can’t let our celebration of Pascha stop there. For we want to live the new life that the Lord has brought to the world; we want to participate in His victory over sin, death, and all…

John 20: 19-31 Acts 5: 12-20 Christ is Risen!           We have only begun our celebration of Pascha, of our Lord’s victory over death in His glorious resurrection on the third day.   Perhaps one of the reasons that Pascha is a season of forty days is that it takes us a good while to let the good news sink in.  For not only is Christ raised from the dead, we are too. …

Philippians 4:4-9 John 12:1-18             Human beings are blessed with the ability to focus on what is most important. So much of what we do at work or school, for example, requires that we tune out distractions and give our minds to the task before us.             St. Paul reminds us that we especially need to do so in the Christian life by giving our minds to what is true, noble, just,…

Hebrews 9:11-14 Mark 10:32-45            The tragic events of the last week both in Boston and in West have reminded us all of the brokenness, pain, and corruption of life in the world as we know it.  God did not create humanity for terrorist bombings, industrial explosions, fear, mourning, and suffering, but to participate in the peace, joy, and holiness of the heavenly Kingdom even as we live…

Hebrews 6:13-20 Mark 9:17-30            Sometimes we stand before God with more doubt than belief, with more despair than hope.  Sometimes our worries and fears increase; the joy of life slips away and we feel rotten.  Maybe it’s our health, the problems of our loved ones, stress about a busy schedule, or other matters at home, at work, or with our friends.  We are sometimes simply at the end of our rope.            …