Christ is Risen!

Alleluia!

We finally get to say it and sing it again. I am looking forward to a joyous day today.

It's been a strange Lent for me though, I must say. I felt like I've been behind and trying to catch up the whole season, and so didn't get to soak it in as much as usual.

Also bidding farewell to a founding member of the church. We'll meet again. But her long struggle is over. She is at rest in Christ and I look forward to joining her in the resurrection.

Today the whole family is over for Easter dinner. That will be nice. Then golf tomorrow afternoon! That's kind of a tradition for me, though one that doesn't always happen. Take the afternoon after Easter to get out and walk around, get some fresh air, enjoy, decompress.

My father seemed to take another step down these past few weeks. He's 95 now. Wow. Will this be his last Easter with us? What other changes will this year bring?

Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am. Which is really silly. Incredible wife, wonderful family, good health.

Hope you have a wonderful celebration today of our Lord's resurrection!

Lent and Easter Reflections

What a glorious day yesterday, celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord. It just never gets old.

This was a rather weird Lenten season for me, though. Not the usual. I cannot tell you why. It just wasn't the same for me. Maybe because we are still not in our regular church building - 8 months out now! I never would have guessed that, that it would take that long. Maybe it was because of other busyness I had to attend to, and all the trips I wound up taking. Maybe it was just satan playing with me, pushing my buttons. I cannot tell you, just that it was somehow different for me this year. I wasn't even as busy this year - at least, during Holy Week. I usually have to go to the rental place and pick up some chairs, and then have to haul all our church stuff to where we will be having our Holy Week services. Didn't have to do that this year, since we've been in our "temporary" location for 8 months now (did I mention that?). We also didn't have a Good Friday noontime service this year. The woman who reserves that room for us has been recovering from illness and a stroke all the season of Lent and was unable to do that.

So I got to Holy Week this year, and it just didn't seem right. But Holy Week . . . that just put everything right again. :-) I love Holy Week, soaking in the Word all week, thinking, writing. This was weird too - usually I cannot write my Easter sermon until Saturday, after I have been through all the other services of Holy Week. But this year, I was able to write it on Friday morning. Again, not sure why. Just the way it was for me this year.

And then our Divine Service yesterday! Our keyboardist who played yesterday is just awesome. I love all our musicians, just she just has a way. Sadly, she and her husband will be leaving our congregation soon, beginning a new time of life. I will miss them! And I think I was probably one of only a handful of pastors in the United States who didn't use April Fools Day in my sermon! (Click here to listen.) But getting all the parts of the liturgy back from our liturgical Lenten fast, getting all the chanting back, the wonderful hymns and readings . . . just great.

So now another 7 weeks to celebrate our Lord's resurrection! Some things getting back to normal, some new ventures begun . . .

Discipline of Joy

I have commented on my blog before about how my congregation sings Easter hymns all through the Easter season - every Sunday for seven weeks! Easter is just too important not to rejoice in it for all 50 days of the season. And I hope every congregation will do the same.

Dr. Gene Veith wrote about the Easter season on his blog this morning, using an interesting phrase: the discipline of joy. He wrote about our Lenten discipline, and how common that is, and that it lasts 40 days. But Easter is even greater, lasting 50 days, and is a season of joy in contrast to the solemnness of Lent. So, he says, with this we have a "discipline of joy" - rejoicing in Easter for a full 50 days, far beyond what counts as Easter for the world.

I like that. Discipline of joy. Being disciplined in our joy. We need that too, don't we? It reminds me of one of the prayers in the Great Litany, when we pray for God's mercy "in all time of our tribulation, in all time of our prosperity." Maybe during our times of prosperity we need His mercy even more, for how easy to fall away, take for granted, and forget during those times. So too we need the discipline of joy - to teach us the true joy of Easter that we have in Christ, that lasts far longer than sorrow, for the joy of Christ that we have now will truly have no end!

Christ is Risen!

He is not here; He is risen, as He said.

Alleluia!

Easter Hymns

I came across a bulletin for the Third Sunday of Easter recently (April 19) and in this particular church, they did not sing any Easter hymns on this Sunday! Really? We sing Easter hymns all through the Easter season - all seven Sundays. That's why Easter lasts a full 50 days - to celebrate it! And there are so many good Easter hymns; too many not to keep singing and rejoicing in the resurrection.

So my question to any of my brothers out there who may stumble upon this blog: Do you sing Easter hymns all through the Easter season? And if not, why not?

Christ is Risen!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

A happy and blessed Easter to you all.

Christ Is Risen!

Christ is risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

I pray you all had a good Holy Week and a wonderful celebration of the resurrection of our Lord today. My week was very good. As I said in a previous post, it was a week spent in God's Word, meditation, and prayer, writing many meditations and sermons. The services gave the the truth - both the truth of our sin but even more, the truth of our forgiveness in Christ's death and resurrection. And the culmination today with our Festival Divine Service. A very good week.

I usually manage to strain my voice by the end of the Easter service, but this year we have a new wireless microphone (thanks Dave!) and I love it! I can speak normally and be heard! What a great thing.  :-)

My wonderful wife made my Easter lamb for dinner tonight! I look forward to this every year.

Tomorrow I travel up to my father's house where my brother and sister and I will begin boxing and cleaning out the items still there. I usually try to play golf the Monday after Easter to take a day off and rest my head, but this will be a good break as well. And it will be good to spend a few days with my brother and sister. So a good nights sleep and then off to Philly in the morning.

Easter Monday

Some Easter Monday thoughts . . .

+ The joy of Easter lives on.

+ I have not been impressed with the April Fool's offerings I've seen so far. Too obviously fake.

+ I found an old friend's blog the other day. I think about him often but had lost touch after his great fall. His writings seemed filled with a sadness. Made me sad.

+ I will go back to my tradition today of playing golf the day after Easter.  :-)  I could not last year because of school - I was in over my head with deadlines and papers. I still have much to do, but not so much this year. A nice day outside in the air is going to be nice.

+ I watched many of the Holy Week services from the Vatican this week. Gives me a break from things. I enjoy the ceremonial and how precisely and respectfully it is all done, but I will never get used to the Pope being treated like a rock star by screaming crowds. Just doesn't sit right with me.

+ Singing Easter hymns and giving the Lord's Body and Blood to a shut-in yesterday with ALS and who has lost almost all muscle function is what our Lord's resurrection is all about!

+ I hate it when I request a book through inter-library loan and I get sent the wrong book!

+ Speaking of books, my Amazon wish list is getting long. Any takers?  ;-)

+ Speaking of books, if you haven't read Bill Hecht's "Two Wars We Must Not Lose" you must read it. It is not short, but the amount of information he brings together and synthesizes will change how you look at what is happening in our world today and how you listen to the news. Eye opening.

+ A good wife is a gift from the Lord. Amen!

UPDATE: I now have a greater appreciation for Luke 15:8-10, having just looked for the last hour for my wedding ring. It fell off while I was getting ready to play golf (I thought. At least, that when I noticed). Since I usually notice that pretty quickly, I looked all around the area, but nothing. I began expanding my search, even retracing walking my daughter to the bus stop - twice. Nothing. I search everywhere. Nothing. It's only a ring. But it's more than a ring. I saw my neighbor. He said I looked "pensive." I explained to him, then continued my search. FINALLY, search again (for about the fourth time) around where I thought I lost it, there it was! I don't know why I didn't see it before, but in any case, I am so thankful to have found it. And you know what the first thing I wanted to do was (after thanking God)? Go tell my neighbor! "And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the [ring] I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

O death, where is thy sting?

O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!

Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!

Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;

for Christ having risen from the dead,

is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

~ John Chrysostom

Who Is Easter About?

Who is Easter about: Tim Tebow or Jesus?

I'm sure most of you have heard that Tim Tebow was "preaching" at a Texas megachurch on Easter Sunday. They were expecting 30,000 that day - it was like an outdoor rock concert, with a large stage set up in a big field. Turns out they got "only" 15,000. Hmmm. I wonder . . . did they get that many because of Tebow, or that few because of Tebow? From interviews I saw on the news, many came to hear him; but did others stay away because of him? Because they knew Easter should be about someone else . . . ?

Well, turns out that Tebow didn't really preach after all - he was interviewed by the pastor for about 20 minutes. I didn't hear the whole thing, but what I did hear certainly didn't focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Sad. Then the news cast mentioned that after the Tebow interview, many of the thousands began leaving . . . before the pastor preached his sermon! I guess for them, hearing about Jesus' victory and resurrection wasn't as important as hearing from Tebow? (Assuming the pastor's sermon was about the resurrection, which I will assume, to put the best construction on it.)

I find the whole thing very, very odd. I don't agree with interviewing folks in church or focusing on celebrities - but even if you do that, why in the world on Easter? Do it some other Sunday!

Easter Monday Morning Thoughts

A wonderful weekend, the Holy Triduum followed by our Easter celebration. Singing Easter hymns with a shut-in. Lamb for Easter dinner. Sleeping in Monday morning (well, what is sleeping in for me!). I like getting up early and getting work done in the quiet, pre-dawn hours, but not this morning. This morning was for rest.

My post-Easter tradition has been to take Monday off and go play golf, but can't this year. Two large school papers due soon and I have to push the accelerator to get them done. So back to the grind later this morning. But not yet. A little quiet and reflection this morning.

How were your services? I love the Triduum. Holy Thursday and the gift of our Lord's Supper. Smaller attendance than I hoped for at the service. My children played violin for the hymns. Beautiful. Especially the last one, O Sacred Head Now Wounded.

Good Friday. Great and Holy Friday. Noontime meditations on "The Way of the Cross" as we call it. Sort of a modified "Stations of the Cross." We do this at a local adult care community where one of our members lives. This service has grown on me over the years, and I look forward to it. Very different than the Tenebrae service in the evening with the Reproaches and the darkness. Yet the Christ candle never being extinguished. For the second year now, we have concluded the service as Bach concluded his St. John Passion, by singing these words:

Lord, let at last Thine angels come,
To Abr'ham's bosom bear me home, That I may die unfearing;
And in its narrow chamber keep
My body safe in peaceful sleep Until Thy reappearing.
And then from death awaken me, That these mine eyes with joy may see,
O Son of God, Thy glorious face, My Savior and my fount of grace.
Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, my prayer attend,
And I will praise Thee without end. (LSB #708, v. 3)

A great way to end Good Friday - by focusing not on the sadness of Jesus' death and feeling sorry for Him, but what it really means. Pro me.

Then the Easter Vigil. Quiet, calm, reflective, baptismal remembrance, a taste of Easter joy. It is the perfect bridge from Good Friday to the full-throated joy of Easter morning. Larger attendance than I expected! Many folks are still not used to this service, but I hope it becomes a favorite for them as it is for me.

And then the morning! Alleluia! Christ is risen! The very first words that sound forth in the service. A full-blown festival Divine Service. The great joy.

Now, back to the grind. But leave Easter behind? No. How could we? That will be my sermon for Wednesday Evening Prayer. The apostles went back to fishing, but they did not leave Easter behind. Everything was changed. Peter's reaction is the witness to that. Come listen if you're in town! But so too for me. Back to school work, reading, writing, papers, languages, questions, struggles. But not the same. Never the same. One never leaves Holy Week the same way you enter. The Word of the Lord does its work. Thanks be to God.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated!

Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!

Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; 

for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

from: Easter sermon of St. John Chrysostom

Holy Saturday

Quiet. Rest. One last sabbath rest before the dawning of the eighth day, the day of eternity, when Christ breaks out of death and the grave and all the world breaks forth in song and joyful acclamation.

But not yet.

It is difficult to imagine what today must have been like for the disciples. The fear, the doubt, the questions racing through their minds. All the shouldas, wouldas, and couldas. The grief and pain. How long this day must have been for them. While the Jews around them celebrated! Yes, they were celebrating the Passover. Salt in the wound? We thought He was the One . . .

Tonight is the Great Vigil of Easter in our church. Though I probably should not have favorites, this is one of my favorite services of the year. The quietness and calm, the anticipated joy, all the OT Scriptures, the baptismal focus and remembrance, "God has brought His Israel into joy from sadness." Tomorrow will be the full throated shouts. Tonight is the calm, confident joy of our Lord. Wonderful.

Today's TDP Reading

This morning, we read of Israel being pursued by the Egyptians to the edge of the Red Sea, and that this was no accident - the Lord had them go this way *so that* the Egyptians would come out against them. I thought of how we are being pursued by death every day of our lives. But just as God would provide a rescue from the pursuing Egyptians, so He has provided a rescue for us from pursuing death - both through water! Tonight we will remember this in the Vigil, and celebrate tomorrow with our full-throated Alleluias! This is the night of our Passover. Thanks be to God.

Easter Thoughts

A great day today. The Divine Service for the Resurrection of our Lord just can't be beat - the culmination of a week of wonderful time spent in the Word, meditation, prayer, and receiving the gifts of God. New white paraments today added to the beauty of the chancel. Now, some rest. No meetings or classes this week. I hope I'll get to spend some time outside this week too. Thursday I have a meeting with the folks at Catholic U. about my Ph.D. program - I am looking forward to that. Next week I start back in with Latin (my teacher took some time off to have a baby!), and then in a couple of weeks our Good Shepherd Seminar with Prof. John Pless. It's going to be a good month!

Easter Joy

There just isn't anything better than the Divine Service for the Resurrection of our Lord! Period. The joy after Holy Week and the anticipation of the Vigil. Crying out "Alleluia!" a countless number of times. The Victimae Paschali. Using our new communion vessels. Proclaiming the victory of our Lord. I am tired, but it just doesn't get any better than this!

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!